The Forgetful Faun Inn

Rain fell from the sky. On a spring morning, on the outskirts of the town of Rivergrounds lies the small and quaint tavern called the “Forgetful Faun Inn” by the roadside. From the south, a small stocky dwarf accompanied by a human can be seen riding on horses making their way towards the front door of the establishment. The door opens, and the guests inside can feel the cold wind blowing from the entrance. Five strangers sit in various corners of the inn, waiting for the arrival of the dwarf. This is Gundren Rockseeker, and he has met all these characters in various situations over the last weeks.

“Ah, you are all here. Good! Come closer!”

Gundren and the human walks over to one of the tables, and gestures at the diverse group of people to join him. A pink tiefling named Penny, who was playing on her violin when they entered, comes down from the stage. The old tortle known as Granny, who was sleeping in the corner, follows. A half-elf rogue called Demetrius comes from the shadows without anyone noticing, and another half-elf, Theren, greets Gundren when he approaches. Finally, a large firbolg with green hair comes nervously walking towards the rest of the group, obviously not used to people yet. Her name is Willowbark.

“So good you all could make it!” he says, as he gestures for the group to sit. He begins explaining what he gathered them for. He tells the party about him and his two brothers, who have made a big discovery in the mountains outside of Phandalin. A great discovery, which could mean great treasures for the group if they help him on his quest. The party seems to be intrigued by this, and agrees to help him. He introduces the rest of the group to his traveling companion Sildar Hallwinter, a member of the Forgeblades who Gundren has known for a while, and has hired to protect him during the task. Gundren seems to be holding the cards close to his chest on this one, and doesn’t want to reveal too much about the task at hand, but he tells them that first they have to help him bring supplies with them down to Ruins of Phandalin. The carriage carrying the shipment should be prepared in the morning, so Gundren and Sildar will travel ahead of the group to prepare for their arrival. 

As Gundren and Sildar gather their equipment and get ready to set out, a woman suddenly emerges from the kitchen, slamming an ax down at the table. She tells them that she has been told to come along on this assignment, much to the confused looks of the rest of the group. Gundren thinks it over for a few seconds, before exclaiming that he will gladly accept the help. He asks her name, and she introduces herself as Kal. Having been accepted, she goes back to the kitchen, hands in her resignation, and joins the rest of the group so they can introduce themselves. 

Gundren and Sildar say they will see the party in Phandalin in about four days, barring any hold-ups, and say their goodbyes, and head back out into the rain, mount their horses, and ride away to the south. The group sits looking at each other, and starts introducing themselves, as they will be spending the next weeks together.

Ambush

The next morning, the group wakes up in the inn, as Gundren paid for their accommodation. Gathering what little supplies they have, they set out into the cloudy streets of Rivergrounds. The musky smell of the river and waste that flows through the town is almost overwhelming if one haven’t been in town for too long, but the party endures, and heads to the local supplier to retrieve the cart they were hired to bring south. The half-elves ride in the cart, with Granny and Penny taking charge walking in front. Kal and Willowbark walk behind. 

After a few days' travel, around a bend in the road, they can see something up ahead. Getting closer, they see two horses, riddled with arrows, lying dead in their way. Staying vigilant, a couple of the group approaches the corpses, but they don’t get far before they are ambushed from both sides by arrows! A group of goblins are hiding in the nearby foliage, hoping to catch the party by surprise. After killing a few goblins, some run away, but the party manage to knock one of them unconscious. The party recognizes the horses as those belonging to Gundren and Sildar, so they want to interrogate the captured goblin to find out where they took them.

When the goblin comes to again, the party starts questioning him, demanding to know where the prisoners are. As the party outnumbers the goblin six to one, he decides it is in his best interest to spill the beans. He tells the party that their leader, Klarg, ordered them to capture a dwarf and a man coming this way. The goblins got to keep the man, but the dwarf was to be taken, along with his belongings, to a fortress hidden deep in the woods. He calls it Cragmaw Castle, where King Grol resides. The goblin also mentions a spider. The black spider. It told the goblins to keep watch for a dwarf with a map. 

The group decides to take the goblin with them, hoping to use it for negotiations, so they tie him up, much to his protests. The group scours the area. Theren finds drag marks in the ground leading north, and Willowbark and Granny manage to pick up a trail of goblin tracks, along with a couple of larger footprints accompanying them. It looks like Gundren and Sildar were alive when they were taken by the goblins. They take the goblin along, hide the cart by the side of the road, and head north into the forest.

Reaching the Cave

As the group make their way through the forest on the narrow path that the goblins used, Willowbark, who comes from the forest, takes charge going first, as she knows what to look for in terms of traps and dangers. They don’t have to travel far before she stops the rest of the group, seeing several traps hidden in front of them. A hole in the ground, concealed by a thin layer of foliage, as well as a few tripwires that lead to rocks and lumber potentially crashing down, have been placed in the path to delay or hinder any pursuers. With Willowbark’s help, they are easily circumvented, and the group manages to reach the base of operations of the goblin tribe. 

A large cave opening with a stream flowing out of it can be seen in the hilly formation in front of them. Demetrius decides to take a closer look, and tries to sneak up silently to see if he can see any sentinels, but the rocks near the stream are smoother than he first thought, and he manages to slip and fall right into the water. This alerted a couple of goblins on the other side of the bush next to the entrance to take notice of them, so they start firing arrows at the group. They fight back with whatever they have, casting some spells, with Demetrius quickly retreating back to the others. The guards on the outside are dispatched before they manage to alert the ones inside. 

Not wanting to take the goblin prisoner with them, they decide to tie him up outside. He begs them to let him go, as he doesn’t want the wrath of Klarg to come down on him when he finds out he failed. They ask his name, and he introduces himself as Fiert. They tell him to promise to stay put, and they will let him live. First however is reluctant, but promises that he will stay still. As soon as the group goes to enter the cave however, he tries to break his bonds and run away. Theren finishes him off with a well placed eldritch blast as he tries to escape, taking down the goblin before he can reach cover. Willowbark seems to be a bit saddened by this, but there is not much to do about it now. They decide to stealthily head into the cave to try to rescue Sildar, and learn more about where Gundren was taken.

Infiltration

Entering the cave, the group can hear some snarling on the side as they come in. Peering around the corner into an opening, they can see three wolves chained to a metal pole. Willowbark, feeling sympathetic towards the poor beasts decides to try to calm them down to release them. The wolves are cautious at first, but she manages to befriend them, allowing her to release the pole, and the wolves immediately take off into the woods, chains and all. In the back of the room they are in they can see a tunnel leading up, and can barely hear voices beyond. It seems to be too difficult to enter stealthily, so they instead decide to go the main route up the stream.

As the party ventures further into the cave system, they hear movement above them, but cannot see the source of the noise. Soon after, they suddenly hear a large roar, and see the waterflow picking up. Shortly after a wave of water comes rushing down towards them, almost flushing them completely out of the cave. They do manage to hold on however, using teamwork and grabbing whatever they can take a hold of. Thinking they are safe, another wave suddenly comes rushing down, sweeping out a couple of them. More determined and wet than before, they make their way quickly up the slope, and come face to face with a few goblins. Apparently they had set up a dam to collect water as a safety measure, which the group got a taste of. No matter now, the goblins attack them head on, trying to repel the invaders, but are quickly dealt with. Going further into the room they are in, they can see a large fire, and in front of it, Klarg, the chief bugbear of the goblin-group. He and his wolf enter the battle, but Penny manages to scare the wolf away using some clever vocal work, which angers Klarg, but not enough to keep him alive. He almost manages to take down Demetrius however, only being saved by Granny who was beside him, protecting him. 

Looking around the room after the bugbear has fallen, Sildar is nowhere to be seen. What they do find however is a large cache of boxes, with the logo of a blue lion on them. Apparently a shipment company, probably a stolen shipment from the same road Sildar and Gundren was attacked on. They take a mental note of it, and venture further into the cave, finding a bridge that goes over the path with the stream. Crossing it, they find a large cave with a few beds and a bunch of goblins. On top of a perch, Sildar is lying badly wounded on the edge, with a mean looking goblin ready to kick him off. They demand that the group leave or they kill the prisoner. Theren tries to convince the goblins that their leader is dead, but the goblins do not believe them, so they go on the offensive. One of the goblins almost takes down Penny, but Theren jumps up and takes him down. After a long and fierce battle the goblins lie dead on the ground, with several of the party members being unconscious as well. They decide to take a rest, using the goblins’ beds to allow the downed members to recover, while they look after Sildar. 

Dreams and Visions

Willowbark lies on the ground, turning in her unconscious state, obviously having a terrible nightmare. When she wakes up, she tells the other party members that she saw people, shadows, and got the feeling that someone was messing around inside her head. She describes a massive green eye staring down at her, which creeps the other members of the group out. 

As Kal rests, she dreams about a snowstorm. Only Kal knows when and where it is, but she can see that she is looking down at someone trying to protect themselves. She hears two voices in her head, one telling her to kill, the other to protect. She decides to listen to the male voice, and spares the person. Waking up, she feels inspired by the experience.

The next morning, with the party having rested properly, they speak with Sildar about what happened. He tells the party about a black spider that have been heard roaming the area, and that Gundren hired him to protect him before they reach Wave Echo Cave, apparently the place they are supposed to help Gundren with. He overheard some goblins talking about sending him to Cragmaw Castle, as he had a map that led to the cave. But Sildar reveals that he came along not only for Gundren, but also in search of a wizard named Iarno Albrek, a fellow member of the Forgeblades who went missing in the area a few months back. Feeling that they are stuck in the middle of something bigger than they expected, the party gathers their supplies, and carries the crates with the blue lion logo with them back to the cart.

Entering Phandalin

Getting back to the cart, the party loads up the supplies they found in the goblin cave and head east towards Ruins of Phandalin. Sildar is looking frustrated with the situation, failing to protect Gundren, so he is not very talkative. The party understands, and lets him be for the most part. As the group sees the sun descend on the western horizon, they decide to make camp for the night, and hopefully reach Phandalin in the morning. Luckily, no goblins or wolves come lumbering out in the night, so they get a good night's sleep.

The next day, making their last push towards their destination, they can see a settlement in the distance. Passing over a hill they overlook the quaint little village of Phandalin. The settlement seems to be built on top of an older settlement that was here long ago, as they can see remnants of stone foundations where the buildings used to be. Most of the buildings now are made of wood, and they can see a large collapsed mansion to the east of the village. As they descend down the hill and get a clearer look, they see a building with a logo of a blue lion above the door, seemingly the same as the one they found on the crates. The party quickly head towards the shop Barthen’s Provisions and drop off the goods they were hired to deliver. After this, they take the boxes they found and deliver them to the blue lion, which apparently goes by the name Lionshield Coster, a merchant company based in Elvenbridge. The woman behind the counter, Linene Graywind, seems to be happy to see her shipment finally arriving safely, and gives the party a fitting reward of a few gold coins for delivering it to her. The party picks up a few supplies at the same time, and heads back into town to explore.

Finding Lodgings

Demetrius in the meantime has been looking for lodgings, and finds the only place to sleep in town, Stonehill Inn. He approaches the innkeeper Toblen and his wife Trilena, and requests lodgings for him and his 5 companions. Much to the surprise and dismay of both the innkeeper and the party, both Granny and Willowbark say they prefer to sleep outside in the open air. Regardless, the Stonehills have available rooms so those who prefer to sleep indoors have a place to stay. 

As the sun is setting, the party decides to just take a rest in the inn whilst they think of their next move, but Sildar is determined to look around the town for answers. The party orders a few drinks for themselves, while Kal asks if she can cook in the kitchen for the evening. As she is new in town, Toblen is hesitant to allow it, but when Kal offers to pay to do it, he cannot say no, so she starts making food. Willowbark and Granny try their hand at playing a little music, but the performance is lackluster. Penny sees this as an opportunity to offer to play for the inn in order to get free lodgings for herself.

In the kitchen, while Kal is making some food for guests, she talks a bit with Trilena, who asks if the party has encountered the “Redbrands”. Having just arrived, she says they have not, and asks who they are. Trilena explains that a group of soldiers arrived about a month ago, and basically took over the village. They take what they want, and several people have gone missing or been murdered when they tried to speak up, and the mayor won’t do anything. It’s especially clear that they don’t take kindly to newcomers. Kal asks where they are holed up, and Trilena says she doesn’t know exactly, but she has seen them around the Sleepy Giant Tap House.

Meanwhile, the half-elves have decided to go talk to some dwarven prospectors in the back of the inn, to see what they know of Cragmaw Castle, but the only “castle” they know about is the run down manor to the east of the village, which is from long ago from before the village was rebuilt. They’ve heard of Cragmaw Castle of course, but have no idea where it is. They have however heard about Wave Echo Cave, but are adamant that it is only a myth. Not getting more information from them, they move on to an old man sitting in the corner, asking the same. He tells them there’s no castles in the area, but asks if they want to hear a rumor; the cleric who tends to the Shrine of Luck recently left for a few days, and came back exhausted and wounded. Maybe something to check into. 

As the party is minding their business, a trio of people enter the tavern. All of them are wearing red cloaks. The whole inn goes quiet, as the locals seem on edge by the sudden appearance of these ruffians entering, but they quietly go over to a table and sit down, with Trilena bringing over a few drinks for them.

Kal eventually comes out with her food, and tells the party what Trilena told her about the Redbrands that have invaded the town. As the party has huddled together as to not speak too loud, one of the redbrands takes notice, and comes walking over. Theren tries to throw him off by pretending they were talking about something else, but the redbrand is not having it and tells the group that they have to leave town the next morning. Willowbark tries to reason with him, but he just tells her to be quiet, making derogatory remarks about her kind. Theren tries to ask what the redbrands are doing in town, but this just agitates the redbrand, telling them they better keep quiet or they will regret it. He reminds them to leave town tomorrow, or face punishment, and returns to his group.

Trilena walks over with some more drinks, and tells the party she’s not sure where they sleep, but she is frustrated with them not paying for anything, and hopes someone can do something about them soon.

Getting Caught Up

The next morning, Toblen tells the party that Sildar went to talk to the mayor as soon as he woke up, so the party decides to go explore the town, not taking the redbrand threat too seriously. Granny sees a few kids running around in the street, so she decides to give theme some cookies as a treat, which they gladly accept. Heading over to the town hall, the party notice a bounty board on the outside, with the promise of a reward of 100 gp to anyone who can take care of the orcs that have been roaming the countryside, and seems to be holed up somewhere near Wyvern Tor. 

Eventually, Sildar comes walking out of the town hall, after having spoken to the mayor. He greets the party, and shares what he has learned of the area. Concerning goblins, they seem to be a major problem, as they keep disrupting shipments and so the mayor has issued a 500 gp reward for dealing with them. Sildar has confirmed that Cragmaw Castle is their base of operations, but they do not know where it is, only that it is hidden to the forest in the north.

Willowbark, Penny and Granny go looking for sheep, as they want to say hi. On the outskirts of town they find a pen with some sheeps in them, so they spend some time there. Next to the sheep lives an old half-elf called Daran Edermath, well over a hundred years old. He used to be an adventurer, and spent a lot of time on the Western Coast. At first he seems to only be a kooky old man, but he has some surprising insight. For instance, he mentions that the Redbrands are probably holed up under the ruins of Tresendar Manor, the collapsed one to the east, and that their leader is called “Glasstaff”. He also mentions to the group that there are rumors of undead roaming around Old Owl Well, an old watchtower to the north-east. He suspects dangerous magic is the cause, and hopes the party can check it out if they are in the area. Penny thanks him for the information by playing him a song on her flute, which he greatly appreciates.

Back in the village, Kal has gone off alone to try to learn about the abandoned manor to the east. During her walk, she encounters the innkeeper’s son, Pip. He wants to play with Kal, which she does for a bit, and this leads to him revealing to her that his friend Carp told him that he found a secret tunnel in the woods south of the manor, and that he was almost captured by the redbrands when he did. He also overheard the redbrands talking about a guy called Glasstaff. Kal takes a mental note of this, and heads to the Shrine of Luck, where they agreed to meet up.

The Shrine of Luck

As Kal waits at the shrine, the rest of the group meet her there. The shrine is being looked after by a female elf in white robes, who approaches the party and asks if they’re willing to give a contribution. She asks if they are going to be in the area for a while, and if they are going to the north east. Apparently there resides a Banshee called Agatha just outside the ruins of Covenlet who could be willing to answer any question posed by someone who manages to flatter her. The elf is trying to find the location of a certain spellbook belonging to a legendary mage named Bowgentle. The party thinks they might find their way into that area, so they agree to help. The elf introduces herself as Sister Garaele, and gives them a jeweled silver comb, in the hopes that it might help in swaying the banshee. She warns the party that they should not be rude to the banshee, as she is quite powerful. Willowbark asks if Garaele has a map of the area, which she does, but it’s just a crudely drawn map that she herself has made, but as she is just staying in town she has no use for it, so she sells it to the party for 1 gp.

Just as the map is handed over, four men in dirty red robes come up behind them, and demand that the party gives up their equipment and leave town immediately, as they didn’t heed their warnings from before. The party is unwilling to hand over anything, as they are outnumbering the redbrands, but they seem to not be intimidated by this. Penny throws a few insults at them, which causes them to go on the offense, and attacks the party. Luckily, the party dispatches three of them without much issue, while the last one tries to run away, but the party knocks him out before he manages to escape. Willowbark quickly uses her druidic powers to have vines come from the ground to restrain him, so that the party can interrogate him about the redbrand dealings in town.

Harbin Wester

As Willowbark is focusing on holding the Redbrand in her vines, the rest of the party approaches to restrain him further. Before they manage to tie him up, the mayor, Harbin Wester, comes running out of the town hall yelling at the party for attacking the Redbrands. When the party points out that they were just defending themselves, the mayor is not having any of it, as he is worried that the Redbrands will take vengeance on the townsfolk as a response to this “unnecessary aggression” from the party. The mayor admits they don’t have any town guards, so it was easy for the Redbrands to take over. There was a wizard that was in town a few months ago, but the mayor tells the party he disappeared, and the town fears that the Redbrands killed him so he could not interfere. A few townfolks comes over, and the mayor tells them to take the Redbrand prisoner into the cell in the town hall, so Willowbark releases him from her grasp, and he is carried away. Theren asks if the mayor has a map of the area, but he either doesn’t have one or doesn’t want to give one to the party, presumably due to being angry at the group. Distraught, the mayor eventually goes back to the town hall to deal with the prisoner.

Sister Garaele comes out of hiding, and thanks the party for dealing with the ruffians, and casts a healing spell on the whole group. She mentions that she thinks that someone will have to deal with the Redbrands now, and not so subtly hints that the party are the perfect ones to do it. In either case, she gives them a blessing and wishes them luck, as she retreats to the shrine again. The party takes a short breather near the sheep that Penny is so fond of, with Kal giving a candy to Demetrius. During the rest, the party decides that they should go to the mansion to take care of the Redbrands.

The Mansion

Heading up towards the ruin of what once was Tresendar Manor, the party can see several footsteps leading up to it, which shows it is not as derelict as it would first appear. Coming up to the ruin itself, they see that there is no way that the mansion holds any hidden inhabitants, as the roof has collapsed, and the whole building is in a sorry state. They do however find a lot of footprints leading to the rear of the manor. Following the trails, the group finds a semi-hidden door that leads down into the basement. Not wanting to go in blind, the party decides to split up, with Willowbark, Grannyand Penny staying near the entrance, watching for Redbrands who might wonder where their friends have gone, whilst Theren, Demetrius and Kal return to the town hall to talk to the prisoner.

Walking into the town hall, the mayor demands to know how it went, as since they returned they must have already defeated the redbrands, but the party tells him they need more information before going forwards with the assault. The mayor reluctantly leads the party down into the old dungeon the town hall was built upon, and in front of them, in one of the cells, sits a beat up, tired Redbrand. He looks up at the party, and doesn’t seem interested in talking. The mayor stays back, letting the trio take charge.

Interrogating the Redbrand

Fie goes in swinging, saying if he talks, they won’t kill him. The Redbrand doesn’t seem to believe them. He simply wants to be released, that’s the price for giving information about his group. He doesn’t really care about the Redbrands, he just wants to live. Kal asks if they release him if he will change his ways for the better. The prisoner gives an unconvincing and seemingly insincere yes to this. Theren responds that he will need to pay his debt by helping the town. Again, the Redbrand doesn’t seem to bite on this, instead asking for better accommodations in his imprisonment. They look back at the mayor who gives a short nervous nod. He tells the party there are about 10 Redbrands in the mansion, but he is not completely sure. When Kal asks if he even knows how to count, he responds in turn that he does. It’s just that they are not all at the mansion all the time. He does reveal that there are two entrances, one at the back, the other in the forested area south of it.

He also tells them about this supposed “Glasstaff”. He says he is pretty powerful, and wields a magic glass staff to direct his magic, as he is a fairly competent spellcaster. He hasn’t heard the name Iarno, but the party suspects there might be a connection here. What the Redbrand tells them is that Glasstaff is quite the silver tongue, as he can easily convince you to do his bidding. The Redbrand makes it clear that Glasstaff didn’t hire them to control the town, but the Black Spider did, and he has sent bugbears to help maintain control if the Redbrands falter. In either case, Glasstaff is rarely outside of his study, as he only comes out to eat and give orders to the others. He doesn’t think they have anyone that actively keeps watch, but they might have someone looking for their missing people if they are gone too long. Finally, he mentions that there is a creature of some sort in the bottom of the base, a horrible creature with a big eye that protects the southern entrance, and all the men are disturbed by it, but Glasstaff insists that it should be left in peace. In the back of the room while all this is happening, the mayor is huffing and puffing, obviously being frustrated or even a little scared about the whole situation. He tells the party he wants this whole ordeal over with.

Into the Keep

Kal, Theren and Demetrius returns to the rear of the mansion, and can easily spot Penny and Granny cloud gazing, whilst Willowbark is chasing after a butterfly. The returning trio thinks about how they were supposed to hide, but as no Redbrand is attacking them, it’s probably fine. They tell the others about what the prisoner told them, and discuss back and forth what they should do. Kal thinks it would be unwise to go through the forest entrance, as it could mean an extra fight with the eye monster, which they all agree to. As there are no guards that can be seen, they take the front entrance instead. Kal makes sure to keep in the rear of the group due to her armor making her less able to sneak around than the others.

Inside the door, down some stairs, they come across a large room with a big pool of water on the other side. Willowbark decides to take a look into the pool, and finds a getaway bag of sorts, containing fresh clothes, a healing potion and a potion of invisibility. Looking further through the room at the barrels to the south, they realize that this is the Redbrands food supply. Suddenly, most of the group realize they are not alone, as a figure comes walking out of an adjoining room, followed by a couple of Redbrands. They apparently heard commotion outside and so comes out fighting. 

They seem to be competent fighters, more so than the ones the group fought in the streets. Using everything the party has at their disposal, the battle goes their way. Demetrius, being quick with his rapier, gets in a few good hits, before running to Granny who was a bit taken aback by the sudden commotion. Penny plays her music helping people fight better, while attacking what she can. At one point, one of the Redbrands throws a dagger at Kal, but misses. When Kal turns around to grab the dagger, it disappears, and reappears in the Redbrands sheath. After the battle is won and the Redbrands lie bleeding on the floor, they search them, finding some valuables and weapons, with Demetrius claiming the Sheath of Returning. While the rest of the group searches, Willowbark gathers the bodies to hide, and to do a ritual of respect for the dead.

The Nothic

To the south, the group discovers a hidden door, which they decide to go through first, after noticing that the hallway to the north has a trap door in the floor. Beyond is a short hallway that leads into a bigger cavern with a ravine running down the middle. Willowbark is scared they will meet the eye monster the prisoner described, but it seems rather quiet. Using her firbolg magic she senses necromantic energy at the bottom of the ravine. 

Demetrius and Kal notice movement in the darkness. They feel like they are being watched, and suddenly, both Willowbark and Kal can hear voices inside their heads.

“There is no reason to be afraid. I do not want to hurt you. Why are you here?”

The voice extends to the rest of the group as well. The creature tells the party that the Redbrands have captured it and is keeping it as a prisoner. The creature just wants to be free and eat, but when they ask what it eats, it does not answer. 

Demetrius and Willowbark feel that the creature is speaking truthfully, as it doesn’t seem to want to hurt them, otherwise it would have attacked. They get a sensation that the creature is animalistic in nature, not good or evil. It promises that if they help free it, it will show them where the prisoners are being kept. The creature eventually emerges, a horrible spiked body with a large singular eye, and sharp teeth. It seems to try to read the party members, but not everyone is as easy to read as others. 

The being takes them back through the secret door, through the entrance hall with the water reservoir, and to the hallway in the north. When the party makes a point of avoiding the trap door in the floor, it seems to be displeased somehow. When they cross the floor, they peer into the opening in the doors, and can see skeletons on the other side. They figure they are probably very hard of hearing, so the party should be able to sneak through, but not long after the doors open, the skeletons turn towards them, with weapons raised. Three more Redbrands from an adjoining room join the battle. 

Element of Surprise

Willowbark wild shapes into a wolf, and the rest of the party quickly dispatches the skeletons and the Redbrands, apart from one, who manages to escape through a door to the north. The party tries to follow, but when they enter, he is gone. The party realizes the Redbrands probably know now that they are coming. 

In the room where the Redbrands came from they find three prisoners, a woman and her two children. She is dehydrated and starving, and thanks the party profusely for helping her. The party gives her some of their supplies, and she explains that the Redbrands murdered her husband in the streets for defying them, which the party heard about, before abducting the woman and her children. The party decides to lead the woman and her children safely to the outside, and then returns to look where the Redbrand escapee went.

Willowbark, in her wolf form, has heightened senses, and can smell the stench of the Redbrand on a nearby hidden door, which the party passes through. The creature they found within follows behind, and the party can sense something trying to penetrate their minds once more. They grow more distrusting towards the creature, but as it has not attacked them yet, they leave it be. 

Taking out the Rest

The party crosses the chasm, and which leads down to two stairways further down into the depths. They decide to take the bottom stairs, and can hear that the Redbrands and some other deeper voices are preparing for the party's intrusion behind a door below. Seeing that the element of surprise is lost, they decide to surround them on both sides, so half the party go through the door to the north, while the other remains on the south. They kick open the doors almost simultaneously, and can see a few bugbears within, as well as some Redbrands. They were seemingly in the middle of a card game, before the escapee came running and warned them. 

During the ensuing battle, the creature joins the battle and tries to help the party, but they can’t  shake the feeling of being watched. They grow even more distrustful of it, and Theren decides to take matters into his own hand before the creature gets a chance to hurt the party. Suddenly, a bugbear screams at the creature, “TRAITOR!” as it is trying to claw at him, and tosses it to the side before smashing its head in with a mace. From behind the southern group, a couple of more bugbears join the fray, and the party can see a small figure running away from the room. When the bugbears and remaining Redbrands lie dead on the ground, the party decides to look for the figure that came running out of the adjoining room. 

Droop

When they get back to the cave, they can see the small figure passed out in the ravine. The party is cautious, as they sensed a necromantic energy at the bottom of the ravine, but notice quickly that it just is a cold sensation, and doesn’t hurt them. They drag the figure out of the ravine, and find it to be a goblin. 

Waiting for the goblin to regain consciousness, the party takes a look into the ravine, and finds what appears to be a chest half hidden beneath one of the bridges in a nook. They take it out and look through it, finding a magnificent sword that emits light, which Kal recognizes as the “Longsword of Twilight”, owned by Lennek Mercier, who supposedly fell when the orcs invaded these lands around 500 years ago. The sword was never seen again. They also find some potions of healing, and a spell scroll, as well as some gemstones and silver, and, perhaps most interestingly, a tarot card with the symbol of Shehemis on it.

With only the wizard remaining, the party decides to take a short rest, surprised that he hasn’t emerged to check on the commotion. Theren theorizes that he is just waiting for the right moment. Suddenly, the goblin awakens, and acts hysterical from being surrounded by strangers that he thinks will kill him. The party manages to calm him down, and he introduces himself as Droop. He says that he is working with the bugbears against his will, that he really doesn’t want to be here, and that he is sorry if he caused the party harm, after the party members assure him that his captors are dead. The party asks if he knows anything that can help them defeat the wizard, and he replies that he doesn’t know much, but he knows that the wizard has a secret hallway leading out of his chambers, and points it out. The party gives him some food, and Willowbark tells him about a place he can go and be safe, if he just waits for them at the entrance, so that they can deal with Glasstaff first. He is grateful for this, and scuttles out to the exit.

The Wizard

Once more, the party tries to make a pincer move to take their enemy from both sides, both the normal entrance and the secret one. When the main entrance is breached, they can see a small rat inside, that looks curiously at the party, before trying to run away. They hear movement on the door within, presumably Glasstaff noticing that he is cornered, and so they kick open the door once more, with the other half of the party cutting off his escape. Inside they see a wizard with graying hair and a staff made of what looks like glass. He stares at the party members who surround him, looking annoyed at the situation. The party members take turns attacking him before he has a chance to fight back, and they get a few good hits in, but suddenly he grabs Kal by the armor and shocks her with his magic, before teleporting to the doorway and starts running away. 

The party follows him, with Penny, Demetrius and Theren taking charge, almost reaching up to him. Glasstaff suddenly turns around at his pursuers, looks at the two half-elves curiously, before casting a spell towards them. Both Theren and Penny slumps over, asleep, but Demetrius is unaffected. Granny and Kal shakes the sleeping members awake, and as Glasstaff is about to round the corner to freedom, he is caught up to by the pursuers, and knocked out. 

Glasstaff Unmasked

Having defeated the Redbrands and now their leader, they tie him up, and bring him back to the cavern area, before deciding to search his quarters. Within, they find a few books on various subjects, but most interestingly is Glasstaffs journal describing something called the Forge of Spells, which apparently can enchant items at will. There are also a bunch of notes about Phandelver, which is apparently what the village was called before it was destroyed and rebuilt. Kal takes note of some notes mentioning a mace called Lightbringer, rumored to be in Wave Echo Cave, as it was lost around the same time as the cave was lost. The notes also mention a wizard named “Mormesk”. Finally, they find a letter that appears to be from Glasstaff’s master, signed with the symbol of a black spider.

Lord Albrek

My spies in Rivergrounds tell me that strangers are due to arrive in Phandalin. They could be working for the dwarves. Capture them if you can, kill them if you must, but don’t allow them to upset our plans. See that any dwarven maps in their possession are delivered to me with haste. I’m counting on you, Iarno. Don’t disappoint me.

To no one’s surprise, it is revealed that Glasstaff is Iarno Albrek, the member of the Forgeblades that Sildar Hallwinter was here to look for. They pick him up, along with his valuables, and take him to the town hall. When they get outside, Droop is fidgeting nervously, looking over at the village, knowing that they would probably attack him if they could see him. Willowbark takes Droop to the side, and tells him about a communitythat he can go to where he will be safe. She teaches him a secret hand signal, gives him a few rations, and sends him on his way. Droop gives her a tearful hug in return, having never been treated with such kindness before, before running off into the night.

Returning to the village with the Redbrands dead, and their leader captured, the mayor is overjoyed at how the party handled the crisis, and gladly takes in Glasstaff and throws him into one of the cells. Returning to the inn, with Demetrius declaring loudly that the Redbrand terror is over, and their leader has been captured, Toblen is overjoyed and declares that they all get to stay for free, and breakfast is on them, much to the cheers of the patrons of the inn. Willowbark and Granny still decide to sleep outside.

The Most Important Meal of the Day

The next morning, they all wake up feeling well rested after the intense skirmish at the Tresendor Manor. When the people who slept in the inn go to get breakfast, they are greeted by the happy faces of Toblen and his wife who are very grateful that they no longer have to live under the terror of the Redbrands. Granny and Willowbark eventually wakes up, after some sheep came over to check what they were doing on their turf. 

As they sit around the table eating breakfast, Penny takes a closer look at the tarot card they found in the nothic’s chest. She can see a weak shimmer on it, like there's something special about it, and the symbol of Shehemis, although weak, is clearly visible on the card, but she cannot sense any magic coming from it, although it is unyielding when she tries to rip it. Theren tries to examine it but he can’t discern anything either. It’s probably enchanted, but they don’t know why someone would do it.

After breakfast, the party heads out into Ruins of Phandalin to gather some more information and pick up more supplies. Granny decides to go to the Lionshield Coster and inquire about a woodcarving set, so that she can make arrows in the field. As luck would have it, she has one set available, which has been gathering dust, but as the lady behind the counter can see how much Granny wants it, she tries to upsell her on the price. Granny relents, and pays for the set, just happy to have it.

Getting Answers

Demetrius and Kal meet up with Theren, and they all decide they want to go and interrogate “Glasstaff". Reaching the town hall, the mayor properly thanks them for getting rid of the Redbrands, and leads them down into the prison area where Iarno is waiting. They start questioning him, and the first thing they want to know is where Cragmaw Castle is, but Glasstaff tells them, like everyone else it seems, that he doesn’t know where it is located. He does however willingly tell them that his master is The Black Spider, and that he is looking for Wave Echo Cave, because it contains something of great importance to him. Suddenly, in the middle of talking, Iarno seems to lose his words, and starts slurring, before eventually coming to, breathing heavily, suddenly claiming he was under a spell, and that he has done nothing wrong. All three of them see through the facade, and Iarno nonchalantly says “oh well, worth a shot”. They pressure him further about the Black Spider, and he confirms that he is a Drow, an ancient race of elves that are all but extinct. He mentions that he can wait in the cell if he has to, but the Black Spider has promised to free him, as he is under his protection, and laughs as the party walks away.

When the trio returns upstairs to the main hall, they pressure the mayor about the lack of protection of Phandalin. He goes on the defensive, telling them that he has only been mayor for a few months, as they have an election every year so that the mayor isn’t corrupted. He admits that he has been lax on the protection, but he insists that it is not his fault. The reasoning for this is that although Phandalin is technically in the territory of what is now known as Hold of Khuz'Dhan, historically, Phandalin, or at least the town it was built upon, was a part of The Bridgeheart Kingdom, so either Elvenbridge or Khuzunzan is responsible for sending guards, but neither have decided who is responsible. Kal suggests that he sort this out sooner rather than later, lest another force comes in and takes over the town again. Harbin takes her word seriously, as she is quite imposing if she wants to, and decides to send a message to both cities, demanding that they sort it out.

While walking through the streets of the village, Willowbark is suddenly approached by the woman they rescued from the Redbrands, Mirna. She thanks her once again for the help, as they thought they were going to die in that dungeon. Willowbark is just happy to have helped an innocent soul, but Mirna insists that they deserve some sort of reward. She tells Willowbark that when she was a teenager, she and her family lived in the village of Thundertree, which lay not far from Rivergrounds. Something bad happened about 15 years ago, forcing them to flee from the town. Most of the refugees settled in Rivergrounds, but some branched outwards towards other settlements. Mirna and her family eventually moved from Rivergrounds to Phandalin when it was rebuilt a few years ago. She tells Willowbark that when they lived in Thundertree they had a shop, and in the rush of the event had to leave everything behind. She knows that they had an old family heirloom, a beautiful emerald necklace, that was hidden beneath some shelves. If Willowbark and her group ever find themselves in the area, she is free to take it as a reward. Willowbark on the other hand pledges to return the necklace to her, and won’t take no for an answer. Mirna is grateful for this, but makes it clear that it is theirs to keep if they so wish.

Doing Recon

Afterwards, the group meet back up in the inn to have some lunch, and as they sit there eating their food and talking about what they have learned, Sildar comes walking in through the door, bloodied and filthy. He tells the party that he has been cleaning up the bodies in the manor along with some volunteers, and confirms that the threat has been neutralized. They tell Sildar that they want to find Gundren, which he is glad to hear, but he is unsure where to start. He suggests that the party widen their search and ask around town for anyone who knows something. They decide to split up, with Granny and Theren checking out the miner’s exchange, Penny and Demetrius will check out the Sleeping Giant Tap House that the Redbrands used to get drunk at, while Kal and Willowbark will check out the Alderleaf farm.

In the Miner’s exchange, they meet a bunch of dwarves who have returned from the mountains to sell their precious stones they have found. The lady behind the counter, Halia, asks if it’s true that they cleared out the Redbrands, to which they confirm. Without a word, she takes out a coin purse containing 50 gp as a reward for saving the town. When asked about Cragmaw Castle, she too says she knows not where it is, but she has heard of a wandering druid that might know something. After some thinking, she remembers his name is Reidoth.

Penny and Demetrius goes to the Sleeping Giant Tap House, and finds a dwarven woman closing down shop. She doesn’t really want to talk to the duo, as she was more or less forced by the Redbrands to keep them satisfied with drinks, and now that they’re gone, she’s moving on. Disappointed in the dead end, they head back to the inn.

Willowbark and Kal talk to a middle aged halfling woman named Qelline, who owns the Alderleaf farm, and her son, Carp. Willowbark is very impressed by her cows, and Qelline offers her a sample, to which she gladly accepts. It is the best milk that Willowbark has tasted in a long time. Qelline is happy to provide, but can sense that the duo is after something. They tell her they’re looking for Cragmaw Castle as a friend of theirs was kidnapped by the goblins who reside there. She tells them she knows not where it is, but she is very good friends with a wandering druid named Reidoth. When asked where they can find this druid, she tells them he recently returned to Thundertree, and confirms what Willowbark has heard about it being faced with a sickness around 15 years ago. If anyone would know where what you’re looking for is, it would be him, she says. Kal and Willowbark thanks for the help, and gives a silver to her son, Carp, for being such a good sport.

Kal takes Willowbark to the stables to show her a horse so that she can turn into one if they need it. They meet the stableboy, Tim, who seems to be quite the character, condescendingly pointing at the stable when the pair ask politely where they can find the horses. They don’t know if he is rude or simple, but no matter, they head inside the stable, and Willowbark is very happy to meet the horse, and now feels confident that she can change into one if needed. 

Deciding the Course of Action

Afterwards, the whole group meet back at the tavern to compare notes, and they realize that the best course of action would be to head to Thundertree to find this supposed Reidoth that might know where Gundren is being held. Not wanting to waste any time, they go one last time to pick up whatever supplies they might need, with Kal going to the general store to pick up assorted spices to make the food less mundane, while also going to the Lionshield Coster to sell her old morningstar, now using the Longsword of Twilight instead.

As the party sets out in the evening, they take one last look back at the village, knowing they will return eventually, but first they have to save their dwarven benefactor from certain death, and stop this supposed drow menace that is the Black Spider.

A Presence in the Night

The party, after gathering their belongings and saying their goodbyes for now, start the long walk north towards the Ruins of Thundertree, to hopefully get some answers, and to find some long lost heirlooms. As nightfall is beginning to come creeping in, the group decides after about an hour of walking that it is best to make camp for the night. Theren and Demetrius are not really fond of sleeping outside, but they make do when they have to, but it is clear they are both already missing civilization.

The next morning, the party continues their trek, reaching the fork in the road that leads west towards the main road, and east towards Khuzunzan, the party decides they want to take the scenic route, and instead head straight north, through the grasslands and forests, and hopefully far away from any prying eyes that the Black Spider have sent out. After a long day's trek, it’s time to make camp once more. As they do, Kal goes a bit further away from the rest of the group, and starts praying to her god, asking them when she can return home. Willowbark overhears this, and asks her what that was about. Kal tells her she has been put on a journey, and wonders when it is over. Willowbark asks her what her god is called, and Kal simply replies that he is an annoying bastard, much to the horror of Willowbark, who has nothing but respect for her deity.

During the night, as the party keeps watch so as to not be ambushed by wildlife or what's worse, Willowbark and Demetrius both notice a figure, standing in the distance, watching over them. As it is pitch black, it is impossible to get any details, but as it is standing against the horizon, they notice that the figure is cloaked. Demetrius tries to cautiously move closer, but as soon as he gets too close, the figure simply disappears. Hoping it is nothing dangerous, Demetrius tries to calm Willowbark down by asking her about her drinking habits, explaining that wine is the “milk of the gods”, and that she must try it, but Willowbark is satisfied with a cup of warm or cold milk.  He also tries to explain to her the logistics of government, but this is far beyond Willowbark’s comprehension.

On Kal’s watch, as she watches over the night sky, and sees a thunderstorm in the distance, she suddenly hears the sound of something big moving over the forest, almost like it’s sailing past in the air. Unsure of what it is, and since it moved past them, she tries to distract herself by making some goodies over the fire.

The next morning, the party discusses what they saw and heard throughout the night, and theorizes what it may have been. Penny is sure that it is a dragon, while the others are not so confident with that. Granny tells her that she shouldn’t worry about things she can’t control. In the meantime, Theren has walked over to where Willowbark and Demetrius saw the figure, and can see footprints on the ground, and they apparently were bare feet. What is more peculiar is the fact that no footprints lead to or from the location, almost as if the figure appeared and disappeared by magic. The party gets a chill down their spine with the thought of someone watching them, but tries to put it to the back of their minds.

The Hunting Party

As the party continues traveling, Willowbark can hear distinct voices coming from the area in front of them. They think nothing of it, but suddenly, from behind a few bushes, a group of hobgoblins come walking out. They seem as surprised to face the party as the party is to face them, but it is clear that they were looking for them. They spring into action, attacking, but are no match for the party who easily takes care of them. They leave one alive, the one who seemed to be the leader of the group, and demand that he tells them where Cragmaw Castle is. He is not swayed, saying that he would rather the party kill him than face the wrath of King Grol. Penny stands over him, and tries to tickle torture him, but it is ineffective. Not wanting to execute an unarmed prisoner, Kal demands that he walk away from them, and if he turns around before 10 minutes have passed, they will strike him down. He takes the party up on the offer, and leaves the area, unarmed and embarrassed. The party searches the remaining hobgoblins, and finds a crudely drawn picture of what appears to be Penny, with the writing underneath saying “25 gold pieces for this one - The Black Spider”. Penny is shocked and appalled that she is not worth more than 25 gp, but pockets the drawing, being fond of the attention. 

The group keeps walking, regularly looking east into the forest, hoping to not encounter another group of hobgoblins before they reach Thundertree. After a while, they decide to camp for another night, realizing that they must be more than halfway there, as they can barely make out the light of the nearby town of Rivergrounds.

The next day, not long after they have started walking, they trek next to a large rock formation with some trees. Thinking nothing of it, the party calmly makes their way through the formation, but Willowbark suddenly hears the crack of a branch being broken, and sees movement in her periphery. She realizes that she is about to be ambushed, but doesn’t have time to warn the others before a group of goblins suddenly starts firing arrows at them. 

The battle is once again over fairly quickly, with each party member taking care of dispatching the goblins, Granny finally having gotten used to real combat, and Theren keeping to the back watching the flanks. Willowbark, in an unusual show of force, manages to almost liquify two of the goblins with a spell. As she stands there looking at what she has done, the battle rages around her, and eventually dies down, but the rest of the party clearly notices that she is shaken by the event. 

As the party searches the goblins, Willowbark takes the two she killed to the side, and gives them a proper burial, collecting rocks, sticks and flowers, and makes a small prayer to her god, asking for forgiveness for what she has done. Kal tries to comfort her, saying it was either her or them, but somehow it is not helping. Willowbark is quiet for the rest of the walk, and when the sun starts laying low on the horizon, they can see the outskirts of what myst be Thundertree in front of them.

Thundertree

The road in front of them is overgrown with grass and plants, and there is an odd sensation in the area. A smell that doesn’t belong, a feeling on the skin like the very air is toxic. Almost like there is a sickness lying over the place. Willowbark tells the others that she recognizes this feeling, but doesn’t elaborate. Going a bit further, the party sees a sign that someone has placed near the path, blocking the way into the town.

“DANGER! Plant monsters AND zombies! Turn back now!”

Penny, appearing oblivious to the sign, walks straight past it and heads into town, with the rest following, asking why she just ignored the sign without hesitation. Penny tries to blow it off like she didn’t see it, but the party notices something is off about her.

Walking down the road, they see an overgrown town with a large tower near the center of it. A few of the buildings seem to be intact, but many have collapsed or deteriorated to the point that it is never going to be habitable again. The party can see that the traversable part of the town is just a small part of what once was Thundertree, but most of the city has already been overgrown by dark looking plants that don't look too inviting. Demetrius and Granny both notice a particular house which seems to be well maintained, as it has an intact roof, windows, and it is not overgrown. 

The party decides the best course of action is to stealthily move towards the house, as they know not what dangers loom in the area. Kal is having a hard time sneaking, as her armor clatters and is heavy, making her much more noisy than the rest of the group. Willowbark uses a spell that makes it easier for her to sneak, and the party manages to get through Thundertree unscathed, but they see a few plantlike beings on the way, well camouflaged among the foliage, and not moving. 

Reidoth

Reaching the house, Penny carefully knocks on the door, after they see that it is locked. They hear movement coming from the other side, and a voice asking who it is in a careful manner. They ask for shelter, saying they are looking for a druid named Reidoth. The door suddenly opens, and an old, scrawny, tattooed man greets them. He says they found him, and tells the party to quickly come inside. 

Safely under shelter, the party asks why Reidoth is doing here all by himself, and he tells them that he is trying to maintain the balance by cleaning up whatever he can. Then he asks why they’re looking for him. They tell him that their friend has been kidnapped by a group of goblins, and that they’re holed up in Cragmaw Castle, and have been told that he might know the way there. He confirms that he indeed knows where the goblins are holed up, and is happy to show them the way there, asking for a map. Theren brings out the map they got from Sister Garaele, and the druid, while also remarking on the crudeness of the map, marks the general area where the castle is located. 

Willowbark, having noticed a familiarity in the sickness that plagues the town, asks Reidoth about it, and what could be causing it. Reidoth tells them that there have been several areas that have been plagued by this, and it started happening 40 or 50 years ago as far as he can tell, most recently here in Thundertree about 15 years ago. WIllowbark is concerned by this, and reveals that she thinks that it is spreading once more, this time to the forest where she comes from, and that she is looking for a way to stop it. Reidoth tells her that he sadly knows not the cause or the cure, but there is another issue that the party can help with rectifying. A young green dragon has made the nearby tower the party saw coming in its lair, and Reidoth would love for the party to chase it away or kill it, as its mere presence causes the area to be unbalanced, even more so than the sickness. 

The party is not exactly jumping on the opportunity to attack a dragon as they barely have started their journey, but Reidoth promises that if they manage to chase away the dragon he will give them his bag of holding, and if they manage to kill it and bring him proof, he will throw in something extra. The party seems intrigued by this, as a bag of holding would make life much easier for them, and accepts. Willowbark, wanting to find the emerald necklace, asks if he knows where the old alchemy shop is, and he gives her the directions, warning of the dangers lurking in the area, both what he calls twig blights and zombies.

As it is getting late, the party asks Reidoth if it is okay to rest in his house for the evening, which he is fine with, but warns that it might be a bit cramped. Considering the alternative is sleeping outside with various monsters trying to kill, the party is fine with this, and spends the rest of the evening discussing how they will approach the dragon and clear the town. As a thank you for letting them stay, Penny gives Reidoth the drawing of Penny she took from the hobgoblins, which he hangs on the wall.

Making a Plan

The next morning, the party wakes up a bit earlier than usual, to prepare properly for the day's events. Over breakfast, they talk about how they are going to approach the dragon, with Willowbark and Penny wanting to see if they can negotiate with it first. The rest of the party is unsure if that will work, considering dragons are known to be cunning and generally hostile, so at the first sign of trouble, they will have to fight back.

Theren and Demetrius want to recon the area that leads up to the dragons tower, in order to minimize the chance of them being discovered on the way there. As they stealthily move their way up the hill from Reidoths house, they see more of the twig blights that Reidoth described hiding in the bushes near the tower, but also all over the town, among the buildings, but curiously, they seem to leave the duo alone for now. Theren theorizes that they only react to disturbances when they get too close. Hopefully he’s correct so that they don’t have to worry about them for now.

As they reach the threshold of the tower, they can see a couple of dead giant spiders just outside the entrance, who seems to have been killed by something that didn’t leave a wound. When they go closer to examine them, there is a strong odor of rotten eggs or decayed fish, which they both recognize as sulfur. There are a few cracks in the tower wall that allows them to peer inside at the roof, but they see nothing. They do however hear a heavy rumble of something big breathing heavily inside. Demetrius thinks the dragon must be resting, so they hurry back to the rest of the party.

Meanwhile, Willowbark doesn’t understand what Penny is talking about when she says that dragons are like cats, and fits inside towers like cats do in boxes. It’s a whole thing, and Granny tries to mediate the discussion, but they are interrupted by Theren and Demetrius returning. They tell the rest of the group what they found, and they confirm that there probably is a dragon within. 

Kal wants to go through what they should tell the dragon, and wants the group to be prepared by practicing what they’re going to say. Willowbark comes up with an idea of asking the dragon to move to Cragmaw Castle instead of the tower. It’s further away from civilization, so it won’t be bothered by bothersome adventurers invading their home, and they get help from the dragon to take out the goblins who reside there and save Gundren, so it’s a win-win. The party thinks this is a good idea, and decide that Willowbark and Penny should be the ones to talk to the dragon, while the rest of the party stay back, prepared to intervene if things get too difficult. 

Demetrius and Theren leads the party through the town up to the tower, being careful to avoid the twig blights they spotted on their reconnaissance. Kal’s armor isn’t doing her any favors, but they get through seemingly undetected. When they reach the tower, the rest of the party also notice the smell, but Demetrius cannot hear the breathing anymore, which makes him concerned. They decide to still move forward with the plan, so they stealthily open the door and venture inside.

Venomfang

After checking out the two rooms that were in the entrance hall of the tower, satisfied that it is clear, they open the large double doors leading into the tower proper. Inside, they can see a large circular room with what appeared to once have been a spiral staircase leading to the top of the tower, but it has long since collapsed, leaving a big pile of rubble in the center of the room. The walls are covered in a thick growth, and as the party peers around they see no dragon or movement. The group decides to call out to the dragon, in case it is hiding.

Suddenly, they notice movements above them, near the wall, as the camouflaged dragon appears from among the vines and climbs down, approaching the party and looming over Willowbark and Penny. Although young, it is still an imposing figure.

“Visitors? I haven’t gotten visitors in all my time here. Why have you intruded into my lair? Don’t you know it is dangerous to provoke a dragon?”

The party bows to the dragon, trying to be as respectful as they can, but Kal is standing back ready for anything to happen. The dragon introduces itself as Venomfang, and demands to know why the party has disturbed him. They tell him that his presence here is an imbalance in nature, and that they were hoping that he could move to some place better. Venomfang reveals that he would love to do that, but he has been exiled by his half-sister, who tried to kill him. If the party can kill her instead, he will move as requested. Willowbark asks the dragon to show them on the map where her lair is located, and Venomfang asks her to come closer so that he can show her. Willowbark approaches, having fallen into the trap, and the rest of the party notice that Venomfang suddenly begins drawing in breath. 

Willowbark, being ready to have him show her on the map where his half-sister lives, suddenly realizes what a grave mistake she has made, and only sees a torrent of green poison flowing straight at her from the dragon's jaws. Theren immediately goes on the offensive, trying to attack the dragon in retribution and drag its attention away from the firbolg lying unconscious in front of it, but Granny, Demetrius and Kal quickly tries, and succeeds in talking down the dragon from its rage. Venomfang falters, and seemingly begins to listen to what they have to say. They convince him that Cragmaw Castle is the dragon's best option, as he will have allies that can help him in the long run. 

Venomfang ponders the suggestion of the party, while Kal quickly heals Willowbark, waking her up, but he eventually agrees to the terms, and says that he will meet the party at Cragmaw Castle in 7 days. He apparently already knows where it is located, as he quickly takes flight and perches on the ceiling, waiting for the party to leave him and his horde alone. Penny longingly looks at the gold and silver strewn across the ruined floor, but follows the rest of the party.

When the party returns to Reidoth and tells them their deal with Venomfang, to which he is obviously very disappointed with, he tells them that they cannot trust the dragon’s word, as it will try to betray them the moment it sees that the party is of no use to him. Not having held their side of the bargain yet, Reidoth refuses to give them the Bag of Holding, but if they manage to permanently move him, or even better kill him, he will be waiting with the reward. Since Cragmaw Castle is in the middle of the forest, and they really don’t want to move through the sickness that plagues the woods, they decide to insead go pick up some horses in Rivergrounds to hopefully speed up the journey east. 

Return to Rivergrounds

The party says their goodbyes to Reidoth, and carefully make their way through Thundertree. Before departing, they head to the alchemist shop that Reidoth pointed out, and after searching it finds an old wooden box with a beautiful emerald necklace within. The heirloom that Mirna told them about. Willowbark places her in her pouch, and the group heads west towards the road. Leaving the cursed town, the party can feel the air clear and it gets easier to breathe. They don’t get long however until a swarm of stirges come flying out of the bushes, trying to feed on the blood of the party members, but they are easily dispatched, with Granny harvesting some of the parts of the stirges. 

As the party eventually reaches Rivergrounds, the sun has fallen below the horizon, and night has come. Most of the shops are closed, so the party decides to just procure some horses before settling in at the Forgetful Faun Inn again. They approach the stableboy that is working with the horses, and when he turns around, it’s Tim. Or at least an exact copy of Tim, which they met in Phandalin. They ask him why he moved to Rivergrounds so quickly, but he seems confused by the questioning. Kal approaches the owner of the stables, Margerie, but she is equally confused, as Tim has worked with her for a few months at least. The party at first thinks that there might be some mix-up or that they’re misremembering, but decide to leave it be, as they have more important work at hand. They procure six horses, one extra large one to carry Granny’s weight, and bring them to the other side of the town to the inn.

In the Inn, Penny once again makes a deal with the innkeeper to get free lodgings by entertaining for the evening. Willowbark wants to join as well, but Penny makes her show how good she is, but sadly she is not up to Penny’s standards, so Penny decides to play alone instead. A little disappointed by this, Willowbark goes to talk to some of the cows roaming outside the city instead. Kal is profusely welcomed back to the inn, as the innkeeper Tim (no relation to the stableboy) was looking forward to having her back, and he asks her if she is back for good, but she has to disappoint him that she’s only staying for the night. She is however willing to cook for the evening, which gives her free lodgings as well. 

After a long day faced with dragons, stirges and apparent copies of people, the party finishes off with some entertainment, good food, and deep conversation with the nearby cows, before settling in for the night, to prepare for the long journey to Cragmaw Castle.

Haste to the Woods

When the group wakes up the next morning, not having any unwelcome orcs approaching in the night, they have a quick breakfast to prepare for the day, before setting out north-west towards the Jaded Wilds, and Cragmaw Castle. Looking a their crudely drawn map, they realize that they are not far from where Old Owl Well is supposed to be, but considering how much time they have already spent getting to where they are now, they realize they have to wait until later to check that out, hoping that nothing too dire will come of it being ignored for now. 

The party gathers their horses, and sets out towards the ruins of Covenlet, as Agatha's lair has been described to be near there. Considering it is right in the path they are taking, it shouldn’t be too much of a distraction. The group luckily doesn’t encounter any dangerous orcs or wandering hobgoblins, so they feel confident that they should reach their destination before nightfall. To the east they can see the peaks of The Iron Hills  over the horizon, and to the west the large grasslands and hills that hide Ruins of Phandalin. In front of them, they eventually come across some ruins that the path to Khuzunzan runs straight through. They have reached Covenlet. Following the directions of Sister Garaele, they head northwest into the woods towards the banshee. Granny knows from experience that banshees are dangerous creatures, and have a very short temper, so the party should be careful with how they approach her. 

The Banshee

As they reach the threshold of the forest proper, the horses appear to be agitated by something, and the party can sense a cold feeling lingering in the air. There is a powerful undead presence here, and the feeling of dread is prevalent. After looking around for a while, with the darkness of night slowly creeping in, they eventually come across a thick growth where they can barely make out what appears to be a makeshift house of sorts made out of an old massive tree trunk. The party decides to leave the horses outside, as to not spook them too much, and venture into the growth. Penetrating the threshold, they are face to face with the lair of the banshee, and can see a weak light coming from within. 

Kal and Penny slowly walk forward, while Willowbark, Granny, Demetrius and Theren keep watch on the outside. Entering the “house” Kal and Penny can see a lone candle lit on a table, with a chest in the corner. Suddenly, the air grows cold, and the candle flickers out, before a new light can be seen appearing in the middle of the room. The spectral image of an elven woman with wild hair and dead eyes hover in front of them. She introduces herself as Agatha, and demands to know why they have entered her home.

Kal and Penny quickly act courteous, careful not to anger the spirit, and tells her that they were sent by a cleric for guidance, and that they brought her a gift in hopes that it can appease her. Penny takes out the silver comb Sister Garaele gave them. The banshee looks down at the two mortals, before snatching the comb out of Penny’s hands. 

“This is a beautiful gift. Ask your question, if I can answer, I will give a truthful response”

Kal wastes no time and tells Agatha that they are looking for the spellbook belonging to the mage Bowgentle, and if she knows where it is. Agatha, in the middle of admiring her new silver comb, replies that she indeed knows of the spellbook, but that she traded it to Tsernoth, a necromancer, in the city of Ilysnor, but that was more than a hundred years ago. She doesn't know what happened with the book after that. Kal and Penny thanks Agatha for her generosity, and quietly but quickly retreat to the waiting party members outside, before they all retreat back to their horses.

Through the Woods

Having the information they were sent to get, they take a note of what they learned from the banshee. No-one in the party recognizes the name Tsernoth or the city of Ilysnor, so they think that it might be on a different continent entirely. When they return to their horses, they are severely agitated so the party finds it best to move on quick, away from the dark energy prevalent in the area. They decide to head straight towards Cragmaw Castle, having gotten a fairly accurate description of the road there from Covenlet by Reidoth.

The party doesn’t get far before the horses need to rest, so they decide to make camp for the night, as they are far enough away from Agatha to not feel her influence any more. They decide to keep watch for approaching dangers, and on Willowbark and Penny’s watch, Willowbark hears some snarling in the darkness just outside the light of their campfire. Coming out of the shadows, a group of wolves approach, looking hungry. Willowbark decides to wild shape into wolf form, in order to talk the wolves down, but they demand to be fed. Willowbark suggests that they can have some of their food, but they need some for themselves as well. The wolves are not convinced by this, and as more wolves come out of the darkness, they are surrounded, so they attack the party, hoping to eat them instead.

Penny quickly warns the rest of the party members that were sleeping, and the group defends themselves around the campfire. Even though they are awoken rudely in the night, the party is competent enough at this point that a bunch of wolves shouldn’t be too much of a worry. As the last wolf falls and the rest scatter into the dark, the party tries to calm themselves down and go to sleep. Penny harvest the pelts of a few of the fallen wolves, hoping to use it for clothing or sell it, much to the horror of Willowbark who again does her burial ritual to appease her god, saddened by the fact that she didn’t manage to talk the wolves down.

Trolls

The next morning, after no more beasts come lurking in the night, the party continues onwards towards the castle. Willowbark tries to convince the horses to move faster, but as the forest is thick, they don’t feel confident or safe moving faster than the party can walk, lest they hurt themselves. Willowbark understands, and thanks the horses anyway for bringing them to the forest so quickly. 

As the party makes their way through a pass in the forest, with tall cliffs coming from both sides forcing them to cut through it or be delayed, they can suddenly hear the footfalls of something big ahead of them. Now wanting to engage something they don’t know what is, Demetrius decides to try to stealthily sneak up to whatever lurks ahead of them. The party can see him disappearing among the trees, and after a couple of minutes, they suddenly what a loud roar, the cracking of trees and smashing of stone, as Demetrius comes running back through the woods towards the party, blood streaming down the side of his face, shouting “TROLLS!”. Behind him a large green troll comes lumbering through the forest, straight towards the party.

The group quickly springs into action, sending their horses back where they came from to stay out of danger, and engage the troll. Theren, having learned a bit in his travels, knows for a fact that trolls have the ability to heal, and tells the party to use fire, as it inhibits the regeneration. The troll is a fierce foe, perhaps the strongest the party have faced so far. At one point, Granny manages to cut off the arm of the troll, which continues to act on its own, as the troll tries to put it back in place. They seem to be hard to kill. 

Just as the party feels the battle is in their favor, another troll can be heard running through the woods towards the party, but it is too late. They manage to take down the troll that attacked first, and then the other troll before it even manages to reach the party, with Granny using her longbow, Theren, Penny, Kal and Dandelion firing magic at it, while Demetrius finishes off the first troll with his daggers. 

As the trolls have regenerative abilities, they figure that by harvesting the blood of the trolls, they might get some cheap healing potions out of it. They use their waterskins and manage to fill up five of them with troll blood, to use later. After gathering the horses again, the party crosses the pass and emerges on the other side, being careful not to agitate any more trolls that might be lurking in the area. They travel a couple more hours, before setting camp for the night, knowing they must be close to the castle.

The Castle

The next morning, they quickly gather their stuff and make breakfast, not wanting to waste more time than they already have, as they have a meeting they cannot be late for. Knowing they should be close, most of the day is spent trying to locate where the castle is, and in the afternoon manage to find a clearing with a large castle in the middle of it. They have reached their destination, and on time.

Not wanting to barge straight in and endanger Gundren, they wait a bit to do some recon on the area, watching if there is any movement. They don’t have to wait long, as on the southern wall there is a door, and a goblin comes walking out, relieving himself next to the stairs, before returning back inside. Demetrius and Willowbark decide to sneak into the castle to get a closer look, so Demetrius is turned invisible by Penny, while Willowbark wild shapes into a rat.

Infiltration

They decide the best course of action would be to go through the front, and so they sneakily head into the main entrance, as the doors there are torn down. Inside it is very dark, and Demetrius must rely on his darkvision in order to navigate safely. Willowbark in rat form can see that the area leading further into the castle straight ahead of the entrance is trapped, and desperately tries to warn Demetrius who almost triggers the trap, but is stopped by the squeaking of Willowbark. They decide to instead head north through a side tunnel, as they can hear a great commotion behind the south door. 

Entering the door to the north, they find the storage room of the goblins, containing whatever the goblins have raided in the area from unlucky travelers. Demetrius notices something shiny behind one of the barrels, and finds a sword and some chainmail, recognizing the sword as the same one Sildar carried when they first met him in the Forgetful Faun Inn as it carries the symbol of the Forgeblades on it. He takes a note of it, hoping to grab it on the way back.

Going further into the castle, they come across a couple of goblins in the middle of a prayer to a deity neither Willowbark or Demetrius recognizes, but they are almost discovered as they had to open the door to enter the shrine. Luckily the goblins are not smart enough to make the connection, probably thinking it is just the wind. The castle seems to be riddled with goblins, so they have to plan their approach carefully when they are to storm it. South of the shrine, both Willowbark and Demetrius can smell something weird, almost like it belongs to a creature, but they cannot see anything in the dark chamber, other than an unlit brazier and figures sculpted into the walls. 

Not wanting to push their luck too far, they retreat the way they came, distracting the goblins in order to open the door again, with Demetrius grabbing the sword on the way out, reaching the party waiting in the forest just as the invisibility expires. They tell the party what they saw and smelled, and realize they have to be stealthy in order to catch the goblins by surprise. 

As Venomfang has yet to make an appearance as he promised, they look around for him, but he is nowhere to be seen. Granny decides to use her ranger ability to try to sense if he is nearby. Focusing on the surrounding forest, she gets the distinct feeling that a dragon is indeed nearby, and fairly close.

Breaching the Castle Walls

Realizing that Venomfang has most likely abandoned their deal or at the very least plans to backstab them, the party realizes they have no choice now: they have to take on Cragmaw Castle alone. They examine the sword that belongs to Sildar that Demetrius grabbed, with Willowbark examining it. She determines that it is not magical, but probably an heirloom, or at least very valuable to Sildar, so they should return it to him. Now the party has to decide, do they go through the front doors, or sneak in through the back. Having done some recon of the castle, they know of at least two entrances, but there may be more. 

While the party talks about tactics, Willowbark glances up into the sky, and can see a shadow swooping behind some clouds, before disappearing. She thinks it might be the dragon, but it isn’t moving closer to them, so no point dwelling on it. Demetrius, having been inside, thinks that the smartest would be to go through the side entrance, where they saw the goblin appear, as they are probably watching the front carefully, considering the traps. The party agrees, and so decide to sneak up to the side, hoping to catch the goblins by surprise.

When they approach the wall and stairs leading up to the side entrance, they can hear a great commotion inside, with the sound of cutlery hitting plates, as well as smell a whiff of some sort of food, and think that they might be walking into the kitchen. As the door is locked, Demetrius uses his lockpicking skills to open it, and lets the party in. Penny enters first, and can see that she is standing in a dark hallway, but luckily, no goblins wait for them. To her left, they can hear the sounds of the commotion through a closed door, indicating a large group of goblins are just beyond. 

Skulking Around in the Dark

Seeing as the hallway is poorly lit, Willowbark and Kal, who are the only members without darkvision, hold on to the closest party members to be guided through the darkness. The remaining party members can see that they are surrounded by collapsed walls and roofs. In front of them there is some cloth covering a hallway, so they decide to go through there first. On the other side they are in what once was an old tower in the castle, with a camouflaged opening to the outside north of them. Penny takes a listen at the only door in the room, and thinks she can hear a faint movement, but cannot tell what it is. 

Demetrius checks the door for traps, and finds that it should be safe, and carefully opens it, leading into another hallway. To the south, beyond another curtain, Demetrius can tell that there are a few creatures that sound bigger than goblins, and to the east, through the door, Willowbark can hear a couple of individuals speaking elvish and discussing a deal, and haggling about price. They determine that it is most likely the king and the Black Spider talking about Gundren, so they realize they have to hurry. Not wanting the creatures behind the curtain to interfere, they decide to take them out first, and decide to do the classic pincer move of attacking them from both sides, with Demetrius, Granny and Penny doubling back, while Theren, Willowbark and Kal taking the north.

Not wanting the large goblin gathering to interfere with the conflict just yet, Penny uses her bardic creation powers to summon a stone block that blocks the door right by the entrance, hindering it from opening. Feeling confident that they have the element of surprise, they position themselves and get ready for the signal, as they use Sending to communicate with each other. Demetrius, starting to get impatient, suddenly kicks open the door to attack before everyone is in place.

Luckily, the three hobgoblins lying on the other side of the door, resting, were unprepared for the sudden emergence of the party and are caught by surprise, allowing them to easily be taken down. The party tries to be as careful and silent as they can, so that the Black Spider doesn’t know of their incursion. They kill two of the hobgoblins, but knock out the last one. Hoping to interrogate him later, they tie him up where he lay and search the room, picking up whatever valuables they can find.

An Unexpected Prisoner

Noticing another door to the south, they listen at the door, and can hear something very large breathing from within. Curious as to why whatever is inside didn’t come to help since it surely must have heard the commotion in the room, the party decides to carefully open the door. Willowbark takes a listen, and recognizes the distinct breathing to be that of an owlbear. Not wanting to hurt it, she tries talking to it through the door, but it just growls at her, being obviously scared. She keeps trying to talk to it, hoping to make it promise not to hurt the party. She decides to go for it, and the party clears a path to the outside for it, keeping the door they came in through open. 

Willowbark carefully opens the door, and can see a starving, hurt owlbear being held in captivity in the dark room within. It blinks a few times at the light coming from Kal’s sword, before running straight past them to freedom. The party can hear its footfalls slowly grow weaker as it heads north out of the castle. As the owlbear is free, the party enters the room, and finds it mostly empty, with broken glass all over the floor, as well as the furniture being broken. Up near the roof however, on a shelf, they can see a chest. Granny climbs up and retrieves it. Inside they find some gold, an old potion of healing, as well as a couple of spell scrolls, one of them being revivify, which Kal takes.

Having taken care of the potential reinforcement, as well as having blocked off the large goblin group, the party feels confident that they can try to save Gundren, so they congregate near the door leading into the eastern room. Penny uses disguise self on herself to look like what appeared to be the hobgoblin captain they knocked out, and enters, while the rest of the party stays out of sight. Inside she can see a fierce older bugbear in plate armor, presumably King Grol, talking to a Drow. They are accompanied by a couple of hobgoblins, as well as the leader's wolf which snarls at Penny as she enters. On the bed she can see a dwarf, Gundren, and he does not appear to be conscious. Trying to distract the enemy and give her party an opening, she talks over to one of the windows and mumbles something, trying to sound like a hobgoblin. Then the rest of the party runs in and attacks.

The Drow

The king immediately goes on the defensive, sending his wolf to attack Penny as he now sees through her disguise, while the drow tries to escape by running through a door near the back of the room. The two bugbears who were sitting playing cards tries to defend themselves, but they are easily overwhelmed by the party. The king however manages to hold off for a surprising amount of time, almost managing to take out Penny before Willowbark saves her, but he too succumbs in the end.

Having defeated the king, the party quickly realizes that the drow walked into a dead end, and tells her in elvish to come out. Penny asks Kal to heal Gundren, which she does, and takes him away from the door where the drow entered. He thanks Kal for helping him, and sits back, waiting for the drow to come back out.

Eventually, realizing that she has no way out, she emerges with her hands up, indicating that she is peaceful. They question her, asking if she is the Black Spider, but she just laughs at them. She just works for him, and she says it with a hint of pride in her voice. The party questions her about who she is and what she and her master wants. She introduces herself as Zelya, and says that she wants “freedom”. The party asks her to elaborate, and she does.

“All we want is for everyone to be free. That is what my master is working towards. A free society, free from the influence of the gods. Free from magic. If magic disappeared, then everyone would be truly free to be themselves.”

Theren points out that if the world is rid of magic that would mean that her master, whom he presumes is a magic user, would also be without magic. She just laughs at him, and says he doesn’t understand. She is doing this for her people. While this is happening, Penny is rummaging through the king’s belongings, and finds a bronze ring with a shield on it, and takes it for herself.

As Zelya finishes speaking, she gives a glare at Gundren, and takes a hand up to her back, which the party notices, and runs to grab her as she makes a leap towards Gundren, saying that he cannot be allowed to live. They try to hold her back, with Gundren cowering against the wall, but the drow is surprisingly strong, managing to wrestle herself free, and stabs Gundren several times in the neck. Granny comes up from behind and uses the blunt side of her ax to try to knock her out, but she immediately keels over, and transforms into a pale, indistinguishable monstrosity. Theren recognizes this as a doppelganger.

Kal immediately runs over to Gundren to heal him, managing to close the wounds and bring him back once more. Willowbark searches the corpse of the doppelganger, and finds a ring, which Theren identifies as a band of loyalty, worn by spies who do not want to be captured by the enemy.

Safe At Last

Gundren is extremely relieved to be saved by the party, and says he doesn’t remember much since the attack on the road to Ruins of Phandalin, saying he has been in and out of consciousness since then, but remembers that the drow, or doppelganger, was asking for the map, but the king wanted more money as he realized the importance of it. Gundren then ask how long it has been, and when they tell him that it has been a couple of weeks, he starts stressing out, saying they have no time to waste. He jumps to his feet, being reinvigorated by the healing, and starts looking for his map. The party helps him, and Demetrius eventually finds it underneath the bed of the king, as well as some healing potions and a bunch of gold and silver.

Gundren sits the group down at the nearby table, and explains that Wave Echo Cave contains a great power, the Forge of Spells, which greatly enhances the process of making magic items. It apparently was lost over 400 years ago, but he and his brothers have found it again, and want to put it back into commission. The party tells him that they have been told that The Black Spider are looking for something of great importance in the cave, and after meeting the orcs and learning that they too looked for something in the cave they are beginning to think that the forge itself is secondary to all this.

The party decides to take a short breather to regain some stamina, before clearing out the rest of the castle. They ask Gundren to remain in the king’s chambers, as they don’t want to lose him again, to which he happily obliges. Willowbark summons an owl familiar to keep him company and warn the party if he is in danger.

They spend the rest of the day clearing out the castle of whatever dangers remain, and as they have already taken out the king and come from within, they have the element of surprise on their side. Reaching the center room where Demetrius and Willowbark sensed the weird smell, they are ambushed by a grick, which was camouflaged in the stone walls, and severely hurt Granny, but not enough to take her down. After defeating it and the three goblins who heard the commotion from the shrine, they search the room, and find a magical statue hidden in the unlit brazier, which allows them to cast augury once per person. Kal, looking at the murals, recognizes several of the gods, among them Adea, Ilene and Shehemis, indicating that the original builders of the castle were not goblins.

The party fights their way through the castle, clearing it room by room, and in the end, all that remains is the room with all the commotion. Managing to catch them by surprise, they find that the remaining goblins are having a feast, with a large rotund goblin holding the feast. With a well placed shatter, Kal manages to take out most of them, with the remaining goblins being taken out as they desperately try to make their way through the door to the back that Penny had blocked. 

Now the Loot

Having taken out every enemy in the castle, they search every nook and cranny, finding a bunch of gold, some weapons, a magical compass, as well as a barrel containing a very fine dwarven brandy. They decide to gather it all to take with them, but decide to sleep in the castle for the evening. Gundren asks why they cannot just leave, and the party explains to them that they made a deal with a green dragon  to help them clear out the castle, and as it has not appeared, they fear that it will attack them the moment they step outside. Not wanting to be a meal, Gundren agrees that sleeping in the castle for the night will be the best course of action, allowing the party to regain their strength.

During the night, Kal sneaks out to the hobgoblin captain that they captured, and silently slits his throat, so that he cannot escape or attack the party in return, but she tells nobody of this. The rest of the party have already forgotten the hobgoblin in the midst of all the commotion. 

In the morning, Penny is searching the king’s chambers once more, waking Willowbark, who asks her what she is looking for. Penny tells her that she is looking for her flute, and when Willowbark asks her why it would be here, she tells her that her mentor Morgan took it when he disappeared, and she had a desperate hope that he had been here. Sadly, she finds nothing.

An Expected Betrayal

The party, still seeing no sign of Venomfang, decides that they have overstayed their welcome, and begins gathering their loot to head to the horses which they hid in the forest south of the castle. As they exit the front doors, careful not to trigger the trap in the entrance hall, they can see some horses approaching, with a band of returning hobgoblins riding them. They can see that the party is not of their group, so they demand to see the king. Kal takes charge and tells them that they have killed the king, and it is in all of their best interest to just turn around and leave, as they have killed enough already.

The hobgoblins discuss amongst themselves, looking nervously at the party holding their loot, but wisely come to the realization that this is not a battle they are guaranteed to win, so they take Kal up on her offer, and turn around to leave. As they do, a large green dragon comes crashing down to the ground, cutting off their escape, before it kills the hobgoblins and their mounts with its breath weapon. Venomfang turns to the party.

“Thank you so much for clearing out my new lair, but I am afraid that I cannot let you leave alive. I’d rather not have to worry about you returning to finish me off later.”

Fighting the Dragon

Taking flight, Venomfang approaches the party, hoping to take them out with its venomous breath. Flying over and striking a couple of the party members, he does manage to hurt them quite a bit, but not enough to take anyone down. They have grown too strong to be mere pushovers for him. The party on the other hand does everything they can to keep the dragon at bay and not get too close, and luckily for the party, the will of the dragon is weaker than they feared, causing the dragon to be forced away by their repelling spells.

Feeling overconfident, the party spreads out in order to have more control of the battlefield, but Penny makes a fatal mistake, trying to hide near some of the trees on the outskirts of the battlefield. Venomfang gets a window of opportunity where he manages to resist the spells of the party, and sees the lone tiefling trying to hide from him. Leaping down from the skies, the dragon strikes Penny with his claws and bites her, causing her to go unconscious. Bleeding, hurt and outnumbered, Venomfang sees an opportunity to hurt the party, grabs her and tries to fly off.

Suddenly realizing the gravity of the situation, the party starts panicking. Desperate to save their friend who is being carried away by the dragon, they try to attack it, hoping to bring it down before he manages to escape, but the arrows of Granny and Demetrius, and the spells of Kal and Theren don’t take hold. Seeing as the dragon is hurt and carrying Penny, it cannot easily fly as high as it normally can, so it barely flies above the treetops. Thinking quickly, Willowbark tries to make the trees tangle the dragon, to stop its escape. The branches swoop up, trying to grab hold of Venomfang, and it looks bleak at first, before a single vine grabs its foot, which allows the rest of the vines to take hold of the body. Theren finishes it off with a well placed eldritch blast, causing the dragon  to drop Penny as it sharply exhales what little breath it had left in its lungs, who falls to the ground, close to death. Kal runs over to heal her, with Granny cradling her in her arms, happy to have her friend survive.

Harvesting the Corpse

As the dragon lies dead on the ground among the trees, Willowbark tries to make yet another small offering to honor the dragon. Gathering some twigs and branches, she crafts a small effigy of a dragon. At least it looks like a dragon. If you twist your head to the side and squint. But it is good enough for the purpose. She places it next to the corpse, and then goes to check on Penny to see how she is doing.

The group has defeated their enemy with no casualties, so the party sits down on the ground to take a breather, calming themselves, before turning their attention towards the dragon's corpse lying peacefully in the grass. Realizing that the body could contain valuable treasures that may come in handy for the journey to come, they decide to harvest the corpse of the dragon, taking the easiest bits first, before moving on to the more dangerous parts. Granny looks over the corpse and determines that they should go for the teeth, scales and perhaps the breath pouch. Taking out the fangs is the easiest, and removing the scales is not difficult, just time-consuming. Theren grabs a tooth for himself.  As they turn towards the breath pouch deep within the throat of the dragon, most of the party backs off, with Willowbark attempting the extraction itself, guided by her god, and inspired by Penny playing on her violin from a distance. After spending a few excruciating minutes, and almost cutting open the pouch, she manages to pull out a green dripping sack from the mouth of the dragon. They have successfully harvested the dragon. Kal decides to also take some large steaks from the dragon, having heard rumors that dragon meat is especially good.

Gundren eventually emerges from within the castle, now seeing that the coast is clear, and joins the party. He looks over at the dead dragon, remarking how impressive it looks, even though it has been skinned and de-toothed. He joins the rest of the party as Kal cooks up some food for them, allowing them to rest. While they sit eating they discuss what to do now, with Gundren asking about Sildar. The party tells him that he waits in Ruins of Phandalin, so Gundren suggests they go there, to which they agree. Finishing up their food, they gather their belongings and head south into the forest to join up with their horses. 

The Genie

Over the next few days, the party heads through the forest to return to Phandalin. During the journey, Theren at one point excuses himself from the party to spend some time alone. Demetrius notices this, and stealthily follows him from a distance. Among the trees, he can see that Theren stops, checks around to see if anyone is watching, and when he doesn’t spot Demetrius, he looks down at his ring and closes his eyes. Demetrius can suddenly see that Theren disappears, and his ring hovers in the air for a split second, before dropping to the ground.

Theren finds himself in a spacious luxurious golden room, filled with large fluffy pillows. Hovering in the air as if lying on an invisible bed is a large red skinned elemental. The noble Genie known as Ranesh is waiting for him.

“You finally enter. Welcome. Did you bring what I asked?”

Theren goes through his pockets and produces the tooth that he took from Venomfang, and tosses it to his patron. Ranesh catches it, before sitting up, examining the tooth. “I’ve always wanted one of these, but I think you might get more use from it”. He holds the tooth in his hand, before making it float. It spins, as fire from Ranesh himself flows into it, transforming it into a tooth-shaped amulet, which he carefully floats over to Theren, who accepts the offering. Ranesh says that Theren has proven his worth, and so this might help him in the journey to come.

Pocketing the amulet, Theren turns to his patron, asking if he has had time to examine his traveling companions, and what his thoughts are about them. The patron ponders the question for a moment, before revealing what he thinks. His responses are cryptic, but hints that he knows more about them that he lets on, but Theren is not ready to know everything yet.

The tiefling has more to her than he realizes, and the flute might be more important than she claims. The half-elf shares a lot, yet nothing at all. The tortle seems to be the most genuine in the group, but Ranesh senses a sadness coming from her. The firbolg is peculiar, not wanting to fight, but has the potential to be the most ferocious of them all. To the cleric he says that she is not who she says she is. But Theren is not ready to know yet.

Theren thanks his patron for the guidance, with Ranesh reminding him that this is a mutual relationship. As long as Theren keeps up his part of the bargain, he will continue to provide for Theren, sharing his gifts with him. He snaps his fingers, and suddenly Theren finds himself back in the material plane once more. Demetrius watches this too, and sneaks back to the group before Theren notices that he wasn’t alone. 

Return to Phandalin

After a couple days of travel, the party and Gundren finally reach Phandalin, much to the joy of all. Gundren quickly dismounts the horse and runs towards the tavern, with Penny almost following, but Theren tells her that she should leave him be. He probably needs some time to get back to normal, considering what he has been through. They instead head to the stables which are on the way to Phandalin. There they once again meet Tim, with Kal trying to sneakily question him about who he really is, but he just acts very confused about the whole situation, not knowing exactly why Kal is interrogating him. Willowbark casts detect magic, but finds no magic on him.  She instead turns to the owner of the stables, who tells Kal that he came to town a couple of months ago and lives in the stables. Realizing she isn’t going to get anything more out of this Tim, she drops the matter, and joins her fellow party members walking into town after paying for boarding the horses.

When the party enters the Stonehill Inn, they see Gundren has already found himself a table and something to drink, so the party joins up with him after getting some rooms and leaving their belongings in them. They talk a bit about everything that has happened, trying to reflect on why the Black Spider is so adamant at getting to Wave Echo Cave and wondering what the Key is supposed to lead to. 

Willowbark is very curious about wine after she and Demetrius talked about it when they were on the road, and the fact that he referred to it as the “milk of the gods”. She is very fond of milk, so thinks she should at least try it. Demetrius asks for the finest wine they have, and with Toblen, still being happy that the party defeating the Redbrands, brings out an expensive looking bottle, with his wife Trilena looking at him disapprovingly. Demetrius fills up two glasses, one for him and one for Willowbark, with her managing to down the whole glass in one swig. Despite Willowbark’s height and constitution, she still isn’t used to drinking alcohol, so one glass of strong wine is enough to get her heavily intoxicated. 

In her stupor, Willowbark decides she wants to hold a flute performance, and takes the stage, clumsily brings out her flute, and starts playing. Or at least they think she starts playing. It doesn’t sound very good, but it is entertaining, so nobody is complaining, and she gets a few laughs. Penny kindly walks on stage, thanking Willowbark for her performance, leading her back to the table, with Gundren almost choking from laughing so much. Penny takes out her own flute and violin, and starts entertaining the crowd, drawing the rest of the town to the inn, much to the pleasure of the innkeeper.

Demetrius walks over to Trilena, and points out the crowd that has gathered, and the fact that they are the “heroes” of Phanaldin, and successfully convinces her to comp the drinks for the party, despite her husband bringing out a bottle of wine they were saving for their anniversary. In the meantime, Willowbark in her drunken state peppers Granny with compliments, saying she is so happy that she got to know her, as she is such a nice person. To Kal she gives mixed signals, complimenting her beauty, but telling her that she frightens her sometimes because she can be very “scary” and stern when she wants. To Theren she says he is distant and aloof, but quite useful, so a welcome addition all in all.

Sildar, having heard the commotion in the tavern correctly deduces that the party has returned, and when Gundren sees him he jumps from his chair and runs over to greet his friend, bringing him back to the table. He carries with him a chest and a pouch, and hands it to the party. A reward for bringing back Gundren which he has managed to gather together of 500 gp, as well as a reward from the mayor of 200 gp for clearing out the Redbrands. The party gladly takes the reward. Theren suddenly goes upstairs to the rooms, and returns shortly after, carrying they sword they found in Cragmaw Castle. Sildar accepts the sword with shaking hands, and with a trembling voice says a quiet “thank you”. After staring at the sword for a few seconds, he explains that the sword was inherited from his father, and he thought he wouldn’t see it again. He offers to buy the party a round, but as the drinks are already comped, he laughs, and cheerfully tells the party to enjoy their evening, before retiring for the night.

Suddenly there seems to be a green-tinted cow shambling in the middle of the tavern, as Willowbark thinks it is a good idea to wild shape whilst intoxicated. Getting a laugh from the patrons and nervous looks from the owners, she suddenly remembers how she loves sheep and their “floofyness” so she turns herself into a sheep instead. Granny has to intervene, putting on her best impression of a disappointed mom, causing Willowbark to drop the shape.

After the performance, Penny has gotten some longing looks from a few villagers, so she grabs the first guy she finds, taking him upstairs. He emerges embarrassed a few minutes later, with Penny looking rather disappointed, so she grabs a pretty girl instead, and takes her with her, not returning for the rest of the night. Seeing the festivities dying down and the townsfolk returning to their homes, Kal decides to bring Willowbark outside since that’s where she likes to sleep, and casts protection for poison so that she doesn’t have a hangover, before going to bed herself.

Walk of Shame

The next morning, Willowbark remembers everything she did and said the night before, and is uncharacteristically quiet during breakfast, before blurting out that she apologizes for ruining the night, but the rest of the party assures her that it is fine, since it was quite entertaining. Willowbark is happy to hear that, but cannot shake the awkward feeling, but still eats her food. Kal tells Toblen about their encounter with Venomfang, and offers him to buy a cut of the dragon meat, something he gladly does, having always wanted to taste dragon meat. He takes it to the back with Kal, and she cooks up a couple of steaks, one for him to buy, and one for the party to taste. When she comes out, they all have a bite, and they all agree that it is some of the best steaks they have ever tasted, and understands the high price it fetches.

When the party is done eating, they decide to tie up loose ends in town before moving on to further business, and so Kal and Theren go to see Sister Garaelele to relay the information they learned from Agatha about the spellbook. She is happy to have a lead to go on, and so rewards the party with three potions of healing as a thanks for taking the time to seek out the banshee. As they are about to leave however, Garaele asks Kal to speak privately, and reveals that she is a member of a group called The Veiled Protectors. Kal hasn’t heard of them, but she tells Kal that their motto is “Out of darkness, we bring light.” She offers Kal to join the order, as she sees potential in her, but Kal declines, not wanting to be dragged further away from eventually getting to go home. But Garaele manages to at least convince her to think about it, and if she changes her mind, she can go to The Generous Queen Inn in Elvenroth and ask for “Enhana”, then she might get an introduction. Kal thanks Garaele for the offer, and goes to find Theren, but he is nowhere to be seen.

Demetrius is wandering through the sidestreets looking at some cows in the pasture a ways away, before Theren suddenly appears in front of him, walking out of an alley. He tells Demetrius that he suspects that he has seen some things weird about Theren, to which Demetrius confirms, referring to the moment in the woods when Demetrius saw Theren vanish into the ring. Theren explains what is happening, that he has the ability to go into the ring for a while if needed, and is asking Demetrius if he can be trusted with looking after the ring when Theren enters it, considering it is left behind when he does. Demetrius says that it shouldn’t be a problem, and gives a whole spiel about how he can be trusted with this momentous task. Ranesh tells Theren inside his mind that he likes the half-elf.

Willowbark and Penny go to visit Mirna, the widow they rescued from the Redbrands along with her children, as Willowbark wants to return the necklace to her. Penny was hoping to keep it, but Willowbark is adamant. When they reach the farm she is happy to see them again, and asks if they found the necklace she left behind. Willowbark opens her satchel and takes it out, and hands it to Mirna, who is a bit taken aback that they actually delivered it back to her instead of selling it as a reward, but thanks the duo profusely. Penny looks a bit disappointed, but seems to get over it when Mirna thanks her for her help. She tells them that the heirloom reminds her of her late husband as they met in Thundertree, so she will cherish it always. She asks Willowbark if she actually can speak to animals as she has seen her speak to them a couple of times, and Willowbark confirms that she can. Mirna would like to know if her cows are happy, so Willowbark goes to ask them. They tell her that they indeed are very happy, and glad that their owner have returned, as they missed her. Mirna is pleased to hear this, and gives both Willowbark and Penny a hug.

On the way back, the pair have a long discussion about shiny things, like gold, silver and gemstones. Willowbark is having a hard time grasping the concept of money, something Penny can empathize with, but as opposed to Willowbark, Penny is kind of obsessed with shiny things, and takes whatever she can get her hands on, so it hurt to see her return the necklace.

Revealing the Plan

Back at the tavern, as the rest of the party makes their way there, Granny is trying to teach Penny something with some paper and a quill. Looking at it it appears to be numbers and letters. As soon as the rest return they scuttle it away, as the others sit down to wait for Gundren to emerge, which he does shortly after. After a several week delay, he if finally able to tell the party what he hired them for. 

Gundren tells the party that he and his brothers came across a map in a dusty library in Khuzunzan, and when they studied it and its origins, they began to theorize that it may be a map of the legendary Wave Echo Cave. Following the description that was written on the margins, they ventured into the wild near the foot of The Iron Hills, and eventually found the general area described on the map, and after searching for a while discovered a ravine that led into the cave itself. Noticing a lot of noises coming from within they theorized that it is infested by the undead, and so Gundren was sent out to look for someone to help clear it out, while his brothers waited near the cave for his return.

The party shares a look, and finds the task to be daunting, but as soon as Gundren proclaims that he will pay the party members a cut of the profits from the cave, they are quickly on board. Gundren asks when they are ready to leave, to which the party responds that they have some unfinished business to first, but it shouldn’t be more than a couple of weeks at most. They want to check out Maplemere to see if anyone there can provide some useful magic items, with Willowbark for some reason wanting to go to the forest near the town. They also have a reward waiting for them in Thundertree. Gundren understands, and tells the party he will be waiting for them in Phandalin for their return, feeling confident by being surrounded by friendly faces, and most of all Sildar.

Heading South

The party wastes no time, and sets out shortly after meeting with Gundren, gathering their horses from the stables and saying hello to Tim, and then heading out on the road. The journey shouldn’t take more than a couple of days on horseback, so they have plenty of time. The main road is much safer than the scenic route, so there shouldn’t be a problem with orcs or hobgoblins looking for them, as guards patrol the path.

After a couple of days, they can see the beginning of the vast forest called the Spiral Woods, that reaches almost all the way to the foot of the iron hills, and nearly all the way south to the Black Strait that separates Rexendell from Krawdoth. Seeing the forest, Willowbark begins to act lethargic, and looks at the forest with a tinge of sadness in her eyes. Theren asks if she is okay, to which she responds that she is fine, she just gets sorrowful seeing her forest again, knowing the troubles reside inside. She tells the party that her people call their home “Faunus' Forest”, and her tribe lives within it. She used to be a part of the tribe, but a great corruption has emerged, and causes her people to grow sick. She set out on the journey to discover what is causing the sickness, and how to stop it. 

Theren asks what happened to her god, considering his forest is corrupted. Willowbark doesn’t have an answer, and just looks sorrowful at her home. She tells them that the leader of the tribe, Clementine, died, and they buried her, but she doesn’t think that any of the dead have become undead. The new leader of the tribe, Galen, has a strong connection to the gods, and exiled Willowbark believing that it could help keep the tribe safe. When asked why she didn’t tell the party about this she responds that she didn’t intend to keep it a secret, but nobody asked until now.

As the party is sharing secrets and backstories, Kal looks at Penny for a long time, squinting her eyes. Penny turns to her, asking if she has something on her face, but Kal just looks at her, and asks “Are you Penny from Bows ‘n Roses?”. Demetrius exclaims “I FUCKING KNEW IT!” the moment the words leave her mouth, as he also saw the resemblance. Penny confirms that she indeed is the same Penny. Kal asks where Morgan is, and she tells them that last time she saw Morgan they had just played a gig, and went to sleep, and when she woke up, Morgan was gone, along with her favorite flute. She tried to track him but only got as far as Tempervale before she lost the trail.

The party asks if she saw anyone suspicious that night, and Penny goes on to tell that she did indeed see Morgan speak to a tan, extremely pretty woman, with orange, almost golden eyes, with long golden dreaded hair. Kal recognizes the description as that of some types of aasimar. Penny tells them that Morgan is an aasimar, and he told her that they are all children of the gods, born into mortal bodies. Kal looks unimpressed by this claim.

During the silence that follows, Demetrius reveals that he is from Cantalos, where he did a lot of “acquisitions” of art. Describing himself as a middleman, connecting buyer to seller, and moving “product”. Some of the party members immediately recognize the lack of legality in his line of work, but speak nothing of it.

Making camp for the evening, the party is lucky to have a beautiful starry sky shining down on them. Kal takes out a large tent from her bag, and begins setting it up. Willowbark is confused by this, as they don’t really need cover to sleep, it’s nice to sleep under the stars, but Kal wants a hint of cover at times, and tells Willowbark not to worry, she’s not going to force her to sleep in the tent. The rest of the party lies down in the grassy field, watching the starry skies as they go to sleep, seeing a few shooting stars from time to time.

During the night, taking watch for danger, one of them can see a magnificent looking carriage galloping northwards, followed by four riders in armor. It looks as if they are hurrying to make an appointment, as one usually doesn't travel during the night. During the last shift, Kal sits down with her sword and looks towards the gathering clouds over the forest. She asks out loud if she can go home now, but her god gives a resounding no with a lightning bolt impacting from clear skies to the south. 

In the morning, during breakfast, Kal can be seen to have a lot on her mind. Penny asks her what’s wrong, so she asks Penny which gods the aasimar supposedly comes from. Penny replies that she has only been told about Mova, the Goddess of Death, whom Morgan referred to as “mother”. Mova is the one who greets all creatures who pass away, guiding them into the afterlife and helps them pass to their respective domain based on their beliefs. Willowbark is confused by this, and explains that her gods are Mara and Deidamia, who are the spirits of the forest. Deidamia is the spirit of destruction and disaster, rebirth, hope and beginnings, while Mara is the spirit of decay. Faunus governs them all, and he is the forest itself, making the other gods and inhabitants his subjects. They have a lengthy theological discussion about who has the right idea of the gods, but they cannot come to an agreement.

While Kal and Willowbark are having the discussion, Penny goes over to Granny who helps her work more on her letters and numbers, having acquired a blackboard and chalk. It seems to be going… okay, Penny is picking up a few things, but the rest of the party can tell that she is having a hard time. Apparently Penny can’t read or write too well.

As the party continues south and closer to Maplemere, Willowbark can feel the corruption growing closer and closer, and feel more and more uncomfortable by the sensation. She tells the party that she wandered around for a while after being exiled, not really knowing where to go, before realizing that she had to venture out of the woods to find answers. Granny cannot sense the corruption that her friend is speaking of, but she believes her nonetheless.

Maplemere

Reaching their destination, it seems to be a quaint little town, much larger than Phandalin, but not nearly as big as some of the cities the party has seen before. Apart from Willowbark, of course. Seeing a blacksmith on the side of the road heading into town, they decide to stop there to see if they’re willing to buy any of the supplies of the party, and maybe make them some items from the stuff they have gathered. Getting closer they can see that the sign says “Неизвестно”, and the owner of the blacksmith is a bald dwarf who introduces himself as Bamin. He seems to recognize Willowbark, as she has been here before. The party goes over the stuff they have acquired and he is willing to buy a few items, namely the wolf pelts and the ogre hide they have harvested. The party asks if he can make an armor out of the dragon scales they harvested off of Venomfang, but he admits that although he is not a bad blacksmith, working with dragon scales is a little bit beyond his area of expertise, and it would be quite expensive considering the work required. He knows that the right blacksmith would be willing to work with it, or at the very least buy it off the party for a few thousand gold. He mentions that Eberk Strongheart in Khuzunzan could do it, or someone in Elvenroth. 

Granny asks him about learning blacksmithing, as she wants to be able to make weapons and armor herself. He tells her that the best and only way to be a decent blacksmith is to go learn from The Forgers of Khuzunzan, the guild from said city who produces elite smiths all around the kingdoms. Most smiths in Rexendell have either been through there, or been mentored by someone who has. She takes a note of it, and thanks for the help.

Demetrius suddenly brings out the fangs of the dragon, and asks if these might be something that he can work with, maybe making them into a dagger. He takes a look at the fangs, and says that he indeed could be able to craft some fine weapons from these, as the magic is already contained in the teeth, he only has to bring them out properly and fine tune the blade. The price he gives for the job is much more than the party is able to afford, but Penny remembers that they picked up a barrel of fine dwarven brandy, and offers him a taste. His eyes almost go into the back of his head as the fine liquid make contact with his taste buds, and he offers to do the job for the brandy, as well as 400 gp for both daggers, with 200gp up front. Demetrius scrounges together 200 gp and gives it to the dwarf. He tells them he should be able to be done within four weeks, but if they’re not back within two months he will be forced to put them up for sale. The party promises to be back. 

Next, the party takes out the dragon’s horn, asking if he can do anything with that. Looking it over, he could make a crude pike or spear out of it, but considering the latent magic in the horn, it would be much more suited to make a wand with, and recommends the party at least talk to the woman running The Feylocker just around the corner. Willowbark shudders, describing her as the rudest woman she has ever met, with Bamin agreeing. If the party needs to find a place to rest, he recommends the Stray Lamb Inn as the finer of the two establishments in the town. The party thanks the dwarf for his help, and continues further into town.

The Feylocker

The party reaches the center of the town, with the road turning right, heading west into the mountains far in the distance, or continuing south towards Elvenbridge. They turn the corner, following Willowbark as she has been here before, knowing where the Feylocker is. The building stands out compared to the other facades, being a large display of various items and goods, some magic, some not. Entering the shop, they are greeted by a tall elven woman with gray hair named Aerolla. She seems to recognize Willowbark, and gives her a forced smile. She looks perfect, not meaning she's extremely pretty, but sort of “planned”.

She asks what she can do for the party today, and they bring out some of the items they have procured, specifically the dragon horn, dragon blood and the breath pouch. The dragon blood, after tasting it, could be made into a potion that regains health, and also poison resistance for about an hour, however, this is beyond her level. She recommends Mortar and Spider in Khuzunzan, run by Mardred Torunn if they want to craft it. For the breath pouch, she can think of none better than The Sky’s Eye in Elvenroth, run by artisan Vrendol. She refers to him as a very nice man, looking longingly into nothingness when saying his name. She tells them they simply MUST tell him that she sent them there, as it might very well give them a discount. 

Willowbark asks if she can do anything at all with the items they have, with a sort of condescending undertone, but she luckily doesn’t pick up on it. She explains that she has some ability to craft magical items, but she mostly procures items from people wishing to sell, as well as traveling to bigger cities to fill up the stock. The things they have brought her today is far beyond her area of expertise, so she has to disappoint them. 

The party decides to look around to see if there is anything of interest. While they do, Granny tells Aerolla that she is looking for an alchemy kit, as she wants to be able to craft potions on the road. She tells her that she indeed has a set available, willing to sell it for 50 gp. Both Granny and Penny try to haggle her down, but she won’t budge. 

As Granny is paying, Penny looks around the shop to see if anything tickles her fancy, coming across an ornate looking coffee pot. She picks it up to take a closer look, and can suddenly hear a voice inside her head.

“Yeees, buuuy meeee. Let mee ooooown youuuu…”

Penny lets it go, and looks at Aerolla, concerned, but she simply tells her that it is a sentient coffee pot. The pot is convinced that it owns your soul, but it doesn’t really, but it might as well, because it arguably makes the plane’s best coffee when one boils water in it, and it doesn’t even need coffee beans. The coffee is so delicious, that it can invigorate and rest the party in half the time a normal short rest can. Penny asks if it is cursed, but Aerolla is actually unsure of it. Penny decides she has to have it, and asks Granny to help her count out the coins for it. 

Theren, wandering around the store comes across a storage crate filled with spell scrolls of various rarities. He finds one of the alarm spell, and is told that it would be 75 gp. He thinks that is too expensive, so let it pass. Walking by the glass display near the counter however, he can see a dusty old deck of cards. Aerolla, noticing him examining it, asks if he is interested. He asks her what it is, and she responds that it is the fabulous, infamous, fantastical Deck of Many Things. It looks old and decrepit, but considering it has the small cost of 100 gp, he decides to buy it. Looking at the sign behind Aerolla saying “Absolutely NO refunds, ever!” and “All prices are final!”, he begins to suspect he is being scammed. When he walks out of the store to join the rest who are done shopping, he brushes away the dust, and finds it is a Deck of Certain Things instead.

The Stray Lamb Inn

The party figures they have to stay for the night, so they decide to board their horses in the local stables. Happy to not find another Tim, they pay the halfling owner and head over to The Stray Lamb Inn. They can hear lots of commotion from the outside, and as soon as they enter they can see that it is packed full of patrons from near and far, drinking and feasting. One of the barmaidens comes over and tells the party they will have to wait if they want to stay as there are no more seats available. Kal yells over the crowd that she has some exclusive meat for sale, which the proprietor would most likely be interested in. 

The barmaiden scuttles over to an elderly bearded man and tells her something, pointing at Kal. He waves her over, and leads her to the kitchen. She tells the party she will be right back, and joins him in the back. The kitchen is quite busy, with orders coming in and going out fast. The owner introduces himself as Percival, and asks what this exclusive meat she is offering is. She takes out some wrapped dragon steaks from her bag, and he looks over it, and goes wide eyed. He makes an offer, but Kal thinks it is far too low. Eventually they agree to a price of 10 gp per pound of dragon meat, so she sells it all to him, promising that he will make his money back and then some. When the deal is done, he tells her to leave, at first seeming quite rude, but Kal realizes it’s a busy night, he probably has a lot to do. 

As Kal walks out she can see that the rest of the party has already joined the rest of the villagers in the festivities, with Willowbark and Penny dancing, Granny clapping along from the side, while Theren and Demetrius have joined a couple of locals in drinking. Kal smiles and goes to join the others, thinking it might not be the worst to be away from home, although she still misses it.

An Evening of Festivities

After dancing with Penny, Willowbark quietly makes her way outside, and wanders the quiet streets of Maplemere for a while, listening to the wind blowing over her and the sound of the cheering of the people that emanates from the tavern. Looking to the north, she remembers the farm with the cows she is so fond of, and starts making her way towards the enclosure.

Granny, noticing that Willowbark has disappeared, and seeing that the rest of her party members are enjoying herself also makes her way out of the inn, and heads towards the forest to the east. She sits down, and takes out her bagpipes, playing a song on it. A few nearby woodland critters hear the music and run away. 

Back at the inn, Penny is getting more and more intoxicated, and wanting to save some gold, decides to hijack a tankard that someone just put down, managing to swipe it and getting herself half of a free beer. Demetrius, sitting in a corner next to some folks, tries to observe the crowd to see if anything sticks out, but apparently it is just a jolly bunch of townsfolk enjoying some time off. He decides to not worry too much about it, and enjoys himself.He suddenly notices that Penny, in her drunken state, is trying to climb onto the roof of the tavern, but not wanting to face the wrath of a drunk tiefling, he doesn’t stop her. She eventually gets up. Lying on the roof, Penny tries to talk with Morgan, asking where he is, before falling asleep. In the distance, she can hear someone playing bagpipes.

Willowbark finds the cows, and takes a seat with them, giving them pets and scratches, as well as asking them how they are, making sure they are treated nicely. After a while, she decides to go check on the horses, and heads to the stables on the outskirts. Finding them in the middle of eating, she greets them, and makes sure that they are happy, to which they respond that they are, but they are eager to get moving, liking the life on the road better than the stables. The halfling owner of the stables, Tawna, is putting some equipment back, so Willowbark greets her, asking about how things are going. She’s doing just fine, as her business is always needed in a town where travelers are abundant. Willowbark mentions their travels when she asks about it, but when she mentions that they fought a dragon, Tawna gets noticeably uncomfortable and says she has bad memories about dragons, and excuses herself, wishing Willowbark a good night. Willowbark thinks nothing of it for now, and heads back to the cow enclosure to sleep among them.

The rest of the party eventually finds their way to a bed, a comfortable patch of grass, or a roof. During the night, Willowbark dreams about the forest, wandering through it, exploring and feeling content at first, but suddenly gets a sensation of being watched by something. In front of her, she is suddenly faced with a massive floating green eye, staring straight at her.

A Hint of Civilization

The next morning, having gotten their sleep, they all awake where they fell asleep, with Willowbark looking up at an angry farmer staring down at her. “I told you not to come back here” he says. She quickly gets up and leaves, apologizing profusely while saying goodbye to the cows.  Granny wakes up in the grass field outside of the forest, with several animals surrounding her, but as soon as she wakes up and emerges from her shell, they all scatter. She picks up her bagpipes and heads back to the inn for some breakfast. As Willowbark returns to the inn she can see Penny on top of a roof, trying to get down, which she eventually does, but she takes the fast route, falling off and hitting the ground hard. She helps her up, and goes inside the tavern where the rest of the party is already waiting for them.

During breakfast, Willowbark says that she wants to go to the forest, as she feels she needs to enter it in order to find answers. Theren would very much like to just relax in town for a bit, as he noticed that there was a bath in the inn. Willowbark tells them about her dreams, about wandering through the woods and facing the eye, trying to convince them to join her. The party is concerned, but willing to listen, so she tells them more about her exile from the tribe, and from the way that she describes the situation it almost sounds like the tribe exiled her not just for their own safety, but for hers as well. She has had dreams like the ones she has now, but not as intense, and she tries to explain that the tribe was scared that the dreams were connected to the sickness. Theren asks her to hold out her hand, and takes out his book and the pearl, doing a magic ritual, but he determines that she is not under the effect of anything at the moment, at least nothing that he can detect. As he does the ritual, an elderly lady walks past the window, and she and Theren share a look. When asked about it, he tells them that he grew up with her grandson, waving it off.

The whole group decides to pay for a proper bath, having been on the road for quite a long time. They pay for a bodacious woman who takes each one to the back where a tub with hot water and soap is waiting, and offers to clean the members of the party, for an extra charge. Some take her up on the offer, but others want privacy. Demetrius is unsure if the woman, who introduces herself as Shaena, is a proper “lady of the night” or just an assistant, but don’t dare ask. He is visibly disappointed that it is not a proper luxurious bath house like the ones back in Cantalos. Willowbark is not used to the experience, and tries to eat the soap, but finding it disgusting, she spits it out, and figures it’s probably for cleaning.

More Than Meets the Eye

Theren finishes his bath first, and as the rest of the party await their turn, he leaves the inn to look for the woman who passed by. Going north, he spots her heading into a back alley, almost as if she was waiting for him. When he follows her, she is nowhere to be seen, but he can suddenly feel a presence behind him. Turning around, she stands there, aiming a crossbow at him, and fires.

Theren ducks out of the way, just in time, shooting back with his eldritch blasts, but the lady easily dodges most of them, but is hit by one, prompting her to teleport to the top of the roof. As she vanishes, Theren follows her by teleporting to the top himself, but she foresaw this, and so comes straight at him with a dagger, and everything suddenly goes dark. 

When he comes to, the woman is sitting on a nearby chimney, waiting for him to regain himself. Next to him he can see an empty bottle, suggesting that she used a potion on him to bring him back. She remarks that he is slower than she has been told, with Theren quipping back that he didn’t want to harm an old woman. She laughs at this. Theren realizes the woman is a member of his organization, and asks why she is following him. She replies that Delphine sent her, and she’s wondering why he is with the party, as this isn’t what he is here for. He explains that he has a lead that will help the mission, and the woman simply responds that she hopes he’s right. Walking to the edge of the roof, she turns around, and tells him that next time she won’t hold back, so he has to practice, before teleporting down into the alley and disappearing around a corner.

When Theren returns to the group, they immediately see that he has been in a fight, but he assures them that he is fine. Willowbark heals him up, and demands to know what happened. He tells them that he simply had a friendly bout with an associate, and that he is okay. The party realizes that they aren’t going to get any decent answers out of him, so they don’t push the matter further. Kal remarks that the coffee pot that Penny purchased is a really good buy that benefits the party, so it’s only fair that they split the cost, which Penny appreciates. They chip in, giving Penny the gold. Willowbark asks if they have thought any more about heading into the forest, and the party agrees to at least take a look to see what they can find.

Silence of the Woods

The party gathers their stuff, and decides to leave the horses in the stables, in case it is dangerous. Willowbark is the first one who enters the woods, and although she can feel the eerie sensation of the corruption, she gets a calm feeling of being back “home” where she belongs. She decides to sit down and do a ritual, to see if she can be guided on the correct path. After completing the ritual, asking for guidance from her god, the forest grows completely silent, almost eerily so, and the whole party can feel a cold breeze blowing out of the forest, almost as if the forest is telling them to go back. They decide to press on instead, hoping to find anything.

After walking around for a few hours, they still have found nothing. The forest is once again quiet, and the wildlife have disappeared for some reason, but they see nothing of worth other than trees that stretch high above them. Willowbark seems flustered. The party asks how long it took for her to exit the forest after she was exiled, to which she responds that it took about two weeks. Kal puts her fingers to the bridge of her nose, bracing herself for the question she has to ask, and then says bluntly “Are we going to get paid for this?”. The group looks at her, surprised, but she clarifies that they already have a mission, and Gundren is waiting for them, so if they are going to spend the next few weeks looking for her tribe, they at least should get paid for their troubles. Willowbark responds that she has no money to give, and looks defeated. Kal asks if she can ask an animal where they are supposed to go. 

Granny, Penny and Willowbark look around for any animal, but it seems to be rather deserted, as if something has chased them away, or they’re avoiding the area, but Willowbark eventually spots a raven that is sitting on a branch high above them. Willowbark approaches it, and asks if it knows the way to a firbolg tribe. The raven looks down at her, and replies with a simple “no”. She asks if it has seen any people or any sign of the sickness, but it hasn’t seen either. She thanks it for the help at least, and asks that it says hi to the others of her kind if it would come across it. The raven then asks for her name, to which she replies “Thana”. The raven then flies away. Penny asks her why she gave a fake name to the raven if she wanted it to say hi to her people, but Willowbark replies that she didn’t give a false name, before continuing walking. 

A Hurried Retreat

The party realizes that they have no leads and no way of easily finding the tribe, so they decide to head back to town. It’s a couple of hours of walking, and on the way back dusk approaches. The party gets the distinct feeling that they are being watched, and can hear slight whispers in the area. Not wanting to be stuck in the forest after dark, they hurry. When they are almost at the edge, Granny, Kal and Willowbark all spot a halfling girl running through the forest, with Granny freezing up when seeing her. The party grabs her and leads her outside, as she almost seems to want to follow the girl.

When they reach the edge and cross it, the feeling of being watched disappears, and the party takes a breather in the grass next to the river. Not wanting to go back into the woods, they head back to the inn, but Granny stays behind. Kal tries to tell her to join them, but the others stop her, realizing that she needs a moment to herself. Alone, Granny approaches the edge of the forest, and enters it. She tries to talk to her god, and tells her that she is not sure if she should continue to follow her, as she now has a new passion: Her friends. Not getting a response, and no longer seeing the halfling girl, she returns to the grassy fields, just staring at the forest, before eventually falling asleep. Willowbark approaches, and also sleeps near the forest, a little bit away from Granny.

Stormy Dreams

During the night, Kal dreams of being in a vast endless ocean. She is without her armor, only wearing her undergarments. The sky is dark, and clouds surround her. Knowing what is coming, she corrects herself, and rises up, standing on the surface. In front of her, a large imposing being looms over her. Her god. 

“Why do you keep resisting?”

Kal replies that she wants to go home. He tells her that it is not the time to go home, and so she demands to know why. The god gives her a cryptic response that she is not ready to learn the path yet, and she has a task to do now. She keeps arguing with him, demanding to know why he’s doing this to her, but he responds by shooting her with a lightning bolt, waking her up. It’s morning, and a storm is looming in the distance. She flicks off the storm, before putting on her armor, ready to head out.

Journeying North

The party gathers in the inn after waking up, with Kal being grumpier than usual. Granny and Willowbark both come in from sleeping outside, tired from their experiences the day before, and are quieter than usual during breakfast. Penny, noticing the awkwardness, tries to crack a joke that doesn't quite land but manages to elicit a few smiles from the party. Demetrius and Theren both dread being away from a proper bed once more, so they make the most of the 'luxuries' of the inn.

Gathering the horses from the stables, they wave goodbye to Bamin on their way out and begin their journey north towards Thundertree. Far to the west, a storm is roaring, and the party feels grateful that they're not trapped in that weather. As they travel along the main road, they encounter no beasts or dangers, only a few curious travelers like themselves whom they meet during their rest breaks at night. The journey takes a couple of days, and they push the horses as much as they can, not wanting to waste any more time than they already have. On the fourth day, they catch sight of Rivergrounds in the distance, indicating that they're getting close. The party veers off the road and heads east towards the Jaded Wilds.

By the end of the day, they arrive at the small road that leads to Thundertree, and a familiar sense of unease washes over them, reminiscent of their last visit. The air feels thick with dread, giving them a sense that they shouldn't be there. The horses become spooked and agitated in the area, prompting the party to decide to tie them up a short distance away so they can rest after the journey without being forced to enter Thundertree. After securing the horses, the party continues on foot along the path, passing the warning sign that advises them to keep out.

The Reward

As the party reaches the ruins of Thundertree, they still feel a sense of not belonging, but the foulness in the air seems to have diminished, as if a great source of uncleanliness has been purged from the area. Not wanting to dwell on it too much while exposed, they hasten towards Reidoth's house. Knocking on the door and revealing their identities, he immediately invites them inside.

Once they enter, Reidoth admits that he had his doubts, but the party has indeed managed to come through. He explains that he witnessed Venomfang leaving his lair a couple of weeks ago, not long after the party's departure. Interestingly, he also saw a group of individuals who have been roaming the area enter the tower two days after the party left. He heard a great commotion and then saw the dragon fly away, heading east. The party confirms that they did encounter Venomfang at Cragmaw Castle, but Reidoth was correct in his suspicions as the dragon immediately tried to kill them once they cleared it out, nearly costing Penny her life. Reidoth looks at Penny and expresses his relief that they all made it, considering the circumstances. He then asks if the party has any proof of their deed, prompting Willowbark to present the bag of dragon scales they harvested from Venomfang.

Reidoth is elated by what the party has accomplished and heads to the back room to retrieve what he promised them. The party can hear him rummaging through his belongings, muttering to himself, "Where was it... aha!" He returns to the main room holding two bags. He gives one of the bags to Kal, explaining that it's his old Bag of Holding, which should function the same as a new one. Kal accepts the bag and slings it over her shoulder. The other bag is much older and made of gray cloth. Reidoth opens it to reveal its contents—a collection of furry balls of various colors. Granny asks what it is, and Reidoth explains that it's a Bag of Tricks, specifically a gray one. It allows them to summon up to three beasts a day that can assist them in various situations. All eyes turn to Willowbark, the druid, and Reidoth hands her the bag. 

They spend the rest of the day taking it easy, resting a bit, and not having to worry too much about the situation they find themselves in. Penny sees that the drawing of her is still hung up, which makes her happy. Even though where it came from is a darker chapter, the fact that he will remember her gives her solace. After a while, Willowbark asks him more about the corruption that hangs around Thundertree and the forest, with him telling her that he has already told just about everything he knows, that the corruption peaked around 30 years ago, and that was when the people were forced to leave their homes. The way he says it makes it seem like it gradually got worse, which he confirms. They began to see small signs of the corruption, people getting sick without finding the source, healing wouldn’t help, and then it just got worse and worse. Willowbark is worried about the fate of her forest, believing that she doesn’t have all the time in the world to fix it. Not knowing where to start, she sits in the corner, thinking about the future.

Reidoth mentions to the party that although they have done a tremendous job already and have cleared out a dragon from the town, there is still a prevalent undead presence, as well as the blasted twig blights that infest the area. Although he makes it clear that they have already done enough, the party can feel that he would feel very happy if the party could help clear out the remaining vermin. The party wants to loot the tower anyway, and considering that they took down a dragon, feels that this should be an easy enough task.

Clearing Out Thundertree

The party wastes no time. After enjoying their lunch, with Kal creating some candies, they decide to make their way to the tower, suspecting it holds the most valuable loot. Sneaking stealthily towards the front, they encounter no remaining threats and reach the front door without any issues. Although they notice the presence of the dead spiders they encountered on their previous visit, they find the doors already opened. Proceeding with caution, they enter, wary of potential dangers lurking inside.

Within the tower, they come across several blighted undead beings, all adorned in elaborate robes, presumably meant to impress Venomfang. However, things took a turn for the worse, and the dragon slew them all. Dispatching the undead proves relatively easy for the party, thanks to the presence of a cleric among them. Upon searching the bodies, they discover that one of the corpses carried diamonds, likely intended as an offering to the dragon. Additionally, they come across some intriguing magical items in the hoard.

However, their progress is hindered by debris from the collapsed roof, causing the search to take longer than expected. Uncertain if they have uncovered everything of value, they decide to depart with the items they have already gathered.

The Visitor

Theren settles down to identify the magical items, while the rest of the party begins the task of moving the deceased bodies outside. Suddenly, they are approached by an unfamiliar figure emerging from the bushes—an elf named Mara. She expresses curiosity about their activities and introduces herself as a traveler from across the ocean. Mara explains that she desired to study at the College of Edhellond, but her status as a wild-magic sorcerer, a forbidden bloodline due to the volatility of their magic, prevented her from being admitted.

As the party engages in a discussion about Mara's background and whether they can trust her, they are suddenly ambushed by a group of Twig Blights. The blights had been alerted by their conversation and earlier fighting. While the blights have numerical advantage, they prove to be no significant challenge for the heroes. The party defeats them, and after dispatching the last blight, Theren completes the identification of the magical items. They gather the remaining bodies, create a pile, and quickly retreat back to Reidoth's location as night approaches.

At Reidoth's place, the weary party takes a well-deserved rest. However, Willowbark harbors an inexplicable suspicion towards Mara, despite Mara's apparent truthfulness about being a simple traveler trying to earn enough money to return home to Manath. Eventually, Willowbark falls asleep, and the party awakens to a new day. Initially, Reidoth is absent, but he returns in the form of a mouse sneaking through a crack in the wall before transforming back into his true self. Reidoth reveals that he conducted reconnaissance in the early morning hours and points out the houses where he noticed the most activity.

The party spends the rest of the day clearing out the remaining undead and blights. They realize that the undead display signs of corruption or infection, spreading their contagion through large boils and bubbles on their skin. They take precautions to maintain their distance while dispatching them. However, a thunderous spell inadvertently attracts the attention of more zombies in the vicinity. Among them is a large ogre zombie, but the party manages to defeat it.

Upon entering one of the houses, they discover an abundance of spider webs and correctly deduce the presence of a few large spiders lurking within. They attempt various tactics to lure the spiders out, but ultimately, they are forced to confront them directly as the spiders hide in the ceiling amidst the webs. Willowbark decides to utilize the Bag of Tricks obtained from Reidoth. She chooses a ball, tosses it into the house, and to their surprise, a gigantic elk emerges. It crashes through the ceiling, nearly demolishing part of the house, but successfully eliminates one of the spiders. The other spider is eventually burned and killed.

As the last enemy falls, the party takes the time to gather the fallen corpses for burning, aided by the giant elk summoned from the Bag of Tricks. Reidoth, who has transformed into a giant elk as well, assists them. With supplies and treasures collected, Reidoth expresses his gratitude and informs the party that he is moving on to attend to other places that require his attention. He mentions that this may be the last time they see him, at least for a while. The party bids him farewell, and they make their way back to Rivergrounds.

On their journey, Mara decides to part ways with the group, as she has a different path awaiting her. She departs on the outskirts of Rivergrounds, traveling southward. The party watches her departure, ensuring she continues her journey without any unexpected transformations or teleportation.

Dreams of Power and Ascension

Upon entering Rivergrounds, the party makes their way to the stables and discovers that Tim, the stable boy, is nowhere to be found. It seems that their persistent questioning had driven him away. Margerie, the owner of the stables, is angry about Tim's disappearance but maintains her professionalism, taking care of their horses. She permits Willowbark and Granny to spend the night in the stables. The giant elk, affectionately named Mr. Elk by the party, is informed that he is free to roam the forest for the night, as he will vanish at dawn. With a sorrowful look, he departs, and the party hopes to encounter him again in the future if they use the Bag of Tricks.

As the night progresses and the party drifts into slumber, their minds are visited by vivid and occasionally unsettling dreams. Whether these dreams hold prophetic significance or are merely products of their own imaginations remains uncertain. Only time will unveil the true meaning behind these nocturnal visions.

When the party awakens, they notice a change within themselves. A newfound strength resonates within their beings, as if they have transcended their previous limits. They have grown stronger, reaching a higher level of power and capability. The trials they have faced and the experiences they have gathered have honed their skills and elevated them to a new level of proficiency.

Last Day in Rivergrounds

After the party has gotten its rejuvenating rest during the night, they awake to find themselves more powerful. Willowbark and Granny return to the Forgetful Faun Inn, where they first met all those weeks ago. Willowbark tells the party about her dream, where she was wandering through the forest, before being dragged into a vast lake of nothingness, being observed by the massive green eye that have haunted her dreams for so long. She is unsure if the dream is a premonition or just a nightmare, but tells the party that she has had variations of this dream ever since she was a child. 

Kal recounts her dream as well, and tells the party that she saw all of them, dead, undead, and coming for her. Not knowing what to do, she did the only thing she could, use her god given powers to protect herself, killing all of her friends, before they killed her. The party stares at Kal for a good 10 seconds, before Demetrius blurts out “that’s messed up Kal.”. They finish their breakfasts, with the rest of the party unwilling to share their dreams, as they either don’t want to or cannot see the significance.

Before leaving town, Granny, recognizing the potential value of an additional layer of protection despite her already formidable defense, decides to consult with the village smith. She expresses her desire to acquire a shield, seeking one that offers convenience in terms of wearing and removing it, even though her shell provides a robust defense. The blacksmith, acknowledging Granny's quest for something unique, informs her of the various shields available in his possession. However, it becomes apparent that Granny is in search of a shield with special attributes.

Understanding the urgency of their departure, the smith proposes an alternative. He suggests that Granny crafts her own shield, enabling her to tailor it to her specific needs. Delighted by the idea, Granny promptly purchases the required materials and acquires a portable forger's kit, a valuable tool that will allow her to forge the shield while on their journey. With her newfound supplies in tow, Granny is prepared to embark on a new journey of self improvement.

In the meantime, Theren is wandering the streets, looking for anyone who can sell him ink so that he can start copying spells over to his spellbook. After asking around for a while, most people mention that the only magic wielder in town is Elysande, the Cleric of Elios. He seeks her out, asking her if she has any ink to sell, but as she is a cleric, her magic comes from her god, and so she doesn't use spellbooks, and thus doesn’t require ink. Theren thanks her for the help anyways, and joins the other as they leave the town.

A Visitor in the Night

On the journey out of Rivergrounds, following the road that eventually leads to Ruins of Phandalin, the party faces little danger other than the odd beast who comes a bit too close, but runs away when it realizes that it is outnumbered. During their breaks, Granny starts working on her shield, much to the interest of Penny who asks where this newfound interest in crafting comes from. Granny explains that she wants to be useful, and figures that she can at least learn a new skill now that she has the time. She tells Penny about her family, her long lost sister egg that was lost, as well as her time growing up near the Independent Isles. She eventually left the isles, in search of adventure, and found herself in Khuzunzan when she met Gundren, leading to her meeting the party.

During the night, as Penny and Willowbark take the first watch, Penny can hear some sounds coming from a bush, so she stealthily approaches the disturbance, and discovers a giant spider, who is trembling and looks terrified. Willowbark, who can speak to animals, comes over to ask what it wants, and it meekly asks if the party has any food to share, preferably fresh meat. Penny runs over to Kal, waking her, asking her if she has any meat to spare. In her half-asleep state grabs some chunks out of her bag, with Penny returning to Willowbark and the spider. She gives it the meat, and it quickly gobbles it up, thanking the party for helping it before it scuttles away in the night. 

Penny and Willowbark sit a bit reflecting on the encounter, with Willowbark pointing out that although some creatures may look evil or mean, they aren’t all like that. Penny agrees, and thinks that the party should come up with a name for themselves. Willowbark agrees, but thinks they should discuss it during breakfast. 

During Granny and Demetrius’ watch, not much happens, but she has been watching him for the last few weeks, and feels that he is a bit like a fish out of water, questioning his intentions for joining the group. He is vague as always in his replies, but it boils down to the fact that he is looking for new experiences and opportunities he can use in his regular line of work.

As Theren takes up his post for the night watch, his vigilant gaze scans the surrounding darkness, searching for any signs of potential danger. The tranquility of the night prevails, leaving him alone with his thoughts. However, an unsettling sensation washes over him—a haunting feeling of being observed. A disquieting presence infiltrates his mind, as if something or someone is rummaging through his thoughts.

Acting swiftly, Theren concentrates his focus, summoning his inner strength to resist and expel the intruding entity. With a determined effort, he successfully pushes the presence out, regaining control over his own consciousness. Momentarily disoriented, he scans his surroundings, hoping to catch sight of the elusive culprit responsible for the intrusion. However, his scrutiny reveals only the familiar faces of his companions, their expressions innocent and unaware.

Throughout the remainder of his watch, Theren remains on high alert, regularly glancing over his shoulder, a lingering sense of unease tugging at his instincts. The unnerving encounter has left him wary, his senses heightened as he maintains a vigilant watch over his companions.

During the last watch, Kal focuses on getting breakfast ready. As the sun rises over the eastern mountains, the rest of the party awakens, and joins her. Penny and Willowbark ask the group about suggestions for a group name. Theren points out that they really don’t need one, but the rest of the group thinks it sounds like a fun idea. They come up with a few creative names, but cannot agree on one they all like, so they decide to table the discussion for now. Theren asks the others if they have felt something weird in the last couple of weeks. When they ask him to clarify, he elaborates with “the feeling of being watched”. The party looks at each other, none having noticed anything out of the ordinary. He tells the party to be vigilant, and mindful about what they think about, and that he will have to do some more experimentation. The party gathers their belongings and continues on their journey.

Killer in Plain Sight

After another day of travel, the party finds a new campsite, and settles down for the evening's rest. As Granny continues working on her shield, she is having a hard time with it, but gets a few pointers from Kal on how to use and be effective with it. Willowbark and Penny forage for food and firewood, and return a while later with supplies. Most of the night goes by uneventfully. When Theren wakes Demetrius for his shift, he asks him to take care of the ring, and vanishes into it, hoping not to be disturbed by the intruding presence once more. During Willowbark's watch she cannot find Theren anywhere, and worries at first, but realize that it must have a reasonable explanation. 

As the party wakes in the morning, Willowbark confronts Theren on why he didn’t sleep in his bedroll last night, but Theren says that she doesn’t have to worry, as he was always around. Kal is very suspicious about Theren and Demetrius, sensing that they are up to something, but gives them some snacks to prepare them for the day, giving them the stink-eye.

While traveling down the road, the party spots something lying in the grass a bit to the side. On closer inspection they can see that there are two corpses, a man and a woman, as well as a dead horse. Penny walks closer, trying to examine what the people and the horse died from, as they don’t appear to have any visible wounds from a distance. When she examines the bodies of the people, she can see large bite marks on their torsos. As there doesn’t appear to be any wild beasts in the immediate vicinity, she decides to loot the horse. The rest of the party tries to stop her, but they’re too late, having seen the danger a bit too late. 

As Penny touches the horse, her hands suddenly become attached, like they’re glued in place. The belly of the horse splits open, revealing a large mouth with huge teeth ready to pounce on her. She has walked straight into a mimic. The party jumps into action, and tries to free Penny by dragging her away, and the mimic manages to get in a few chomps before they pull her off it. Thinking they have the upper hand at first, they suddenly realize that most of the rocks surrounding them are also mimics, as they begin to move towards the party. 

The party, using all the tricks at their disposal manages to kill most of the monstrosities, with Kal summoning a thunderstorm to finish off the remaining mimics. As the last one falls, she takes no chances, blasting every single stone she sees with a lightning bolt, with Theren helping with his Eldritch Blasts. After they are confident there are no more mimics remaining, they examine the bodies, and find a few coins, as well as a note from a child, presumably belonging to the deceased couple. After Willowbark have given them her usual rites, they mark the location, telling some passing sentries about the encounter, as well as the location of the bodies, before moving onwards to Phandalin.

Last Night in Phandalin

A few days after defeating the mimics, the party turns the final bend in the road and climbs the last hill, seeing Phandalin in the distance. When they go to stable their horses once more, they meet Tim again. Willowbark starts acting extremely suspicious, and begins questioning him about his background and if he has any family. Tim feels uncomfortable answering questions from a stranger, which frustrates her. Granny watches this, and tries to find out his secrets by casting hunter’s mark on him, hoping to track him if he goes to a hidden lair or something. Seems like the party is quite paranoid about the innocent looking stable boy.

After boarding the horses, the party goes to the Stonehill tavern to meet with Gundren. When they enter the inn they can see Gundren in the back having a few beers with the local prospectors. When he sees the party he quickly excuses himself from his drinking pals and heads over to greet the group. “Right on time” he says, with beer frothing from the mouth, and then asks if the party have accomplished what they had to do and if they’re ready to head out. They reply that they indeed feel they have accomplished their tasks, and can head towards the cave whenever Gundren wants. As it is quite late in the day, he feels that the most prudent thing to do would be to leave in the morning when they all have gotten a good night's sleep. The party agrees, and heads to the rooms Gundren has provided. Granny checks out her hunter’s mark, but finds that Tim hasn’t moved, before she and Willowbark head to the fields to sleep.

The next morning, the group in the tavern is awoken at the break of dawn by Gundren knocking on their doors, telling them it’s time to wake up. They have never been so drowsy before, barely getting enough sleep. When they get downstairs, Gundren is already in full gear and ready to head out, and tells the party that he took the liberty of retrieving their horses, which the party sees waiting outside being tended to by Granny and Willowbark who are already awake. They all mount their horses, and head southeast, towards the mountains. 

The Final Push

The journey to Wave Echo Cave is a fairly straight forward path, taking the party through a beautiful serene landscape with the Iron Hills rapidly approaching in front of them. During the trek they have to cross a chasm with a narrow bridge, but as the horses have gotten quite used to traveling with the party, it proves no challenge. After a few days, the party can see a lake on the right hand side, to the south of them. Thinking nothing of it at first, Willowbark can see a small altar at the edge of the lake. Looking closer she can see that it is covered in blood.

Penny wants to go closer, but Gundren advises against it, explaining that some local goblin tribes use it for sacrifices, hence the blood. He has been lucky enough to avoid getting too close to the ritual itself, but has seen it from a distance, and heard the screams of the sacrificed goblin. The party shudders, and decides to leave well enough alone, following his advice. The path curves around the lake, and after taking a short rest, they continue onwards for a few hours, before Gundren proclaiming “we’re here”, looking at a large opening in the mountain wall in front of them.

Missing Siblings

Gundren dismounts his horse and approaches the mountain wall. He calls out to his brothers, but gets no response. He begins running frantically towards a nearby clearing, with the party following right behind. Reaching the clearing, they find what appears to be a ruined campsite, with no dwarven brothers in sight. Gundren looks concerned, and so the party starts examining the campsite. Looking around they find several footprints barely visible after a couple of weeks of rain and wind, but it’s definitely visible. A large group of big footprints, as well as some smaller ones. Seems that someone found his brothers, and as the tracks lead to the cave entrance in the mountain wall, they took the brothers with them inside.

With cautious curiosity, the party directs their attention towards the entrance of the cave. Their keen eyes discern a poorly disguised trap, cunningly designed to activate and send cascades of rocks tumbling down upon unsuspecting intruders. Evidently, it serves as a deterrent, an attempt to warn and impede those who dare to venture further, left behind by whoever took the brothers.

Undeterred by the trap's presence, Demetrius steps forward, his expertise in disarming such obstacles evident. Skillfully and effortlessly, he renders the trap harmless, disabling its mechanisms with practiced precision. With the danger neutralized, Demetrius paves the way for the rest of the group to proceed deeper into the cave, to face the dangers within.

As they venture further into the depths, the cave opens up, revealing a large chamber, with stalactites hanging from the ceiling. The air is humid, much more so than the party would expect, and a faint booming sound can be heard emanating from deeper in the cave. Kal lights her sword, granting vision to the members of the party who cannot see in darkness, revealing a large ravine in the cave floor in front of them. On the edge, they can see that someone has fastened a rope for easily climbing down. As the party looks over the edge, they can see a single body lying on the ground at the bottom.

Wasting no time, Gundren quickly descends down the rope, and confirms his worst fears. The body is that of his brother Tharden, and as the party descends to assist him, they see him clutching his brother's corpse, weeping silently in the darkness. Overcome with grief, he tells the party that he cannot go on, as he would not be much use in his current state. The party wholeheartedly understands, and is confident that they can finish the task on his behalf. Gundren gives them the map that he and his brothers found, hoping it will guide them through the cave. They help him with bringing his brother's corpse to the top of the edge, and as he exits the cave, the party sets their sights on which way to go first, as they see two pathways out of the ravine.

Following the Trail

The party looks around, examining the area closely, looking for clues to which way they should go first. To the south, they can see a large collection of bodies, old and new littering the cave beyond the ravine. They look to the north, and can barely make out what looks like railway tracks, with the trail from the group that took Gundrens brothers leads to. The party decides to follow the tracks, hoping to find his remaining brother alive and well.

As they travel along the tracks, they get the odd sensation of being watched, but as they peer through the darkness, they see no one, but can hear a weird noise that can only be described as wet. They walk past dark puddles, and several broken down minecarts that haven’t seen use in quite some time. Just as Demetrius is about to turn around a corner, Willowbark quickly grabs his collar, preventing him from walking into a gelatinous cube which was waiting in ambush. Noticing the sudden movements and exclamation from Demetrius, it starts moving towards the party, who is forced to back away from it. 

The cube is not a dangerous foe, but it manages to swallow a few of the party members, who easily escapes its grasp with the help of the others. Theren who is in the rear of the group have been firing Eldritch Blasts at the cube, but suddenly find himself between a rock and a hard place, as the puddles they passed earlier proves to be more dangerous than first suspected, as they have creeped up towards the party from behind, explaining the weird sounds they heard earlier. 

Just when the party thinks the fight is turning in their favor, a large yellowish ooze comes crawling from around the corner, straight for the disturbance in the tunnels. When the party tries to attack it, it just splits into several smaller parts, each attacking on their own, but through teamwork and clever use of repelling spells, they manage to take all the oozes down, and quickly retreat back to the ravine. 

Finding Shelter

Feeling tired, they realize that the cave might be more of a challenge than they first suspected, and decide to find a place to rest for the night. Not wanting to go back out, they look at the map Gundren gave them, and decide to try to find some place that might be defensible so that they can rest.

As the map is covered with blood and quite deteriorated it is hard to discern a safe room for them to rest, but they see what looks like a sleeping quarters that seems to not be too far from where they currently find themselves. Not wanting to go through the cave with the large amount of bodies, they head back to the mines, hugging the eastern wall, and manage to make their way through it without encountering any enemies. 

When they reach what they think is the correct door, they quietly listen in the hallway to hear if they notice any dangers approaching them, while Demetrius examines the door, checking for traps. He determines that it should be safe, so the party decides to open it carefully, hoping not to attract any nearby enemies that are lurking in the shadows. As soon as the door swings open, they can see six sets of eyes staring back at them, as a group of undead monsters notice their approach, and come rushing towards the entrance straight at the party.

A Place to Rest

Seeing the group of undeads coming down on them, the party is quick to defend themselves, and force their way inside so as to not draw any attention from any roaming monsters nearby. Unfortunately the odor of the ghouls that reside within the chamber is extremely pungent, almost overwhelming to the party, but after a brief scuttle that they managed to contain to the chamber, the undeads lie defeated on the ground, and the party has a place to rest. 

The party gathers the pile of corpses into the corner, as far away as possible from the party so that they can get some sleep without being awoken by the smell, and then search the chambers, as the rhythmic booming coming from further into the cave resonates through the chamber  every couple of minutes. To the northern wall, opposite of where they came in, they find a small shrine to a dwarven deity, with the symbol and effigy of a dwarf holding a pickaxe. Looking around the bones the ghouls were munching on, Penny and Demetrius find an ancient piece of parchment. On it is the same picture that they found before, the circle with four notches, but as soon as they pick it up it crumbles and falls away. 

The party, satisfied that there are no more hidden dangers lurking in the room, decides to block the entryways in case something or someone tries to enter, and sits down to take a rest. Penny plays a quiet tune to the party on her viol, while Kal prepares some dinner for them to eat. While resting, the party theorizes as to what the rumbling noise they hear throughout the cave can be, with various theories ranging from dragons to earthquakes, but Kal suddenly connects the name Wave Echo Cave, figuring there is probably a large body of water somewhere within the cave causing the sound. 

During their conversation, Granny, positioned strategically with her shell blocking the door, abruptly signals for the party to halt. A heightened sense of awareness fills the air as she discerns the approaching sound of heavy footsteps. The footsteps come to a halt just outside the door, and a cautious attempt is made to open it. Thankfully, Granny resolutely holds the door shut, preventing any unwanted entry.

Minutes stretch on as the mysterious presence lingers outside, its intentions unclear. Eventually, the heavy footsteps recede, fading into the distance. The party collectively releases a relieved sigh, grateful for Granny's alertness to danger.

Deeper Into the Cave

After regaining some stamina and resources, the party carefully opens the door, checking to see if the coast is clear. As Granny perceived the footsteps to be moving east, they decide to backtrack to the mines and see if they can find a way forward from there. During the walk they still cannot shake the feeling of being watched, but after traversing through the mines they reach a staircase leading into what appears to be a larger room, and they can see a bunch of ghouls as well as some larger ghasts roaming the chamber. They try to think of a way to get the advantage, as the enemy far outnumbers the party. Figuring that remaining in the hallway will provide a choke point, the party decides to lure them towards them, giving them the benefit.

Theren quickly fires a fireball into the room, catching several of the undead in it, which causes them all to spring into action. They fall for the party’s ploy at first, but the undeads seem to be more intelligent than first thought, as a large group veers off and heads away from the battle, while the remaining undead tries to attack the party through the hallway. Figuring that the undeads are trying to flank them by going around, Willowbark summons a moonbeam in the staircase, repelling the undeads who eventually manage to make their way through the mines, trapping the party between them. 

As the party has defeated the group that was distracting them, they move further into the larger room, keeping the flanking group at bay. Penny notices that Kal seems to be more perceptive in darkness than she first thought, as she seems to make a point of telling the party that the coast is clear in the chamber, even though she shouldn’t be able to see anything. Eventually, by slowly moving the moonbeam closer to the undeads and firing at them with weapons and spells, they manage to take down the last remaining undead that resided in the room. 

Looking around, the party finds that the chamber at one time was a room for gathering and celebration, as a large table with ruined chairs dominates the center of the room, with several smaller tables in the periphery. The ghouls and ghasts were once again feasting on the bones of the fallen dwarves and orcs, hoping to consume some remaining marrow, but the corpses have been there for far too long for there to be any sustenance left. On one of the corpses they find another piece of parchment with a symbol of the circle, and as Theren goes to the eastern wall, he can see a faint glowing green light further into the cave. Looking closer at it, they can see that it resembles a skull. Granny recognizes this as a flameskull, long dead wizards that have been awoken to protect by powerful necromancers. The group theorizes if it is the Mormesk they heard mention of in the notes from the Redbrand base.

Realizing that the party has expended most of their resources, they decide to try to find another place to rest, and find a room on the map that might be suitable, just south of where they are. Sneaking down the hallway to the room, being careful to avoid the lumbering presence that roams the area, they find a door. The party tries to listen in to check if it is occupied, but as the footsteps rapidly approach, Demetrius kicks open the door and leads the rest inside. The room is mostly empty, apart from some barrels that have the writing “Phandelver Cider” on them. Once used to store drinks for the workers, the contents of the barrels have long since dried up. Noticing a chimney that vents the air, the party realizes that the room could be perfect to sleep in with a bonfire during the night if needed. The party takes a short rest again, and after the sentient coffee pot thinks it has claimed their souls, they wait for the footsteps outside to move on, before venturing out to explore further.

Unseen Dangers

Making their way down south of the chamber, the party once again encounters the large room with the corpses that they saw when they first entered the ravine. Examining the bodies they find that most of them are extremely old, probably from around when the cave was lost 400 years ago. Kal examines one of the orcish bodies and recognizes the emblems on the shield to be those of the Thax'ning Tribes north of Moroxia. A bit further into the room they find a fresher body of a bugbear, lying in front of a rather large stalagmite. When the party moves closer to the bugbear to examine it, the stalagmite suddenly starts to move, as large tentacles emerge from it, and the rock opening to reveal a large mouth with sharp teeth, as the roper that was hidden tries to attack the party.

Several of the party members are suddenly grabbed by the tentacles of the roper, and as it reels them in close, it takes a bite out of the closest member, before some of them manage to break themselves free. The party quickly backs off, trying to avoid the tentacles, but it has a reach that spans all across the room, making it nearly impossible to go on the offensive  and stay clear of the ropers' grasp at the same time. Unfortunately, backing too far off reveals the source of the constant feeling of being observed throughout the cave, as a pair of shadows have stalked the party ever since they entered, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Amidst a relentless onslaught from adversaries on both sides, Kal takes swift action, igniting her longsword to bathe the area in bright light. The heightened illumination serves to impede the encroaching shadows, but inadvertently exposes the party to the lurking danger of the roper. The ensuing battle rages fiercely, with every member of the group fighting valiantly.

However, the roper proves to be a formidable opponent, ensnaring everyone except Theren and Granny within its menacing grasp. Even with Willowbark summoning her bear totem in a desperate attempt to aid their escape, the bonds remain unyielding. Granny's relentless hacking at the roper yields no success, and the dire situation becomes apparent as Penny and Willowbark sway on the brink of death.

Suddenly, Theren finds himself caught under the relentless assault of the remaining shadow. Weakened and driven to the edge, he summons the last vestiges of his strength. Employing his arcane abilities, Theren swiftly teleports away from the shadow's clutches. As a final, desperate maneuver, he unleashes an eldritch blast, obliterating the shadow and reducing it to nothingness.

In a moment of incredible resolve, Theren redirects his second eldritch blast, targeting the roper's eye with unwavering precision. The powerful blast strikes makes contact, shattering the creature's final resolve and causing it to collapse, liberating his trapped companions from their entanglement.

Wanting to harvest the roper when they inevitably leave the cave, as it might have useful parts, Kal casts a ritual of gentle repose, which preserves its corpse, preventing the valuable parts from deteriorating. As she is in the middle of the ritual, the party suddenly spots the source of the lumbering footsteps through the hallways: a large ogre zombie patrolling the area. The party holds its breath as it passes by, but luckily it does not notice the party, and moves on. Kal quickly finishes her ritual, and the party sneak back to the safe room they found earlier, barricades the door, and goes to sleep.

During the night, they all have various dreams about their experiences and hopes for the future, but something that connects all dreams is that they all have a presence in the dream. Nothing too overt, but every member of the party can see a sinister looking silhouette in the background, watching them from within their dreams.

Continuing Through the Cave

As the party wakes up the next morning, everything seems to be normal, or at least as normal as can be when waking up in an ancient cave filled with undead. Everyone gathers around the campfire the group set up the night before, and as Theren sits down to eat, everyone goes quiet. He can feel the stares of his companions piercing him, so he asks if he has something on his face. The party tells him he’s blue, with Granny reaching over to touch his skin, and realizes that it is paint, so Theren grabs his waterskin to clean it off. He manages to get most of it, except for two circles around his eyes, making it look like someone has drawn fake glasses on him. 

Theren takes out his knife, and wipes it clean with a piece of cloth, to check his reflection. He does a short incantation, and activates his detect magic, finding that he has been affected by some sort of illusion magic. Unsure of what the cause is, and considering it seems to be harmless, albeit comical, the party decides to not worry too much about it for now, and instead focus on the dangers of the cave.

The group decides that the first order of action should be to take out the roaming ogre zombie that could cause a disturbance if it were to discover the party. Granny focuses her ears and tries to listen to where it might be, but the only thing she can make out is the booming coming from within the cave. Checking out to see if the coast is clear, they hurriedly sneak their way towards the room where they fought the first ghouls, in the hope of ambushing the zombie ogre.

Waiting around, Penny eventually can hear the undead approaching, and so they all go into position in order to take it out quickly. As the ogre passes by, they all release their attacks at the same time, causing the monster to go down without any hassle. After making sure that the zombie is actually down, they move back to the chamber where they encountered the roper and the shadows, and take a closer look at it.

The chamber is littered with corpses of men, dwarves, elves and orcs, signifying a large conflict taking place here. Most of the bodies are ancient, apart from the bugbear that the party didn’t have time to loot the day before, so Penny takes the opportunity to do so now. Looking around at the walls of the chamber, they spot sigils belonging to what looks like three different families. One of the sigils is easily recognized as that of the Mercier family, as it matches the one on the Longsword of Twilight that the party found in the nothic’s chest. One of the other sigils seems to belong to a dwarven family, judging by the hard edges and general aesthetic.  

More Undeads

Feeling confident that there is nothing more of value in the chamber of the roper, the party sees that there is a hallway leading south towards what probably once was the original entrance of the cave, and what is left are two entrances on opposite sides of the hallway. Approaching them they can see that the doors are much shorter than the rest of the cave they’ve seen so far, and figure it’s probably due to being dwarven made. One of the doors seems to be unlocked, so Penny carefully opens the door and peeks inside. There she sees a large room with a bunch of broken furniture, as well as remains of skeletons laying motionless on the ground. 

Thinking at first that the room is safe, she suddenly stops herself from opening the door further as she sees a silhouette standing in the middle of the room. Theren tries to take a look inside, as Penny didn’t know what she was seeing, and he recognizes it as an undead, more specifically a wight. He tells the party that it steals lifeforce to stay active, and it’s highly unusual for it to be alone, and so the party should be careful if they enter. As they don’t want this thing to roam around and find them at an inopportune time, they decide to take care of it here and now.

The party prepares themselves, and Demetrius kicks open the door, allowing Penny to surprise it with faerie fire, making it easier to attack. The beads of light flowing through the air attach itself to the skin of the wight, who screams a blood-curdling scream at the intruders, awakening the group of skeletons that were dormant in the room. Willowbark summons a moon beam, with Theren firing a fireball into the room. Kal uses her turn undead ability, taking down a few skeletons, with Granny using her axe after rushing into the room. 

A measly group of skeletons accompanied by a wight proves no challenge for the party, and Willowbark takes down the leader with her moonbeam, causing it to melt into nothingness. After clearing out the room, they decide to look through the ruined furniture, finding a letter talking about Mormesk, and how powerful he is, recommending that whomever the letter was addressed for to stay close to him, as Mormesk can protect them. Kal, remembering reading about the weapon Lightbringer that was commissioned for a cleric, hopes to find the Forge of Spells soon. On one of the walls they found a box full of earplugs. At first wondering what they were used for, the resonating boom of the cave answers their question. They decide to move on.

Crossing the hallway they decide to check out the other room in the area, and so Demetrius carefully listens to the door, but thinks that it is clear. He opens it carefully, and finds no enemies, but rather an old office of sorts. There are a few corpses inside, and they have to use force to open the door, as it seems they were trying to keep something out when they died. On the counter in the north side of the room there are some scales, indicating that this room was used for assessing ore samples and paying miners for their labors. Demetrius finds a strongbox beneath the counter, and tries to open it, but the lock is too deteriorated to pick, so they decide to take it with them to try later. They also pick up some of the parchments that have dwarven writing on it.

In a small shrine to the north of the room has two gold pieces lying in it that have been there for as long as the cave has been lost, considering the dust. The shrine seems to be dedicated to Shehemis, as they recognize his symbol. Willowbark puts a gold coin in it, and suddenly feels blessed by the deity. Kal tries to do the same, but nothing happens. Thinking it’s either a limited time use or that she is following the wrong god she can’t be sure of, but in either case, they have taken what is of use, and leave the room.

The Glowing Cave

The party returns to the roper chamber, and heads east towards a faint light they can see in the cavern ahead of them. There is a faint green glow, and a sweet scent in the air, which Granny quickly deduces is poisonous. In front of them there is a vast chamber filled with mushrooms that have been allowed to grow freely for the last several hundred years. Among the mushrooms they can see corpses in various positions, most overgrown by the mushrooms. 

On one hand sticking out on the path through the mushrooms, Granny spots a ring shaped like a skull. She points it out to the group, with Theren using his mage hand to retrieve it, bringing the finger it was placed on as well. He carefully shakes it out, and takes a moment to get a sense of the item, and notices it is magical. After identifying it, he finds it to be a Ring of Obscuring, useful to hide oneself from attackers. 

The party figures that the mushroom will probably release a dangerous fungus that could harm the party if disturbed, so they don’t think they will be able to move through, no matter how fast they jump. Theren points out that the mushrooms are probably highly flammable, so a well placed fireball could easily clear a way for them, but he is hesitant, as that could potentially ignite the whole chamber and kill them all. The party decides to take the long way around to play it safe, as the map indicates that there is another path.

Mormesk, Maybe

They move away from the mushroom chamber, back to the large chamber where they fought the group of ghouls and ghasts, as they know there is a way to the northeast of there. Peeking around the corner of the hallway, they see the flameskull hovering around the room looking at things. They talk amongst them, thinking that this must be the mage Mormesk they have seen references to. Looking at the soft glow of the undead hovering in the room beyond, they decide to make a battle plan. They think it’s time to use the Bag of Tricks again, and take out the flameskull quickly, considering that it might be quite powerful.

Penny and Kal both run into the chamber, and casts a shatter each at the flameskull, with Willowbark following close behind to throw a furry friend at the enemy. She manages to summon a direwolf that rushes forward and attacks the skull. Feeling things are going a little too easy, they suddenly notice the various corpses scattered across the room begin to move, as a large group of zombies rise due to the disturbance. 

As the zombies come shambling towards them, the party takes a defensive position in the hallway, hoping to bottleneck the zombies so that they are not overwhelmed. Unbeknownst to them, the flameskull knows fireball. Realizing their mistake just as the small bead of fire they have seen Theren fire so many times before is heading straight for them, the party braces for the impact. Kal raises her shield, and manages to deflect from herself the flames that erupt, but the rest of the party isn’t as lucky. 

The party manages to eventually take down the skull, which drops to the ground, flames extinguished. Taking some time to finish off the zombies that remain, Willowbark quickly picks up and uses dispel magic on the skull, preventing it from reanimating as Granny has heard rumors of the flameskulls being difficult to kill. Theren hopes to keep the skull as a souvenir, but as soon as the spell is cast, the skull evaporates into a fine dust in her hands. Theren decides to keep the dust, hoping to find some use for it. 

The dire wolf, whom Willowbark has decided to call Mr. Fang surprisingly made it through the battle. Seeing no more enemies, and wanting to play it safe, they reconvene at the safe room they have used so far, and take a short rest. During the rest the dire wolf suddenly fades into nothingness, and the party realizes that dawn just arrived. 

War Crimes

After the rest the party heads back to the room where they fought the flameskull, or Mormesk as they are now sure it was, and realizes that the room leads both east and west. Wanting to find Gundren’s brother before it is too late, they decide to try to head west, towards where the tracks were going. Crossing the room and entering the hallway, they see a closed door in front of them. Checking the map, they find that there is a room beyond it, and as they try to open it, they find that it is barricaded from the other side. But Kal is nothing if not stubborn, so using all her strength, she pushes the door with all of her might, managing to open it slightly, allowing the party to help.

As the door swings open, they see several bugbears on the other side, groggy and tired, with shocked expressions on their faces as they obviously thought the barricade could keep out anything. The bugbears demand to know who they are, with Demetrius trying to claim to them that they are with the Black Spider. Being proficient in bullshit, Demetrius manages to convince them that he is telling the truth, and demands that the bugbears line up in formation. It is unknown if it is the shock of being rudely awoken or the intimidation, but they actually listen to him and form up into a line by the wall. Demetrius sees his plan working and shouts to Theren to use his fireball.

Theren wastes no time, throwing a bead of fire straight at the bugbears, managing to get all of them within the flaming eruption. The bugbears, being surprised by the whole situation are easily dispatched and killed, apart from what appears to be the leader, who they knock out. They tie him up, and search the room, finding some coins as well as a potion.

After looting the room and placing the bugbear chief next to the wall, they wake him up. Granny immediately casts charm person on him. He is disoriented, and extremely angry, but feels that he can trust Granny. They ask him his name, which he gives as Kragnarg Bash. They ask why he’s here, and he tells them the Black Spider hired them to help look for something in the caves, and tells them where they can find him. He is in the temple of Dumathoin, just around the corner. They ask more details about the Black Spider, and he tells them the name he knows him as is Nezznar, and that he indeed is a drow. None in the party recognize the name. Nezznar hasn’t told the bugbears what they are looking for. Kal deduces that the bugbear isn’t withholding any information.

During the talk, Kragnarg keeps looking towards the door, as if he is worried about something. The party tells him they took care of the undead, so he calms down a bit. When asked about what abilities the Black Spider has, he just gives a cryptic response in that he changes when he gets angry.

The party huddles together to discuss what to do with Kragnarg, and as they do, the bugbear sees his opportunity and breaks free of his bonds. The party surrounds him, and prevents him from escaping, telling him to break away from the Black Spider’s influence. Willowbark gives a heartfelt plea to try to redeem him, and offers him a way to live away from danger in peace, and tells him she can give him the way to her tribe. Granny tells him in the kindest way that she can that if he doesn’t they will be forced to execute him. After thinking for a while, weighing his options, he eventually agrees, as long as the party provides him with healing, some rations, and promises not to tell the Black Spider. 

They agree to the terms, and provide him with the supplies, with Willowbark telling him how to get to Faunus’ Forest, as well as how to get in contact with her tribe. Kal watches his body language, and finds that he probably just wants to get away from here, alive. They send him on his way, and he disappears into the dark caves, heading towards the ravine.

Facing the Spider

After taking a short rest, with the cursed coffee pot whispering gleefully at its growing influence over the party, they decide that it is time to face the Black Spider once and for all. Exiting the room, they find a short staircase to the north, and see remnants of spider webs in the corners of the hallway. Turning the corner, the hallway is positively covered by it, and they have to break much of it away in order to reach the large double doors that lead into the temple. As they open the door, the first thing they notice is the large statue of a dwarven deity, presumably Dumathoin, holding a large warhammer with large emerald eyes. Some pillars that hold the roof up have broken, and the roof itself is covered in spiderwebs, with a large hole in the middle of it. 

To the side of the room, a drow seems to be looking at something with a bugbear, and as the door opens, he looks over at the party. The drow is clad in what appears to be expensive clothes, with black and red silk adorned with trims of gold. Around his neck there is a large spider necklace, and he carries a staff with a spider adorned on the end of it. The party thinks it’s a little over the top, but the name fits at least. 

“Ah, so we meet at last. Nezznar Khalazza, at your service.”

The drow bows to the party, and then proceeds to list every party member's full name, showing them how much he already has learned about them. He asks them if they have dispatched with all of his minions, and Theren lies to him by saying that they didn’t give them much of a choice. 

The party wants to know what the Black Spider is doing here, and demands the return of Gundren’s brother. He ignores the demand, and instead tells the party that he is searching for something of great personal value to him in the caverns to the east. Apparently the flameskull has proved to be a bigger nuisance than Nezznar first thought it would be, and his troops are unwilling to get too close. 

Nezznar offers the party a job, to help him reach the Forge of Spells, or hand over the map that he has been searching for so that he can find another path to it. The party is careful not to mention to Nezznar that they have already taken care of the flameskull and the undead. He mentions Morgan’s name to Penny, and seems to hint to her that he was present in Centahelm the night he disappeared. She replies that she didn’t see any drow in the crowd that night, but he simply answers condescendingly that he of course didn’t look like he does now. He probably took the form of an old man so that she wouldn’t notice him. Penny asks when this was to prove it, and he replies that it was about two months ago. Kal can sense that he isn’t being completely truthful about this, but doesn’t say anything yet. 

When Theren chimes in, he mockingly calls him “Theren With The Copper Eyes”, several times, and tells him to be quiet, as he cannot bring anything of value to this conversation that he doesn't already know. He asks Kal if she knows of Centahelm, hinting that he knows it’s her hometown. A veiled threat to her family? He asks again to consider his proposal, telling Demetrius that he has to find a way to pay for the daggers he has ordered. Kal asks why he keeps tabs on them, and he responds to the party that he was told.

“I may have been told that you could be important, by my patron.”

He doesn’t reveal who his patron is when asked. But he admits to the party begrudgingly that he knows the least about Willowbark, as there seems to be no records of her prior to a few months ago. 

“But please, no rush, take some time to confer about my proposal”

He strikes the floor twice with his staff, and the doors behind the party close shut and lock themselves, before returning to the bugbear and talks with it in a low voice. Luckily for the party, Willowbark can read lips, and she sees that he is telling the bugbear that if the party doesn’t help him he won’t need them anymore. The party discusses quietly and thinks about the pros and cons. They could avoid fighting Nezznar, but they don’t know what they are providing to him, so they don’t want to risk it being a danger to other people. They ask Nezznar what they would receive if they helped him, to which he responds “Money, your lives and a favor down the line.” 

He goes on to say, noticing the party’s reluctance, that he knew when they arrived at the cave, as his spies are everywhere, and that beating his men was his way of testing the resolve of his minions. A test they sadly failed, and if they were alive now, he would execute them for their weakness. When asked why Gundren is so important, he tells them that his knowledge is important, but he confesses to having never met him in person.

The party tells him that they talked to Zelya in Cragmaw Castle, and wants an explanation about his goals. He tells them that the greater good, in his eyes, is equality between his people and their people. Wanting to convince the party, he tells them the artifact he is searching for is a key. A circular shape, and not really any use for the group, or so he claims. They ask where the key goes, and he tells them the lock is out of their reach. 

The party tries to argue that if he does what he is planning on doing, he will take away something from everyone, without them even having a say in the matter.

“Yes, I will. It is a consequence of what I do, but it is not our goal.”

Willowbark proclaims that she will never work for or follow someone of whom she doesn’t know the true intentions of, and in the end, hers and his goals, his being to remove all magic, don’t seem to align. And so she tells him that she has to refuse, with the rest of the party backing her up.

“So be it.”

The Wrath of the Spider

The party sees Nezznar getting into a fighting stance, and can spot the bugbear in the back of the room taking out a warhorn, to signal reinforcements. The doors behind them being closed and locked, they have no way out, so they immediately try to spread out, with Demetrius taking the first strike throwing a dagger straight at Nezznar. He retaliates by summoning large spider webs from his staff, trapping most of the party. 

Even though they see the bugbear preparing to summon help, the party focuses on the true danger: Nezznar. With all their might and magic, they pummel him with attacks, which overcomes him and he falls to the ground as the spider amulet around his neck shatters. He screams in horror at the development, and lies writhing on the ground as the bugbear blows the horn. Elmroot summons a panther from her Bag of Tricks, and it approaches Nezznar in order to finish him off. The panther bites into his neck, and Nezznar goes limp. 

The bugbear stares at his master, and over to the party, first with disbelief, but then has a slight smile. The body of Nezznar suddenly begins to convulse violently, as large spider legs come out of him as his lower torso transforms into that of a spider. 

“I have been on this plane for over 3000 years, did you really think my path would end with you?!”

Nezznar reveals his true form to the party as that of a drider. Although it is a monstrosity, Granny is not too familiar with this creature, but can tell that he has very thick skin, making it hard to penetrate. As she tries and fails to attack him, he snidely tells her that she is getting too old for this. As Demetrius attempts to strike him, he asks him sarcastically how his mother is doing. 

Theren tries to fire his eldritch blast at him, but the Black Spider is too quick for him, and he growls at Theren “pathetic!” and summons his children into the field, as three giant spiders emerge from the ceiling and drop down to assist. Willowbark sees the battle isn’t going the way they hoped and turns into a bear, before attacking and killing the bugbear. Theren takes out his coin, speaks the command word, and darkness erupts from it. He throws the coin into the corner, bathing the area in darkness, providing cover from Nezznars attacks. 

Penny casts a repelling spell at Nezznar, which he surprisingly is unable to resist, so he is forced away from her, and climbs on top of the statue to the north of the room, before uttering a foul incantation to his god.

“Forgotten one! Lend me your power to defeat my enemies!”

As he says this, he is covered by a veil of horror, as his visage turns bleak, with large shadowy tentacles emerging from his body, as he takes his form of dread. As this happens, reinforcements arrive, and three more bugbears enter the room from the hallway to the east. Willowbark uses her spell scroll of erupting earth to damage Nezznar, as well as take down a spider. He retaliates with a hellish rebuke, and nearly kills her. He turns to her directly, and screams at her.

“I will kill you and then I will burn down your whole fucking forest. Your family will die for nothing!”

He blasts her again with a powerful spell, causing her to take a vast amount of necrotic damage, and goes unconscious. Kal runs over to her and heals Willowbark. She awakens, alive, but badly hurt. At this point, most of the party hides from Nezznar in the darkness that Theren summoned, but Granny bravely emerges to attack Nezznar, who is on his way to finish them off. She manages to get in a couple of hits, but the Spider looms over her.

“That was foolish. Brave, but foolish.”

He takes his sword, and slices Granny several times in succession. She keels over, as the attack was too much for her to bear. Still alive, but in grave danger.

The Fall of Nezznar

Kal in a desperate attempt channels the wrath of Udall, and sends a lightning bolt to strike her foe. Nezznar laughs at her “weak” attempt of destroying him, and moves closer to the darkness in the corner. She strikes him once more, which proves to be a fatal mistake, as he suddenly erupts in an explosion of necrotic energy. Penny, Theren and Willowbark all keel over and close their eyes, close to death. Granny stops moving, her final breath expended.

Demetrius suddenly comes jumping out of the darkness, and to Nezznars shock and surprise, the blade makes contact with his neck, as Demetrius shouts “For my mother!”. He uses all of his weight and momentum to violently slam the drider down to the ground. Nezznar lies on the ground, convulses for a few seconds, before he stops breathing. His wound sizzles with necrotic energy. 

Demetrius stands there in total shock of what he just did, before he starts moving over to his friends. He reaches Penny and Granny, and tries to stabilize them, but realizes that it is too late for the tortle. Kal comes out of the darkness after making sure Willowbark and Theren are okay, and walks over to Granny. She sits down, with her, looking at her wounds, before pulling out the scroll of revivify they found at Cragmaw Castle, saying the short incantation required to activate the scroll, and places her palm on the chest of the tortle. Demetrius and Penny see a violent storm brew within Kal, as lightning emanates from her core, running down her arm, and into Granny. The tortle opens her eyes, as she is brought back to life.

With the rest of the party saved, they decide to look through the room and check the body of Nezznar, which is still sizzling with energy, leaking from his wound. At the table they find various maps and notes about the cave, a few gemstones and golden cups, as well as a pouch filled with various coins. Most interestingly they find a translucent stone that glows from within with blue and green. Theren recognizes it as a Hearthstone, allowing quick travel to a previously set destination.

On Nezznar himself, they retrieve his staff, his sword, which Granny takes, as well as a small rock with a face, decorated with a spider. A sending stone, one of two. He also carries in his inner pocket a letter that speak of the key, written in elvish:

“It is of the utmost importance that you retrieve the key - M”

Granny, having come to again, takes out a few vials and gathers some poison from the spiders, before the group decides that they should take a short rest in the safety of the temple before moving on towards the Forge of Spells itself. As they sit down to take a breather, they can hear approaching footsteps from the hallway to the east, but as the group stops talking, they stop, and after a few seconds they can hear them hurriedly run away. Theren runs after to see if he can spot anyone, but they have disappeared. Worried that they will return, the party takes the rest with an extra eye on the hallway.

Too Late

When the party feels rested enough to continue, they decide to head to the eastern hallway to explore further. There is a locked door to the north, and when they try the keys that they found on Nezznars corpse, it opens. Inside the room is dark, cold, and has the distinct odor of death. Looking in, the room seems to at one point have been used as a living quarters for the one who looked over the shrine, but now being used for a prison cell. At the center of the room, the second Rockseeker brother lies unmoving. They examine his body, and discover it to be badly beaten and tortured, presumably for information he was unable to give. 

Willowbark does whatever she can do for him, and druidcrafts some flowers from her seeds, and places them on his chest, along with some nice rocks and sticks she has picked up along the way. She kneels down next to him, performs her ritual and delivers a small prayer, hoping that the spirit can be guided to its final resting place. The rest of the party looks on from a distance, with a sorrowful expression on their face, having failed their mission to save Gundren’s brother. When Willowbark finishes her impromptu burial, they leave the corpse where it lay, and locks the doors behind them, letting the dwarf remain undisturbed until it can get a permanent resting place.

Towards the Forge

Continuing their journey along the eastern hallway, the party arrives at a vast ravine where the recently arrived bugbear reinforcements have been engaged in extensive excavation work. The sight of ladders, ropes, and tools designed for breaking and moving rocks indicates their relentless search for anything of importance. Seeing the potential, the party decides to thoroughly investigate the area, hoping to uncover valuable artifacts or information.

With the potential for discovery, they dedicate a few hours to carefully exploring and excavating the site. After a while, fatigue begins to set in, but just as their energy wanes, Theren stumbles upon the remains of a dwarf buried beneath a pile of rocks. Judging by the dwarf's age and the collapsed cavern, it becomes evident that the unfortunate soul had been trapped there for several centuries.

Most of the dwarf's belongings hold little significance, but Theren's attention is drawn to a pair of gloves worn by the deceased. Noting the markings on the gloves, he deduces that they are likely Gauntlets of Ogre Power. Recognizing their potential value, he carefully removes the gauntlets from the dwarf's lifeless hands, acknowledging the usefulness they might provide. After having found little else of value, the party decides to continue onwards toward the forge itself.

The party makes their way up the other side of the ravine, as they can see what appears to be an old river that has since died out or been cut off, most likely by the ravine as it collapsed. Helping each other climb to the other side, they discover that the waterway leads to the chamber where they fought the flameskull, with the river once feeding the furnace the dwarves used for crafting weapons for use with the magical forge. Continuing onwards, they reach the end of the waterway, and discover a huge underground lake which gives the cave its name, as massive waves slam against the walkway, causing the whole area to be drenched in water, before the water recedes, repeating the pattern.

Seeing as the walkway has been polished smooth by the years of water washing it, they realize the danger of crossing it, and so make sure to use ropes to tie to each other, in order to safely cross without falling into the water. Seeing movement in the depths below, they figure they don’t want to fight whatever resides below, waiting for them. After safely getting the last member across, they continue southwards toward the final area, presumably the Forge itself.

The Forge of Spells

When the party reaches the large cavern they could spot on the other side of the glowing mushroom cave, Granny discovers that the walls appear to be covered by runes, surrounded by glowing gemstones embedded in the rock. Theren figures that the runes are probably in place in order to focus the magic to a certain point, presumably the Forge of Spells. WIllowbark tries to detect magic, but is overwhelmed by the sensation, as magic energy covers the entire chamber, but is stronger near one of the buildings that have been built into the cave. Demetrius walks over to the door of  the building and peeks inside.

Within, he can see three cauldrons of flames, blue, green and red, but the green is shining much brighter than the others. Beyond them there is a big platform with an ornate anvil, radiating with purple energy, presumably fed by the cauldrons. Next to the anvil they see an ornate mace lying, covered in dust. They found the Forge of Spells. Behind it, on the wall, there appears to be a crack, wide enough for someone to walk through, with a red glow coming from within. Even Demetrius, who has no arcane or divine abilities, can feel the energy of magic flowing in the room. 

As the party enters the room and begins to explore, looking around the various workbenches to see if there are any interesting loot or hints to what Nezznar was looking for. Just as Penny is about to touch one of the weapons, she can hear a voice saying “I wouldn’t do that if I were you”.

From hiding in the ceiling, a creature suddenly appears, floating down. It is green, has a big eye and mouth dominating most of its round body, as well as four eyestalks that come out of it, looking at the party. The being approaches Penny, and speaks weirdly good common, telling her that it really doesn’t want to kill her, or anyone, and so asks them to please not touch anything. It says that the party is free to look around however, as long as they don’t disturb anything. 

The party looks perplexed at the being, seemingly so friendly, but looking so abnormal. They ask how long it has been there, with it telling that it must have been a couple of years now, it is unsure, but it was summoned around when the forge first was made. The party realizes that the creature has a bad sense of time, and asks for a name they can call it, but it tells them rather confidently that it has no name. They try to tell it that the cave has faced an attack and a large part of it collapsed, and everyone who worked in the Forge is long dead. It tells them that that cannot be right. It heard a great commotion a while back, and some stuff collapsed, but nobody came to relieve it so it still has a job to do. And it prides itself on doing a good job, as a wraith keeps coming in, trying to approach the forge, but the creature chases it away every time, looking happy with itself.

The party asks about the function of the forge, and the creature gladly tells them that the forge works by channeling energy from different planes of existence. The middle one is still sort of functioning, but it cannot get the other two to work, no matter what it tries. They ask to describe the wraith, and it tells them that it looks like a typical elf, kind of transparent, but definitely an elf. It keeps introducing itself, and the creature has a hard time remembering what he says he is called, but remembers it begins with M. Penny suggests Mormesk, and the creature happily exclaims “Yes, that was it! Mormesk! Interesting fellow”.

The Key

The party looks at the crack in the wall, asking the creature if it is okay for them to check it out. It responds that it wasn’t there when he was summoned, and so isn’t part of his responsibilities, so they are free to do as they please inside. They enter, and can see what appears to be a natural cave, but without any entrances other than the crack in the wall. In front of them, they see the source of the red glow, as two large hooded statues stand next to what is unmistakably the key they have seen illustrated on the various pieces of parchment throughout the cave. It seems to be made of gold and platinum, and is covered in a weird writing that looks like a mix of celestial and abyssal.

As this is happening, Willowbark and Penny are talking to the creature, which seems to be very happy having someone to finally talk to, and asks the party to stay for a long time. They both manage to accidentally convince him that they have been telling the truth the whole time, that the cave collapsed 400 years ago, and that the wizards are all dead. The creature looks disappointed at first, and then exclaims that if what they’re saying is true, then he has no purpose anymore, and suddenly vanishes in an instant. They both blink, confused, and then go to join the others in the chamber. As Penny tries to go through the crack, she can feel a force holding her back, but she manages to get through with a little effort.

The party stares at the key hanging from the wall, Demetrius walks over to it, and tries to pick it up. Nobody tries to stop him, but as he stretches his hand out to reach for it, something within him stops him, and he gets the feeling that he cannot do it, so he retreats. Penny sees this and tries to pick it up as well. Noticing that the chamber tried to keep her out, the party brings a few protests, but Penny doesn’t care. She sees a shiny thing, and by the gods she is going for it. 

As she reaches out, her fingers make contact with the key, grabs it, and she pulls it free of the wall. For a moment, nothing happens, but she can suddenly hear a voice from deep within her mind.

“A new hand touches the key…”

Penny gets pulled into a void, filled with nothingness, with her party members disappeared, leaving her alone in the empty space. The voice returns, speaking of her bloodline, that many call tainted, but the voice considers it the purest of all. 

Penny looks around to find the source of the voice, but she is all alone. It sounds like it is coming from her own mind, but at the same time circling her, as if the source of the voice is walking in circles around her. It speaks of her childish desire to be independent, and claims to see greatness in her future, her whole path laid in front of her, and that it can lead her to the path to that greatness. Penny is unconvinced at first, but then the voice speaks of Morgan, her lost mentor.

“I know where your beloved Morgan lies. It is not too late. With my help, you will help him. And in turn, you will help me… Do you accept my gift?”

Penny thinks about it for a while, but decides to accept, much to the joy of the voice. It tells her to use its gift, and as the first step is always the hardest, she is past the worst hurdle. It also explains to her that with each part of his “gift” she will become stronger, and come closer to her goal of greatness. The voice grows more distant, before it vanishes completely, and Penny is suddenly back in the chamber, holding the key in her hand. The others have not felt anything happening, and no time has passed for them, but Penny can feel the experience has drained her, causing her to become exhausted.

The party sees that Penny has grown more lethargic, and notices that she can’t move at her usual pace, so they question her about what happened, but she just gives a vague excuse about the experience being a bit much. When asked, she tells Theren that she feels as if the item “accepted” her, but when he asks if he can use the identify spell on the item, she becomes hesitant, as that would require him to touch it. Worried, but with nothing they can do, the party emerges from the chamber, and returns to the Forge.

Exploring the Forge

Now, as the creature has vanished, they are free to look around the room. They find a few weapons that seem to be prepared to be enchanted, but for now they are just mundane. Kal goes to examine the mace that lies next to the forge, but discovers that this too is unfinished. She puts it on the anvil, hoping that something happens, but nothing does. Granny comes across a breastplate on one of the benches that seems to be finished, possibly magical.

Theren, examining the various papers and notes on the workbench, and not understanding any of it, notices in the corner of his eye another tarot card, identical to the one they found in Venomfang’s lair. He picks it up, examines it, and takes note that it is not covered in dust, although it lay underneath a sheet of paper, as if it was just placed there. He looks around where he found it, finding the dust to be undisturbed. Curious, he places it with the other card they found, and a small flash, barely visible appears for a split second. Seems the party is starting a collection.

After putting away the cards, he turns his attention to the forge itself, specifically the cauldrons feeding it. He guesses that the blue cauldron is aligned with the elemental plane of water, the red with the elemental plane of fire, while the middle one exerts positive energy, what can best be described as life. Together they fuel the forge, but as two of them seem to be malfunctioning, there is little to be done. Demetrius walks over and puts one of his daggers in the middle cauldron, and when he takes it out he finds it to be imbued with magic, albeit temporarily.

The group is unsure what to do next, and Willowbark worries about the wrath that the creature spoke about that seems to be interested in the Forge. They decide to wait around as Theren sits down to do the ritual on the magic breastplate they found, and discovers that it is a breastplate called Dragonguard, that was made to be effective against dragons and their attacks. Just as the spell releases however he realizes why they feel the air itself being magical, as a wild magic surge happens, and Theren grows to twice his size, exclaiming in annoyance. 

The Wraith

After a short while, Theren shrinks back down to his regular size, and the party is relieved that they didn’t have to fight the creature from before, as that could have been catastrophic. They decide to explore the final building just south of them, figuring that is where Mormesk must reside. Walking there they can feel that the magic grows weaker, which is somehow a relief. They come to a set of double doors leading inside, and Demetrius decides to examine them for traps. Feeling confident that the doors are safe, he opens them, and walks inside. The room is trashed, with books and parchment scattered across the floor, and most of the furniture has been ruined over the years, and it seems like a fireball went off at one point. In the corner, he can spot a chest that seems to be intact. 

Walking over to it, he can suddenly feel a rush of cold air overcoming him, and he can hear a menacing disembodied voice coming from the area around the chest.

“Your presence is offensive to me, your life forfeit. My treasures are mine alone, not yours to plunder!” 

A wraith, clearly elven when it was alive, suddenly appears in a flash of blue light, ready to pounce on Demetrius, but the rest of the party comes rushing in, trying to calm it down, saying they meant no offense, they were just exploring the abandoned building. It seems to listen to them, and doesn’t attack immediately. It introduces itself as Mormesk, and tells them that he lacks access to the forge, and that he has to “leave”, but he cannot as long as he is hindered in finishing his task. 

The party tells him that the creature in the forge has disappeared, as they convinced him that his job was done. This seems to cause the wraith a great relief, and he tells them that the creature didn’t recognize its creator, and tried to attack him. With the creature now gone, the wraith tells the party that he will go and finish his last task, and that the party is free to take whatever treasures remain in his quarters as a reward. Mormesk suddenly begins moving in a straight line towards the forge, so the party runs towards it, not wanting to miss the show.

As the party returns to the forge, they can feel that the magic is even more powerful now, but at the same time more contained. Opening the doors they witness Mormesk placing his hand into each of the cauldrons that were dormant, causing them to flare up as the energy is renewed. He then turns his attention towards the anvil. The party cannot see a hammer, but Mormesk summons a spectral hammer in his hand, picks up the mace that Kal placed on the anvil, and begins hammering it with energy. 

With each strike, the cauldrons flare, and the form of Mormesk becomes more and more defined, as if he is returning to his old self, and the party is almost blinded by the energy of the magic being imbued into the mace. After a few minutes, Mormesk has returned to his former self, a magnificent elf with a silver crown, and elegant clothes. He picks up the mace, holds it up in the air, and utters the word “perfect”. As he vanishes in the blink of an eye, the mace drops to the floor. Theren goes to pick it up.

After witnessing the creation of the magic item, they return to the wizard’s chambers, and decide to look in the chest, finding a few useful items, a few diamonds, some gold, and a pipe with patina on it. Seems to be a magical pipe that can help read people.

Looking around the room, Penny finds a book that piques her interest, as she can feel a magic energy emanating from it. Opening it up, she finds it to be a Songbook of Sorcery, allowing her to get some sorcerous powers that can fuel her spells. Searching the rest of the room for other oddities they also find a map hidden between a couple of pages of a book. It seems to be describing a location near some mountains, but it is written in dwarven, meaning they cannot understand it. Based on the layout, it seems to be near the Twilight Peaks in the far north.

Clearing Out the Cave

The party returns to the final area they barely glanced at when they took the final path towards Nezznar, seeing a large cavern with an indoor lake of dark water, impossible to see through. Granny and Penny goes swimming, as Penny has a cap of water breathing, and Granny can hold her breath for long periods, they decide to scour the depths of the lake, in search of lost treasures.

As they use a long time, Theren sits down to identify the various objects they found, and finds that the mace, called Lightbringer, is particularly effective against undead, and can bring light just as the Longsword of Twilight can, so he hands it to Kal, as it is perfect for her. She gladly accepts it. 

Granny and Penny eventually emerge from the depths, having found a long lost skeleton that had a few valuables on it, but both of them feels that the wand that it was holding is the most exciting thing, and quickly hands it to Theren to identify. He discerns that it is a Wand of Magic Missiles, quite useful against difficult to hit enemies. He hands it to Willowbark, as she could make good use of it.

Feeling confident they have found what is left to find in the cave, they return to where they heard the footsteps earlier. Willowbark wild shapes into a wolf as they have a great sense of smell, with Granny helping her by finding the tracks of whatever almost encountered them. They follow the path, and Granny sees by the tracks that it is humanoid. It eventually leads them back to the ravine, ands tops at the rope leading back up to the exit.

They decide to head outside to check if Gundren is okay, and as they emerge, they don’t see him at first, but when they make themselves known, he emerges from some bushes and hurriedly runs towards the party, happy to see them again. They ask if he saw anyone emerge from the cave, and he tells them that he saw a drow walk out a while back, and that he moved toward the forests to the west, out of sight. Gundren asks if they found his brother, to which they share the sad news about his demise. Theren gives him back the map of the cave, the last remnant of their quest. Gundren quietly goes over to the grave he dug for his brother when the party was exploring the cave, and sits down, grieving in silence.

After Gundren returns to them, still teary eyed, he asks about what the party found, and they tell him about Nezznar, his minions, the undeads, the forge itself, the wraith, and lastly, the Key. He thanks them for the information, taking note of everything they tell him, and figures he has to find a way to remove the corpse of the Black Spider, as the party could still see it sizzling with necrotic energy just before they left.

Not wanting anyone else to come across the cave and taking it for themselves, they decide to camouflage the entrance, hoping to hide it from other treasure hunters. The party gathers their equipment and places them on the horses, while Gundren goes to say goodbye to his brother, before joining them on the journey back to Phandalin.

Back to the Beginning

During the trek back, Theren experiences more mishaps, as his hair has disappeared during one of the rests, and begins to suspect that the deck of cards that he bought from The Feylocker may have had a curse on it. Casting identify on it confirms his suspicions, and if he takes too long to draw a card, he gets “punished”. He decides to wait until they’re back in Ruins of Phandalin before he draws any cards, not wanting to risk delaying the return.

When they eventually reach Phandalin at dusk, Sildar can see their approach, and so comes to greet the party. Happy to see Gundren again, he asks how it went, considering his friend seems a bit gloomy. THe party tells him that his brothers didn’t make it, with Sildar expressing his condolences. The party updates him on the status of the forge, and that they managed to clear out the cave. They also talk about the Black Spider, and tell Sildar that they managed to defeat him, but that one of his minions, another drow, managed to escape from the party, and ran away to the west. Sildar tells them he will see what he can do about finding him.

Penny gets closer to the discussion, and shows Sildar the key she picked up in the cave by lifting part of her bag that is hiding it. He calmly walks over to her, lowers the flap to hide it, and tells her that she should be more careful with who she shows it to. He doesn’t know what it is, but he recognizes divine writing when he sees it. She asks if he wants to take it from her, but he tells her that he is a Forgeblade, and has no interest in such things, being a protector, not a conqueror. They ask if he knows who to talk to about it. Sildar thinks for a moment, before mentioning that someone close to the king might know more. He tells them to seek out Bertram Honeypot, as he would probably know something useful about the item.

The party thanks Sildar for the experience, and he bows in return. Gundren chimes in, having come to after the journey, and tells the party that as promised, he will give them a share of the profits when he gets the forge up and running again. They all head back towards the center of Phandalin to check in to the tavern, wanting the rest of the evening to calm down.

Winding Down

The party separates and does their own thing for the rest of the night. Penny runs to the Lionshield Coster just as it is about to close, and buys some ball bearings and some bolts for her crossbow, hoping to get good use of it in the future. Demetrius goes to the tavern and orders some wine, sitting in the corner while writing in his little notebook. Kal asks Toblen if it’s okay for her to work in the kitchen for the night, which he sees no problem with. She doffs her armor, and goes to work. Granny goes for a walk and heads to the outskirts of town, sitting on a tree stump, reflecting on the recent experiences, contemplating the experience of dying, as she is sure that she saw a woman while she was between worlds. Pip flutters around her, trying to cheer her up, but she is lost in thought. 

Theren retreats to his room, and carefully takes out the Deck of Certain Things, hoping that drawing a card won’t be too cataclysmic. The card shows a picture of an acorn. As the card burns away, disappearing, a large group of squirrels suddenly manifest in the room, and seem to be terrified of Theren, so he opens the window to allow them to escape. He can feel that the curse has been released, and he will have to pick a card again soon, lest it return.

Willowbark sits in a clearing a bit away from the inn, closing her eyes, trying to focus on her god and tries to reconnect with nature, as she has had little time to do it lately. As she sits there, meditating, she can suddenly hear movement, and as she opens her eyes she sees a large group of squirrels running past her from the town, and into the trees. She laughs, and lies down to sleep.

Penny sits in her room, holding the key in her hands, studying it. She sees her own reflection in the shiny metal which doesn’t seem to stain, terrified of the thought of the rest of the party wanting to take the key away from her. She thinks to herself that they promised they wouldn’t, but a voice deeper within says that she still has to be careful, otherwise they will force it away from her. As Penny goes to sleep she dreams of a pale figure with hollow eyes staring at her the whole night.

End of part one

Leaving Phandalin

Granny wakes in the morning to the sound of people sawing and hammering. Looking over, she can see a group of people working on some cutouts, using paints to color it in, to apparently depict the sun. She wanders over to them, Pip in tow, and inquires as to what they are making. They tell her that the Festival of the Sun is fast approaching, so they want to prepare for the festivities. Excited, Granny runs back to the inn to find the rest, but finds only Penny, who seems to have awoken earlier than normal. She tells her about the upcoming festivities, which makes Penny light up with excitement. Wanting to let the party rest as much as they can, they decide to leave the inn and look around at the preparations instead. 

Willowbark is awoken by a cow licking her face, as she fell asleep in their pasture. She gives the cows some well deserved scratches, happy to have woken among them, and then sees Granny and Penny wandering out of the inn, so she goes over to meet them. She tells them about the large group of squirrels she saw last night running towards the woods, remarking how unusual it was, ignorant to the true cause of the event.

When the rest of the party wakes up and goes down to eat breakfast, Penny, Granny and Willowbark return, and join them at their table. Toblen brings over their food, and inquires if they are staying for the festivities. Demetrius tells the others who are unfamiliar with the festival that it is a big deal in his home town of Cantalos, and is usually celebrated with lots of grand parades, flowing wine and beautiful women in the streets. Theren, seeing the faces of those not used to the celebrations, explains that it is a large festival that celebrates the sun and its importance for the world. There are usually games, good food and various kinds of entertainment to enjoy. 

The party decide they want to celebrate, but Toblen admits that although there are some fun games held in Phandalin, it’s nothing compared to the one in Maplemere, which is much more grand and better organized than the one they have. The party figures if they’re going to enjoy it, they might as well ENJOY it, so they decide to set out towards Maplemere to partake in the celebration there. 

After breakfast, Penny asks Theren if he would be willing to examine the key for her, wanting to know if it is dangerous to be carrying it around. They head to Penny’s room, with Theren sitting down, explaining that he has to touch the item. She reluctantly holds it out, and he touches it with his finger, as he starts doing his incantations to cast the spell. He has a weird feeling by being in contact with it, but after 10 minutes the spell goes off, and he gets an indication of what the key is capable of.

He explains to her, looking a little bit concerned, that she can use the key to charm people, but it requires a sacrifice, either the blood of a creature, willing or unwilling, or it can draw life energy directly from Penny. There are more aspects of the key, but the spell cannot reveal them. He does however get the sense that she shouldn’t travel too far alone, as it might be dangerous, but he doesn’t elaborate, assuring Penny that she’s fine.

As they come back down, Willowbark is in the middle of a lively discussion with Demetrius, and it becomes apparent that she is having a hard time understanding what a festival is or what the point is, with him having difficulties explaining the point in a way that gets through to her, embellishing and exaggerating, and telling it from his point of view as opposed to a more neutral one.

Toblen overhears the party discussing heading over to Maplemere, and gets a sad look, as Penny’s entertainment has brought in a lot of customers over the last weeks. Penny notices this and goes over to him to promise that they’re coming back some time later to play in the tavern again, before they head outside to get their horses.

When they walk towards the stables, they meet Sildar on the way, and he bids them goodbye, thanking them for all the help they have given, and tells them to find him in Elvenroth if they are in the area, saying that his home is there, in a small house on the outside of the walls. Kal stops by the Shrine of Luck and gives a small donation, as well as exchanging some parting words with Sister Garaele, before they depart the town on horseback.

On the Road Again

As the party sets out, they make sure to travel by road, as it is definitely the safer option. Even though the Black Spider has been taken care of, his minions might still roam the countryside, awaiting new orders or learning of his demise, so best to be on the safer side. After a day of travel, pushing their horses to the limit, they manage to get rather far onto the main road leading to Maplemere. As the day draws to a close, they decide to make camp for the night, near the foot of The Iron Hills.

During the night, they decide to play it safe and keep watch in case someone gets too close. On Demetrius’ shift everything seems to be normal at first, until he can suddenly get the chilling feeling of being watched. Looking around, he can see a hooded figure standing a bit away from the campsite, barely visible at the edge of his darkvision. He rises up, and illuminated by the campfire he moves his cloak to the side to show the figure that he is armed, in an attempt to intimidate it to either leave, or at the very least not get closer. It doesn’t seem to do anything, as the figure just stands there, observing. 

Feeling unnerved by the presence of the mysterious figure, he quickly tries to wake the party, telling them to wake up as they have a visitor. As soon as the words leave his mouth, the figure suddenly vanishes, leaving him dumbstruck at what happened. The rest of the party cannot see anyone, and so asks if he was dreaming, but he tells them that he is sure that he saw someone. To convince them, he walks over to where the figure was standing, and when Kal comes over with her illuminated mace, they can spot two footprints after someone who was standing there, bare feet. 

Theren asks him to tell them exactly what he saw, which Demetrius does. Hearing the description of the figure, Theren remarks that it reminds him of the figure that they saw during their trek to Thundertree the first time, suggesting that someone is keeping tabs on them, or at the very least, checking up on them. As the figure hasn’t attacked or harmed them, they decide to leave it be, but tells everyone to be on alert for their watches in case they return, but the figure remains elusive for the rest of the night.

When they wake up the next morning, as they are eating breakfast, Willowbark remarks that she hasn’t seen any animals in the area for a while. Looking around, she discovers that there has been no animal tracks getting close to the party during the night, which she finds highly unusual. The party theorizes if the presence of the mysterious figure is the cause of this. Penny unconsciously fidgets with the Key while the party theorizes.

On the trek south, Willowbark rides up to Kal, and begins to inquire about why she is so angry with her god. Kal doesn’t really want to answer, but tells her they have different opinions on things. As she has been chosen as a cleric, her god wants her to go on an adventure, but she does not. All she wants is to go home. But as she has a “divine purpose” she has to listen to what her god says. Willowbark then asks Theren about his god and how he works, but Theren replies that he doesn’t follow a god. Willowbark looks puzzled at Theren, before he continues to say that he made a deal with someone.

As he says this, smoke begins to billow out of the ring he carries, and out of the smoke appears a large red skinned man, with jet black hair and eyes glowing like embers. Theren points to the genie, and tells them “I made a deal with that guy”. The genie greets the party and introduces himself as Ranesh, and explains that Theren works for him, and that he is his patron. Willowbark looks on Ranesh in awe, asking if he is a god too then, since he grants Theren powers. The party notices a slight smile on Ranesh, but he continues saying that although he isn’t a god, he is powerful, and grants Theren powers as long as he provides him with information. 

Penny approaches Ranesh and shows him the Key they retrieved, asking if he knows anything about it. Taking a closer look at it, he says that it is much older than he is, so he doesn't know a lot about what they are carrying, but he can tell that it is quite powerful, and that she should keep a close eye on it, being careful not to lose it. Granny asks why Ranesh only made a deal with Theren, but he hints that he might have some other deals with other mortals scattered around the world, but refuses to elaborate further. As his wish to introduce himself now has been fulfilled, Ranesh gives the party a bow and vanishes back into the ring. 

Theren then explains a bit further about why he has been missing some nights, with Demetrius giving a smug look as if he knows what's coming, and tells them that he likes to sleep in the ring sometimes, for protection. Plus it’s much more comfortable, as he has a large spacious room filled with pleasant pillows that grants him quite the break from sleeping on a bedroll. The party wishes they could enter the ring as well, but Theren explains that he can only bring himself into it.

Willowbark doesn’t understand why everyone has a problem with sleeping outside.

Sir Solomon Bentley

Heading closer to Maplemere and the celebrations at hand,  they can suddenly see what appears to be a misplaced nobleman standing by the side of the road, with a beautiful white horse waiting next to him. As the party comes closer, they can see that he notices them noticing him, so he perks up, puts on his biggest smile, and waits for them to get closer.

The party gets up next to him, stops next to him, and waits for him to start speaking. He looks at the party, still grinning like an idiot, before saying introducing himself as Solomon Bentley, and that he is looking for a group of brave adventurers to aid him and his horse Oswald on a courageous mission to take down a mighty and dangerous beast that roams the lands. Having heard rumors of the beast's ferocity, he would love to have it on his wall, and offers to pay a worthwhile amount of gold if they are the group he is looking for. 

The party stares down at him from their horses. Granny whispers to Kal that she doesn’t trust this guy, but she whispers back that she thinks he’s telling the truth, but that he’s just eccentric. Granny goes against her judgement as she trusts Kal’s judgment of character. The party inquires about what beast they are talking about here, with him giving a vague description, saying it’s big, long and scaly with large teeth, not a dragon, definitely bigger than a snake, brownish in color, huge, has a big tail, bipedal, and he has not seen it run. If the party is interested he offers them 100 gp for each member who helps him out.

The party thinks about it and discuss among themselves, which understands, and tells them that several groups of adventurers have already come by and rejected his offer, but he has a feeling about this party, seeing true potential in them, not weak bushwackers like the others he has met. Penny decides to try to read his thoughts to get a better read on him, and apparently his confident exterior hides an insecure man who is deathly terrified of the creature he’s describing, and has met it at least once, but his excitement of having the creature on his wall exceeds his fear. Penny starts asking him about Morgan, but he says he hasn’t seen him. 

Pushing the party for a decision, he tries to convince them to come with him, and promises that it will be fun. They eventually relent, but make it clear it’s only because of the money, and he excitedly exclaims for the party to follow him, as he mounts his magnificent white horse and leads them due west towards the lair of the beast. 

The Beasts

After walking east for about an hour, he tells the party that it’s best that they walk the rest of the way. Doing what he says, they carefully sneak after the knight, coming to a small hillock overlooking some large boulders to the north. As the party peeks over the top, they can see the beast Solomon is talking about. A tyrannosaurus rex is resting in its lair, taking in the midday sun. Looking at Solomon, he just looks back at the party, saying “isn’t it beautiful?”. They glare at him, asking why they are attacking an innocent beast. Solomon assures them that the beast is far from innocent, having eaten several people already. They will be doing the people of the midlands a service by getting rid of it.

Willowbark, seeing this as just a defenseless beast wants to try to talk to it before they just attack it, in the hopes of maybe scaring it away before Solomon gets its hands on it, but the rest of the party is hesitant to allow it, as it would most likely lead to her being eaten by the dinosaur. Willowbark doesn’t listen to the party, and decides to approach it carefully, but stays within range of healing spells if things go bad. As she gets closer, the t-rex notices her presence and gets interested in the disturbance and intrusion to its lair.

Willowbark tries to tell it to please move away to a different spot so that they don’t have to kill it, but what Willowbark doesn’t know is that a t-rex has very low intelligence, so it cannot understand or make sense of her pleas, even though it understands her words. It roars at Willowbark, who, after realizing her mistake, retreats to the party. The dinosaur, now noticing the rest of the party, moves towards them, seeing a delicious meal.

The party does whatever they can to strike back and repel it, but the dinosaur is a fierce enemy, and the roars aren’t just to intimidate, but also to call for help, as suddenly mrs t-rex comes lumbering back from hunting, trapping the party between two large beasts. During the fight, Kal almost gets eaten, but with some well placed spells and some inspiring words from Solomon, they manage to take down both of the terrifying monsters. Granny finishes off the female one with an arrow to the eye, whilst Demetrius strikes the male one with his dagger, slicing its aorta, causing it to bleed out.

A Feeling of Senselessness

Exalted, even after almost dying, Solomon hurriedly runs over to the buck and takes out a large butchering knife, and begins to go to work on the beast. Seeing him in action one realizes that Solomon is a skilled butcher, as he easily separates the head from the body. Happy with the work he has done, he goes to town on the innards of the dinosaur as well, and after a few minutes of slicing and cutting, he eventually throws out a large phallus body part. Granny and Penny both ask if they can take a tooth, and he replies they can do whatever they want with the female, as it is “not as impressive” in his book. Feeling satisfied with his trophy, he throws each of them a small purse, containing 15 platinum each, as a bonus for facing two dinosaurs.

Penny and Granny both go to the female to retrieve their teeth, having to use quite a bit of effort to free them from the jaw. Kal asks Solomon where he lives, but he grows suspicious, asking why she would need to know that. She tries telling him that they might find more creatures for his collection of animal heads and impressive penises. Thinking over her proposal, he reveals that he lives in the Amber District of Elvenroth, and his house shouldn’t be too hard to locate. Granny helps Penny extract a claw as well, thinking that Penny might be able to make a weapon out of it. 

Having concluded their business, Solomon calls his horse, and bids the party adieu, before summoning a teleportation circle with the wave of his hand, but Theren notices that he is using a magical ring to cast the spell. Theren tries to examine the circle, but it is too quick for him. Solomon, with head and penis in tow, rides through the circle, and vanishes in a torrent of dark smoke, as the teleportation sends him home. 

The mood is somber, as Willowbark goes through her usual routine of flowers and rocks, trying to honor the killing of the two beasts. The party looks down at their reward, thinking to themselves if it was worth it, as it seems that the dinosaurs were living by themselves, a ways away from the road, not harming anyone who didn’t come too close. But what’s done is done, and so the party returns to their horses, and continues on their path to Maplemere.

Reaching Maplemere

After journeying for the rest of the day, the group finally reaches their destination. Demetrius goes straight for the Curious Forge, and is delighted to find that Bamin has already finished crafting his Venomfang Daggers. The dwarf remarks that once he had the first one complete, the second one was much easier to deal with and took about half the time, so they were done just a couple of days ago. Seems the party got here just in time. Demetrius pays the dwarf for his services, and spins his new daggers around his fingers for a few seconds before sheathing them both elegantly.

Penny takes out the hide of the roper they harvested before, asking if he could be able to make some new armor for her. He takes a look at it, testing its tensile strength, and figures it could make fine a leather armor, if he gets some time to work on it, at least a few weeks. He tells her that if she doesn’t come back for it he will be forced to sell it. This isn’t a problem for her, as she promises to come back.
(Spoiler: She never did come back for it)

After everyone else has finished their business with Bamin, she takes out her shield, and asks Bamin if he has any materials to sell so that she can improve the shield she tried to make. He takes a quick look at it, and up at Granny, and is brutally honest, saying this is not very good work. She looks a little defeated, until Bamin says that he can see potential. He brings out some new materials for her to work with, and gives her some pointers on how to do it correctly next time. Granny asks if she could use his forge to try to make it, and after some big innocent eyes from Granny, he obliges, saying she can use it tomorrow. Overjoyed with the opportunity, she pays Bamin extra for the materials, saying she will return the next day.

Wandering through the streets, they see that most people are preparing for the festivities in the coming days. As the rest of the party heads for the inn, Willowbark and Granny take a short walk towards the woods. Crossing the little bridge that goes over the river, they reach the edge of the forest. Granny sits outside, watching over Willowbark as she enters. Willowbark wants to feel her home again, but as she enters it, she gets a bad feeling. The forest feels wrong. Like it is not her home anymore, and feels like she is being watched from the moment she enters. Granny, sitting outside, also feels the tension in the air, and can almost feel a presence, but the feeling is more of a sadness than of a terror. As the firbolg comes back out of the forest, she sits down next to Granny, staring into the seemingly endless woods.

When the rest of the party enters the tavern, Percival is doing some paperwork, and nods to Kal as he looks up. They go up to him, and ask if he has any rooms available, and luckily they have just enough rooms available to provide lodgings for them. Looking around the tavern, it seems to be quite full already, with people probably coming from far away to celebrate the sun. Fie says that he doesn’t need a room, with Demetrius giving him a wink, as they plan to have Theren sleep in the ring while Demetrius watches over it.

When Willowbark and Granny eventually return, they all go to check out the preparations happening in the large field to the west of town. As they walk, they can see several shops preparing for the coming visitors, and in front of them a large tent is being erected in the field, along with several smaller tents to hold various games and gatherings. There is also a large platform being assembled, which looks to be prepared for combat, most likely a tournament of champions.  The celebration seems to be a grand one, with much to enjoy.

As the party retreats to their sleeping arrangements, and lay their heads to rest, they all have various dreams, some more intrusive than others.  Theren dreams about being caught in a forest during a forest fire, Granny dreams about her meeting with the mysterious woman during her death facing Nezznar, and feels a sense of serenity by knowing what awaits on the other side. Demetrius dreams that he is back in Cantalos, and that the sun suddenly disappeared, spellbinding everyone. Willowbark dreams about finding her tribe dead, after being murdered by a terrifying woman who pounces at her when she notices her.

Penny dreams about coming face to face with her patron, a pale, hollow eyed thin looking man. Penny is exposed in the dream, and is floating in nothingness. As the figure approaches, he eventually towers over her with his imposing size. He looks down at her.

“It’s time.”

He reaches out his hand, and takes out a distinctive twin-bladed dagger, which he uses to cut his palm, and points it at Penny. His blood flows out of the wound, and enters Penny’s body, causing her great pain, but lifting her up and awakening something within her. As she awakens from the dream, she can hear a faint voice saying “These are your first steps…”

Durin Kal’s dream, she isn’t really dreaming. As she lays down to sleep, she can see that right above her bed, there is a rift in reality, which she is pulled into. She faces her god, Udall, who tells her that they need to talk about her attitude. He shows her his shrines, or as he calls them, his places of power. Large pillars on top of mountains high above the clouds. Udall says that she doesn’t understand that what he is doing is in her best interest, as he wants to help her, and that she and her friends have set things in motion that cannot be stopped. Over time Udall will guide her on the path to the places of power that has been corrupted or abandoned, in order for her to make it right again, and he tells her that she cannot hope to do it alone. Sending her back to her room, he tells her not to forget what she is, and what she can become. And just as she is sent back to her bed, she can hear his voice booming inside her mind:

”Your mother and father send their regards.”

The Day Before the Festival of the Sun

Granny and Willowbark wake up in the grass fields outside of the forest, being awoken by the rising sun that illuminates the sky. Remembering her dream, she gets a worried feeling, thinking that her tribe might be in imminent peril from the unknown woman she saw. She walks over to Granny when she sees she’s also awake, and shares her worries with her, telling her that she feels that her tribe might be in danger. Granny replies that she should follow her feelings, sensing that the dreams might be more than just worries, and that they should speak to the rest of the group about it. Willowbark says that she now has money to pay Kal, if she requires it to aid her, but Granny tells her that she will come around and be there for her when she needs her.

Theren, having slept in the ring for the whole duration, wakes up when he falls onto the floor. As it is quite uncomfortable compared to the fantastic pillows within the ring, he gets on his feet, and sees Demetrius sleeping heavily in the bed next to him. Not wanting to wake him yet, he quietly makes his way downstairs to the tavern. Kal, after having dreamed, rises, having gotten a long rest, but not feeling well rested by the experience, gathers her things, and heads downstairs, thoroughly annoyed by her god. She heads outside, sees that even more people have arrived and begun setting up tents and preparing for the stalls, and makes a campfire in order to prepare breakfast.

Penny suddenly wakes up from her dream, although one could almost call it a nightmare. She feels exhausted, but more powerful at the same time, sensing that she was somehow granted powers she didn’t think she could achieve. She feels awful, and lethargic by the dream, and drags her feet as she descends the stairs to find the others.

Sitting around the campfire eating breakfast, Willowbark explains her dream to Kal, and asks if she would be willing to come with her to her forest or to look for a way to fix the corruption, offering her all her money if she requires it. Kal apologizes to Willowbark for her comments earlier, pointing out that they were already hired by Gundren at that time, but now that they have finished that quest, she’s more than willing to come along, and no, she won’t take payment. They are closer than that now. 

Kal suggests that they should find a library or some other place with a wealth of information, in order to see if anyone else has some pointers on what to do with the forest. They figure that the best bet would be to check out the libraries here in Moroxia, considering this is where the corruption has been spotted. Theren mentions the library in Edhellond, saying that is mostly for study and magic, so one place could be Elvenroth, which is on the way to Ravenforge, where they have already been advised to go.

When Penny eventually joins the party, she looks extremely pale, with deep dark rings around her eyes, and the others look at her, worried. Hearing this, Penny tells them that she slept poorly last night, and that she just needs rest. Kal casts a spell to see if she is under the influence of a spell or has a disease, but she finds nothing. Hoping to help her, Kal gives her a bowl of stew, in case it helps.

Killing Time

After he has eaten, Theren says he’s going to walk around looking at the preparations. He heads into the streets, and walks towards Неизвестно on the northside of town, asking if they have any rooms available for the next night, but finds that due to the impending festivities, the inn is fully booked, but there might be vacancies tomorrow after the festival is done and people start heading home, and offers to reserve a room for him should he wish. Theren tells the innkeeper to hold off, but thanks him for the help. 

Wandering back south, he looks around and spots the elderly woman he fought the day before, sitting at a table next to The Feylocker. He passes by her, giving her a look, which she recognizes and quickly excuses herself to go join Theren at another table. As she sits down she remarks that he looks better than he did the day before, with him not responding. 

He tells the woman that he wants her to deliver a letter to Delphine. Opening the letter she tells him that Delphine has been waiting to hear word from him. They talk a little about what his mission is, and reminds him where his loyalties should lie, and that he should give them whatever he finds on his way that might be of interest, like for instance whatever they found in the cave, indicating she doesn’t know exactly what they retrieved. The lady then shows her annoyance at Delphine’s fondness of Theren, not seeing what is so special about him, but he just ignores it, and goes on to tell her that he is investigating a possible threat in the forest, telling her about the corruption. She says she will ask around, and come back to him, before wishing him happy festivities, and leaving. 

After breakfast, Willowbark goes to sit next to the forest, hoping to see a sign or anything that can give her a path to head towards, but as she sits there, nothing that she recognizes as a sign reveals itself. But she cannot shake the feeling of being watched. But looking into the forest she sees only the darkness within, not seeing anything looking back at her.

Granny heads to the Curious Forge, in hopes of crafting the shield of her dreams, and spends the rest of the day there, being guided by Bamin on how to do it properly. She has had an idea of crafting a shield with a quick release, making it easy to take it off and on, as that could make the difference in combat. He thinks it an excellent idea, and provides the necessary buckles for her to achieve the effect. After working there for the rest of the day, she has a beautiful functioning quick-release shield that she is quite proud of. Bamin congratulates her on the work, and asks if he can use the design in his own products. Granny thinks about it, and asks if she can use his forge whenever she needs, but this is too much of an ask, so they don’t come to an agreement, but part on very friendly terms.

Kal goes around town looking for anything that the party might have use of, and comes across a diamond looking through Aerolla’s stock in the Feylocker, worth around 100 gp. She decides to purchase it, as it could always come in handy. As she returns to the inn, she and Demetrius have a talk about their past, when Demetrius asks Kal if she’s ever been a mercenary. She says she hasn’t, but she has killed quite a few people. Demetrius says that his past isn’t exactly spotless either, but they work with what they have. As they talk, they pass the time playing dice. 

While Penny wanders the streets to look at the preparations, she finds herself in the fields to the west, where the big tent and arena is being prepared. Further to the south, she spots a rather peculiar monument. A large dragon skull, perched on top of a standing stone. She comes closer, and examines it, finding it quite beautiful, but unsure what it means. She stops one of the locals working on the arena, asking what it represents, and they tell her that it was from a dragon that attacked the village about a hundred years ago, that the townsfolk managed to slay themselves. They supposedly ate most of the dragon in a big feast celebrating their accomplishment, and preserved the skull to commemorate the achievement. He is unsure about what the color of it was, but it definitely came from the west.

When Penny returns to the others, she tells them about the dragon, and the history, surprising the others, as defeating a dragon is no small feat. They ask if she knows what color it was, but she says the guy he talked to didn’t know. A passerby shouts out “it was red!” before moving on.  Penny finds the story fascinating, and so decides to write a song about it using what she knows. As night comes, Willowbark and Granny return to the campfire, with them all talking about their day and looking forward to the festivities in the morning.

The Festival of the Sun

The day of the celebrations has finally arrived, and Penny is up way earlier than the others for once, wanting to get as much out of the day as she can. Walking to the mirror, she realizes that she still looks as grim as the day before, so she puts on some makeup to cover it up to the best of her ability, finishing it off with a sun painted on each of her cheek. When she and Granny meet up, she decorates her shell with a big yellow sun, and Kal cannot escape having her cheek painted as well. The group decides to wander around and try everything that is available to try, in order to really let off some steam. There are booths and stalls all up and down the main street filled with food, candies, drinks and other fun items for sale.

Walking towards the large tent, they see that there is a chicken catching competition, which Willowbark decides to join. When applying, she realizes that the man holding the competition is the farmer whose field she has been using as a bed. He recognizes her, gives her the stink eye, but allows her to play, figuring it’s a special occasion. Using her advantage of being a firbolg who can talk to animals, she easily manages to convince the chicken to come to her, as she doesn’t want to harm it, just hold it for a bit. The chicken walks over to her, allowing her to easily win. The farmer looks flabbergasted at how easy she made it look, but tells her that she can either keep the chicken or she can give it back and he will make her a meal from it. Shocked, she decides to keep it, and lovingly names it Corn, after first suggesting Udall, but changed her mind when Kal pointed out that it probably will attract lightning better than a lightning rod if she did.

Continuing onwards, they decide to indulge in the various foods and drinks the festival is selling. Looking around they see cotton candy, candy apples, popcorn and a weird looking sandwich made with peanut butter and marshmallows. Penny buys said sandwich, and finds it’s called a “fluffernutter”, and it tastes delicious. Granny sees that the arena that was being set up is used to show some plays, but later it will host a fighting tournament, where no magic is allowed. She decides to sign up, thinking it could be a fun exercise, and maybe she can get some coin out of it.

Reading the Future

Penny spots a tent with some weird looking signs in front of it. Granny helps her read what it says, telling her it’s a fortune teller. Penny thinks that’s awesome, and so wants to have her future read. The rest of the party is a little bit reluctant, saying that it might be dangerous, and that she should be careful. Penny thinks to herself that if it was dangerous they wouldn’t allow her to be here.

When she enters the tent, she is greeted by an old lady sitting behind a small table with a crystal ball in front of it. The rest of the party follows her, not wanting to leave her out of their sight. The old lady asks for Penny’s hand as she sits down, and closes her eyes. She tells her that she is riddled with bad luck and then reveals to Penny that she is from a small little island down south. She also tells Penny that she stands alone, but Penny is unsure what to make of that, and considering she is not from a small island, she realizes that the woman might be a fraud.

Willowbark wants to get a reading as well, and so sits down after Penny. The woman takes Willowbark’s hand, and focuses for a long time. She tells her that she is searching for something, and that her answer lies to the north, but doesn’t elaborate further. Willowbark replies to each thing the woman says with great enthusiasm, and thanks her for the great reading, thinking it was quite useful.

Kal reluctantly agrees to have her future read. Penny, disappointed that the woman didn’t read her future properly walks outside, casts detect thoughts, and then walks back in. When Kal sits down, the woman suddenly grows a concerned look on her face, and twitches back and forth as she is holding Kal’s hand. Penny, reading her mind, can sense that something weird is happening, almost as if another soul is making contact. The woman then, in what sounds like a different voice, tells Kal what she can hear.

“Why did you kill me? Why why why why did you do it? She killed me!”

Kal immediately pulls her hand back to herself, and has a very shocked and concerned look on her face, and quickly leaves the tent. Demetrius, not reading the room, sits down to have his fortune read. She tells her that he must beware, because one of his friends will betray him within the next two weeks. Penny, who is still reading thoughts, notices that she didn’t get a vision from Demetrius, and decided to make something up, and calls her out on it.

The seer then rises out of her chair, and scolds Penny for her insolence, and casts a spell at Penny, putting her hand into her pouch, and throws some red powder at her. Granny tries to block it with her shield, and gets most of it, but it seems the spell still went through. Suddenly, the tent, the lady and everything within the tent starts darkening, before disappearing without a trace, and the party that was inside is suddenly standing in the empty plot. A red haired woman comes running over.

“Oh no, did you insult her? I was hoping she would last the whole day this year…”

She looks at the party, shakes her head, and returns to watching over the festivities, clearly a person in charge somehow. Noticing that the crowd is staring at them, they decide to quickly move on to other activities.

The party spends much of the day enjoying whatever the festival has to offer. Penny tries to join a pie-eating contest held by Geoffrey, the innkeeper of the Golden Goat Inn, but her small figure is no match against the bigger contestant, so she lasts a couple of rounds before everything comes barfing out again, much to the laughs and disgust of the onlookers. Penny just laughs it off, having had a good time regardless. Granny, Willowbark and Demetrius all join an archery contest, but only Granny is able to move on, thanks to her experience with a longbow. It’s a close match, but Granny manages to beat out the rest of the contestants, barely, and wins an efficient quiver, to hold all her arrows in.

Old Acquaintances

While watching Granny win the archery contest, Willowbark suddenly notices a familiar face in the crowd, spotting a half-elven woman in the crowd. Their eyes meet, and the woman comes walking straight over to her and smiles, saying “Nice to see you again, Thana!”. The rest of the party present looks at Willowbark, to the woman, and then back at Willowbark. She replies to the woman “nice to see you too, Cora”. Cora explains that “Thana” traveled with her group for a short while, but when Willowbark wanted to waste her time to help someone they didn’t see the point of helping, they parted ways. Cora says it must be a couple of months since they last saw each other or so.

Penny, being a good friend to Willowbark, tries to convince Cora that their group have already been on grand adventures and vanquished many dangerous foes, but Cora seems unimpressed, asking “Thana” how she has been. The party remembers that Willowbark gave the same name when talking to the raven in the woods, and realizes that she must have changed her name fairly recently. As they’re catching up, another individual suddenly shows up, and elderly man with gray hair greets Willowbark, seemingly genuinely happy to see her. She greets him as Claudius.

Willowbark asks them what they’ve been up to since they last saw each other, with Claudius telling her that they had to come back to kill an owlbear that Willowbark apparently refused to kill. He goes on to explain to the party that they had been tasked with taking out a dangerous owlbear that had attacked and killed several people, but Willowbark tried to convince it to leave and go someplace else, so that it could live. Apparently it attacked a farm, so their group was tasked to kill it once and for all, which they did. Willowbark is taken aback by the reveal, feeling very saddened by what happened.

Penny tries to shoot in with some snide remarks to Claudius and Cora, but as the words leave her mouth, she gets a great pain in her head. Cora, laughing at her insults, sarcastically tells the party she wishes them luck and that she hopes to see them in the future. As she walks away, Penny tries to cast an illusion spell at Cora, but the headache gets worse when she does.

As the party watches the duo walk away, the music of the festival abruptly stops, and people hurry together, starting a great dance, as the music begins building up again. The group joins in with the locals, some unsure about what is happening, but soon the whole town is dancing in circles. Suddenly, at the zenith, the sun gives off a short flare. It only lasts for a moment, but it triggers cheers and celebrations from the crowd, who then continues with what they were doing. 

Willowbark remarks that “Baskar is strong today”, prompting the group to ask who that is, and so she explains that he is the spirit of the sun. The party looks at her, puzzled, as this is not the common name for Ilene, the goddess of the sun and the moon, but the party has realized by now that Willowbark and her tribe doesn’t really follow the same gods as the rest of the world, thinking nothing more of it, Theren and Penny decides to check out if Aerolla has any good deals today in the Feylocker.

As they walk in, they are greeted by the elf, who by all accounts, looks a lot better. Much more natural, and not as “picture perfect” as she was before. When she realizes who they are, she thanks Theren profusely for buying the Deck of Certain Things, hoping it hasn’t brought him too much trouble. Penny thanks her in return for the coffee pot, saying they have gotten quite a lot of use out of it already, and compliments its delicious brew.

Theren looks around, and sees that they are running a promotion today only, with discounted spell scrolls available. Looking through the pile, he finds some useful spells that might come in handy, but decides to buy the alarm spell, as it would alert them to danger if someone sneaks up on them. The duo returns to the rest of the party as the fighting tournament is about to begin, with Aerolla thanking them for their patronage.

The Tournament 

Granny sits with her friends as the redheaded woman they saw before takes the stage. She introduces herself to the crowd as Avelina, the town sheriff, and tells them all about the rules of the tournament, reminding them all that magic and spells are disallowed, and will grant the culprit an immediate disqualification. She goes on to say that she “doesn’t want a repeat of what happened last year” to the laughter of some of the townsfolk. 

Avelina begins by drawing the names of who will fight who. As the entry fee was quite steep, there aren’t that many contestants, but some look more dangerous than the others. Willowbark sees that Cora and Claudius have joined up with the rest of their group, and the rest of the party notices a blonde, smug looking man. When asked who that is, Willowbark simply replies “That’s Rowan”. 

The order is revealed, and Granny is paired up against a dwarf named Bolhild. The first fight to take place is between a human named Lewis, a middle aged balding man wielding a crude looking axe, and Goroth, a muscular half-orc who has at least a foot on Lewis.  The fighters take the stage, and shake hands, before Avelina blows her whistle, starting the battle. Goroth wins easily, striking Lewis right in the face with his hammer, causing him to topple off the stage right into the crowd. 

Goroth gestures from the stage triumphantly, while Lewis lays on the ground, tears falling from his eyes, and punching the ground. Penny overhears him mumbling to himself “stupid stupid stupid! Saved up the whole year, and knocked out in the first round. What will she think of me?”. Penny takes pity on the man, and helps him up, giving him a hug while saying it will be okay. She gives him a gold, which helps a little, but he still seems to be taking the loss quite badly. The last they see of it is him walking away from the jeering crowd. 

Next up, it’s Granny versus Bolhild. They take the stage, with Bolhild wishing her a good fight, before putting on her helmet, preparing to fight the elderly tortle, clearly underestimating her based on her demeanor. Granny surprises everyone and, like an unstoppable force, makes quick work of the dwarf, winning her bout, before joining her party members to the cheers of the crowd.

There are a few more fights, but one that draws the crowds attention is that of Rowan, fighting a local man with a shortsword and a makeshift shield. Rowan, wearing a platemail that looks unused, indicating that he never fights or never gets hit, and wielding a greatsword. He easily steps away from his opponent, dodging every attack with ease, before finishing off the man by making a single strike, slicing open his stomach. He starts walking away as soon as the blow has been dealt, walking off the stage as clerics run up to save the man. Rowan sits down to the cheer of the crowd, looking smug.

Now it’s Granny’s turn to face Goroth, and if she wins this, she will be in the finale. She takes the stage, but the half-orc looks at her and tells her “I’m gonna END you”, while barely bothering to shake her hand. Granny thinks to herself that he seems to be quite the overconfident opponent, and wants to take him down a peg. Goroth is a fierce fighter, who deals several blows towards Granny, but her shell manages to protect her, although some of the blows are starting to crack the shell. Seeing an opening and a way to end the fight, she gives him a swift uppercut, temporarily dazing him, and then brings her axe down straight at his exposed foot, cutting off all the toes on his right foot. The half-orc screams bloody murder and falls over, and desperately tries to put his toes back, but to no avail. The crowd is stunned, but shortly begins to clap and cheer at the bout. Granny now only has one opponent left.

While the clerics that the town has procured heals Granny, she watches the penultimate fight along with her party. Rowan is facing off with a dwarf, and the combat seems to take a bit longer, with the dwarf putting up more of a fight than his previous opponent, but he still doesn’t manage to make even a dent in the armor. Rowan finally gets an opening, and strikes the dwarf in the head with the blunt edge of his blade, knocking him out. 

Granny gets some encouraging words from her party members, before she takes the stage, ready to fight Rowan. When they meet to shake hands, he tells her that she should probably step back down before she breaks something, with Granny replying that the only one who’s going to break anything is him. He laughs at the jest, and takes his position. Granny comes out swinging, and actually manages to get a few blows in, but his armor takes most of it, and he retaliates by striking at her with his sword. 

Using her shell to her advantage, she manages to avoid being wounded by the greatsword, but the blows are beginning to take its toll, as she can hear that her shell is starting to crumple underneath the barrage. The rest of the party can see that a large crack has appeared in it. Not taking any more risks like that, Granny spins around to strike Rowan in the face with her axe, giving him a rather large gash across his nose. Enraged, he runs straight at the tortle to finish her off, but she sidesteps him and pushes him out of the ring, causing him to tumble into the crowd, losing the fight.

Cora comes running straight over to him, helping him get back up, while Avelina announces the tortle to be the winner! Rowan looks completely shocked at the development, and when Granny walks past him she tells him better luck next year, as she joins the rest of her friends to collect their payment. Willowbark gives Rowan a sly smile as they leave, with him staring back in disbelief at his loss.

The Talent Show

One of the last events that have been planned for the day is a talent show held at a small stage a little south of the main tent. Several people have made their way to their seats, and the roster seems to be rather full, with many people wanting to show off their various skills. Demetrius, Willowbark and Penny all decide to join, and can see that both Aerolla and Bamin are also waiting in the queue. 

Not all contestants are as talented, some singing a song or showing how strong they are, with others doing various magic tricks and showing off what they have trained their animals to do. Penny enters the stage with her lyre in hand, and performs a cheerful song about her hometown. The party learns that it is a place of little worry, a small community close to a body of water. She playfully sings about not being able to find her way back home.

Willowbark also performs a song, using her flute to play while her new chicken, Corn, sits on the stage with her. It’s a nice tune, and as a finisher, she turns herself invisible and picks up her chicken, who poops on the stage, partly ruining the performance. She is followed by Aerolla who uses some minor illusion spells to show the history of the town to the crowd, showing various events like a dragon attacking and being taken down, a group of trolls smashing some buildings, among other various displays.

Demetrius nervously walks onto the stage, waves at the audience while holding a tankard of ale, and then opens up his notebook that the party has seen him scribble in from time to time. He drunkenly finds  what he was looking for, and begins to recite poems that he has written over the journey, that are surprisingly deep and philosophical, drawing the attention of several women who swoon over him. After he has read one poem about death and one about love, he thanks the audience and leaves the stage, with two ladies from the audience following him as he heads towards the inn to get some “rest”.

After the last contestant has shown off their card tricks, the judges who have been watching the crowd and their reactions announce the winners. Demetrius manages to get third place, while Penny takes first place, and happily goes up to the stage to receive her prize, a cloak of billowing. Afterwards the crowd spreads out to have some fun smaller contestes and eat some food, with Kal and Penny both partaking in an arm-wrestling tournament, with Kal just barely managing to defeat Penny in the final.

The Banquet

As the winner of the fighting tournament, Granny is honored with a wonderful feast for her and her companions, where they get served as much food and drinks as they would like. They all indulge and enjoy the rest of the night, with Demetrius eventually returning, still drunk, with both the ladies from the crowd around each arm, and sits down to join the party. Penny and Kal gets quite inebriated, and after a while, Penny asks Kal what happened in the fortune teller’s tent. Penny says she could swear the woman told them that Kal had killed someone, but Kal brushes it off saying she’s killed many people, so it could have been a bad guy. Theren sits a bit back watching all of this, but doesn’t partake in the drinking itself.

Penny eventually takes the stage, thinking the musicians they hired aren’t up to her preferred quality, and begins playing a song with her viol about the group killing Venomfang, much to the enjoyment of the crowd, and the party surprisingly finds her to play even better when drunk than she usually does. After finishing her set, she returns to her group, overhearing a couple of patrons talking about a dragon they saw to the west. As she sits down, she notices that Willowbark has disappeared. Thinking nothing of it, as she likes to be alone at times, the rest of the party spend the rest of the night in the tent.

Forgiveness

Willowbark, having snuck away from the festivities without most of the party noticing, decides to wander towards the forest, passing by drunk people all around enjoying what’s left of the festival. She can hear Penny beginning to play in the tent, and is happy that the party is enjoying themselves. She herself has been torn ever since Claudius told her what happened to the owlbear that she wanted to help. 

Crossing the little bridge over the water, she decides to step into the forest proper, in order to get a better connection with her god. She sits down on a tree stump, looking around and sees only the dark forest surrounding her, as the lights from the town shine in the distance. She starts crying.

She speaks out loud, to anything that will listen, be it Faunus or beast, that she finds the prospect of her failing the owlbear extremely difficult to bear. She thought she managed to save it by convincing it and it’s offspring to move someplace else, out of sight, out of view. The fact that it now is dead is hard to accept, and she feels very guilty about it, but that she only tried to do her best, and to do what is right.

She suddenly gets a shiver down her spine, as she can hear a creepy voice coming from directly behind her.

“We forgive you.”

The Voice in the Woods

Hearing the unexpected response from the voice behind her, Willowbark calmly, but determined, turns around to see who is speaking. Between her and the town, she can see the outline of a tall dark figure, but she doesn’t recognize it at first. Getting a closer look, it appears to be a firbolg, like her. Willowbark asks the figure what they mean, and what they want from her. The figure, who has a female voice, tells her they want many things from her, but most of all, they tell her to stay away. They don’t want her there. She was cast out of her family and her tribe, and so she does not belong anymore. 

The voice… It seems familiar somehow. Willowbark moves to the side, so that the lights of the town can illuminate the figure, and as she does, she suddenly recognizes it as her deceased leader Clementine, one of those taken by the sickness. Shocked by the reveal, she locks eyes with Clementine, and tries to move towards the town, but she can suddenly feel the presence of two more figures, cutting off her escape. She looks at them, and sees that one of them is Galen, the other one close to her taken by the sickness, and… Aster, her bloodmother, who as far as Willowbark knows, is still alive. Or so she thought.

Willlowbark, feeling that she is in the presence of something she doesn’t fully understand yet, tells the beings that she will leave, but the voices of Galen, Aster and Clementine tell her that it will not be enough. She tries to explain that she didn’t mean to intrude or disturb them. The voices hint towards them wanting to kill her, without using the words outright. They demand that she leaves and never returns, as the forest now belongs to them, and will never be hers again. Willowbark feels that their influence is strong, and they are using dark magic against her, saying that they will kill both her and her friends if she ever returns to the woods.

“You cannot save your tribe. They are not yours anymore. They are OURS!”

Hearing the words, Willowbark senses a single tear run down her chin, as she feels helpless. The beings smile at her with a disturbingly wide grin, and come between her and the forest, giving her the chance to escape. She takes it, and runs out of the forest. Exiting the woods, she sees Corn who was smart enough to escape when the beings appeared. She grabs him, and runs towards the town center, heading straight for the tent. 

As she enters, the party has begun to die down a bit, but Kal and Penny are both still very intoxicated, and dances on the tables to the cheering and laughter of the townsfolk. Willowbark runs over to Granny, who appears to be sober, needing someone to talk to. She rambles a bit, but manages to convey what she has experienced and seen, almost telling Corn to corroborate her story before realizing Granny doesn’t understand him. 

Granny calms her down, telling her that there is nothing they can do tonight as the group is too inebriated to be of any use in a fight tonight. The most important thing is that she is safe now, and among friends, nothing can hurt her. Willowbark wants to find a library in order to research more about the sickness, and also speak of exploring other forests, to see if she can get answers there. Considering her experience, Willowbark decides that she wants to sleep inside with the rest of the party for the night. Granny thinks that’s a good idea, and decides to sleep outside of the inn, to look out for anything out of the ordinary.

Theological Discussions

The next morning, as Theren wakes up, he looks down at his hands and realizes that he can see his veins, muscles and tendons. Checking the mirror confirms his suspicions that his skin has turned transparent. It’s still there, just not visible. Not wanting to freak anyone out, he spends some time applying make-up to appear normal, realizing that it’s time to draw another card from the Deck of Certain Things. 

Demetrius can hear whispering, laughter and some light footsteps as his companions for the night decides to take their leave. Waking up with a huge grin on his face, he gets dressed, gathers his stuff and checks his coin purse, realizing that they took around 20 gp from him. He smiles, thinking there are worse things to spend money on, and heads downstairs to join up with his companions, and get some food to counteract the hangover. Maybe even some hair of the dog that bit him.

Penny and Kal both wake up, extremely poorly, splitting headache and dry mouths. Surprising them both however is Willowbark lying on the floor between them, looking up at them and saying good morning. They ask if she’s okay, and she responds that she is fine, she just needed to feel safe for the night. The trio gets up, with Penny checking herself in the mirror, finding herself looking a little bit better today, as the dark rings around her eyes are not as prominent.

When they all get downstairs into the dining area, they can see that the inn is filled to the brim with people who are eating breakfast before setting out on their respective journey’s home. Kal decides to make food outside again for the party to have some privacy. When they get out, Willowbark acts erratic, telling the others to not get too close to the forest, as she is worried about it.

When the rest of the party makes their way to the campfire, Willowbark starts telling the hungover group about her meeting with the beings the night before. As she recites the encounter, she realizes that the woman who posed as Clementine didn’t have her voice, but she did recognize it somehow, but can’t place it no matter how hard she tries. 

Several party members finally ask Willowbark about what’s up with her name. She has given a different name to some other people, and so she goes on to explain that she changes her name when she reaches a new chapter in her life. When she was in the tribe she was known as Pine, and then when she was exiled they gave her the name Thana, representing her association with death, and then she chose the name Willowbark as a way of setting out on a quest to heal her home. And that is what she is trying to do now.

Theren tries to imply that they could burn down the forest, but this seems like a nuclear option that Willowbark is not prepared to take unless she has attempted every other avenue first. Theren fears that if this disease is caused by the gods themselves, they are not strong enough to fight it. But if they are spirits or similar, then they have a better chance. 

Willowbark tells the party that she has a total of 12 gods, and goes through who they all are and what they represent. They notice similarities with some of the gods of the main pantheon, but they don’t think any of them would cause corruption in the forest, apart from maybe Mara, but they aren’t an evil god per se. Theren suggests that they ask Kal’s god, the one of storm and lightning, but she is not on the best terms with him at the moment. In either case, he hypothesizes that the beings she met might be using simple illusion spells to disguise themselves, but Willowbark feels it went beyond that. Suddenly they all notice a voice saying “This is very interesting…” as a still drunk man has sat down next to them, eating a bowl of their stew and listening in. Willowbark politely asks him to leave, and he moves on.

They go through the timeline, with Willowbark telling the party that she first started to have dreams about the disease when she was about 10 years old. She is now 58, which Penny is surprised by, considering how good she looks. She has dreamed about a green eye staring at her for a long time, but hasn’t encountered anyone else with similar dreams.  She has also dreamed about people of her tribe dying, before they died, and has now begun to dream about her entire dream dying.

They all realize that the corruption in Thundertree happened about 30 years ago, which would suggest that it is somehow all connected. They decide that the next step should definitely be to head to a bigger library to find a library, either Tempervale, Elvenroth or Ravenforge. They want to know how long they have, but Willowbark fears they don’t have long. If the encounter truly meant her mother has died, then it is spreading. She describes the sickness as just manifesting as a flu-like disease, and then they got worse and worse until their bodies couldn’t handle it any more. Galen held out much longer than Clementine though.

Penny tells the party that she might have someone in her community that knows something or can help, but then suddenly remembers that she doesn’t know where it is or how to get back. The party asks her why she left in the first place, and she tells them that when Morgan came to visit, she snuck into his carriage and came with him. When he discovered her they had already traveled for a while, so he allowed her to stay, and taught her in the bardic arts. Until he disappeared. 

Willowbark decides to cast some divination spells to figure out where it would be prudent to go. While waiting for this, Granny introduces Penny to Stone, Scroll, Knife, but the others know it as Boulder, Parchment, Sheers. Granny then asks Theren about his god and if he can help, to which he replies yet again that he isn’t a god, just a powerful entity that grants him powers. He can tell that Ranesh appreciates being called a god though.

Willowbark asks if they should travel towards Ravenforge, and gets a feeling that it could lead to good results, but it might just mean that it would be good to get away from the forest. When asked about the treasure map that they found in Wave Echo Cave, the results are murky, unsure. They decide to first of all head towards Rivergrounds, and then make up their mind about which direction to travel when they get closer. After buying some rations and supplies, they pick up their horses from the stables, and head north.

 The Long Journey

After a few days' travels, they reach the town of Rivergrounds once more, and decide to stay at the inn for the night. Willowbark wants to stay a bit outside of the town, and so heads far enough away that the stench of the streets isn’t too prominent. As Theren keeps being afflicted by the curse, now losing and gaining hair, he decides to bite the arrowhead and pull out another card. He gets a weird looking card, which disappears, and suddenly, an imp manifests next to him, kicks him in the shin, and then disappears. Rubbing his leg, he can feel that the curse wanes once more.

Penny tries to read the minds of the patrons in the inn, and picks up a few references to an earthquake, as well as someone swearing they saw the princess earlier. She asks the innkeeper, Tim (still no relation), about this supposed earthquake, as she cannot remember noticing any recently. He tells her that a large earthquake woke him up early in the morning about three weeks ago. She realizes that this was about the same time that they were in Wave Echo Cave. She returns to her party, asking if they know if why the princess would be her, and who it is, but they say that she would definitely not be in a place like this.

After they head out from Rivergrounds, they travel for another five days before they reach the crossing between Elvenroth and Tempervale. There seems to be a lot more people passing on this route than they have ever seen on the road south of them. Willowbark sits down and tries to ask her gods once more to give a sign of which way they should go, but once again gets only cryptic responses, telling her that it might be dangerous. Willowbark doesn’t understand why they should go after the treasure, and gets a feeling that her gods feel it is more prudent that they head towards Ravenforge. The party feels that the treasure might come in handy in their travels and quest, and since they are going to be looking for it at some point anyway, they might as well get it out of the way now, so they decide to go against the will of the gods and head east.

During the journey, Willowbark, desperate for information, approaches a couple of rangers heading the opposite way, asking them about the forest and if they’ve seen anything strange within. The ranger seems to be unsure as to what she means, but when she mentions Thundertree, he tells her he knows about that and that they never go near it. He has seen some areas that are more dangerous than others, and met some interesting creatures while doing so. Apparently things have changed, and before his time it wasn’t as dangerous as it has become in recent times. She asks how so, and he tells her that when people venture into certain areas, they change, and don’t come back as themselves, or even at all. He has seen close friends turn to husks that tried to attack him, and points to the Shimmering Hills, saying one of the areas to avoid is at the foot of the mountain.

She returns to the group, and tells them about what the ranger told her, saying that it has grown worse, corrupting wildlife and people, making the area extremely dangerous. She worries that it will spread further than it already has. Theren questions why her people don't keep records of their history, calling them uncivilized because of it. She tells him coldly that she is civilized, her history is just oral, not written. But he does mention that the ranger she met probably belongs to The Rangers of The Wild, who follow the nature goddess Phymera. Seeking out one of their temples or maybe the group themselves might yield some information.

After a few more days, they can see Tempervale on the horizon. Theren can feel that the curse is creeping up on him again, and so decides to draw another card, which causes all his weapons and magical items to vanish in a magnificent display of fireworks. The rest of the party asks what the hell just happened, and Theren replies bluntly that he has a deck of cards, and it’s weird. Penny says that she would love to try to draw a card, and Theren reluctantly allows it.

She draws a card, and sees the symbol of a pot of honey on it. It vanishes. There is a large pop as a bear appears. Standing on two legs, wearing a satchel, and looks extremely confused. In common, he asks the party where he is and what just happened. They introduce themselves, and ask him who he is. He replies that his name is Sigmund and that he’s a potion seller. Not being entirely sure what is happening, he offers the party to buy some potions if they would like, giving them great discounts on his wares. Penny asks where he comes from, and he tells her it’s a small village outside of Arcan City, which Penny has heard of before. 

After he has sold his wares to them, they chat a bit about him, asking if this has happened before, and he tells them that a guy called Bob once summoned him, and he too was holding a deck of cards. He laments to himself that he wishes he didn’t steal those berries from that hag that one time. Penny tells him she also got cursed. He gives his condolences, and tells them loads of places are cursed, particularly forests, they tend to get the worst of it. As Willowbark hears this, she perks up, wanting to know more, but the moment he starts talking, he suddenly disappears again. Penny looks extremely happy to have picked that card, and the party asks Theren what is up with them, but he is reluctant to tell them about it yet.

During the final night before they reach the city, Penny sits down and can feel that there is someone else inside her mind. Figuring that she might as well, she asks if the being inside her is the Forgotten One. The voice inside her head replies “yes”. Frightened by this, she asks the group if they know of the Forgotten One that Nezznar was talking about, and if they know who it might be. Theren says there are probably loads of forgotten gods, and should ask for its name. When she does, the entity doesn’t want to tell her just yet.

The Twelve Bridges

When the party finally arrives in Tempervale, Willowbark is blown away by the size, and can’t stop staring at the towering buildings that go higher than most trees in her forest. On the way in, they are stopped by one of the guards who singles out Willowbark, telling her that she needs to behave when she’s in the city. The rest of the party gives the guard the stink-eye, as that was totally unnecessary. First point of order should be a place to stay, and so they decide to find an inn, telling Willowbark that she can’t safely sleep outside when she is here, as it is probably frowned upon. She doesn’t understand the problem

Demetrius goes to see if he can find any bounty boards that might give the party something to do for money, ad he looks through a few, seeing that most are talking about missing people, exterminating vermins, but one draws his attention, from a person named Kody, who is asking for a group of adventurers to help out on a mighty quest, that is to be well compensated. It tells whoever wants to help to meet him in Minotaur Park the next day at noon. He runs after the party as they head down a side street, and tells them about it.

The rest of the party has found a fitting inn nearby, called the Narrow Bar. Seems to be rather full, loads of people, and much larger and nicer than the ones in Maplemere, Rivergrounds and Phandalin. Penny manages to convince the innkeeper to give them a group discount on the rooms, as she can perform for the patrons. Kal asks if they need any help in the kitchen, but gets rejected due to health inspectors and stricter rules than smaller towns and villages. When they get to their room, they discover that they actually have working toilets, plumbing and all. Kal has to teach Willowbark how toilets work, and Willowbark in turn feels very uncomfortable about being in the city. Demetrius on the other hand couldn’t be happier about the room and the bed. 

The party heads to one of the stables on the outskirts of the city, to leave their horses for the stay. No Tim in sight, which is a good thing. Kal has the foresight to see that the horses’ horseshoes are getting worn, and so asks the stablehand to change them.

Granny asks around if anyone knows where the Rangers of the Wild reside in the city, if they even do, and gets told that they have a small safehouse on the outskirts of the city, outside of the walls to the south. Kal and Theren goes looking for a map of the area and region, and is told to head to the library, but as it’s getting late, it is closed when they reach it. Willowbark is amazed at the size of the library, as its facade is decorated by large marble pillars, in front of vast colorful windows. 

On the way back to the inn, they come across the temple district, with a bridge crossing over the river far below the city. They decide to check it out, and can see that there are a total of twelve bridges that cross the river. Kal looks at a plaque on the bridge they are currently on, and sees that it is the bridge of Adea, the Goddess of Knowledge and Magic. Willowbark is in awe, seeing the beautiful architecture and the wide river far below them. Kal explains to her that the city was founded 1300 years before the current calendar began, meaning it is nearly 4000 years old, and was built where Adea came to the plane and gave the gift of magic to mortals. She is the one who maintains the weave, allowing magic, both divine and arcane, to flow and function. 

They all wander around, looking at the other bridges, finding the one to Mova, as well as some of the other gods they know of, but one bridge has a name that is unknown to all of them. Roshan, the Goddess of the Sun is written on a bridge further down river. Wondering why they haven’t heard much about this god, they decide they have to check it out, as Ilene is the Goddess of both the sun and moon.

As they head back towards the inn, they visit the temple of Adea in the middle of the city. Theren goes over to pay his respect by lighting a candle with magic, and placing it in an open spot. Willowbark, wanting to be respectful, copies him, but gets confused when Kal also gives a small offering of coins, having been told not to give away money willy nilly. The fact that she is awestruck by the size of the temple isn’t helping either. Kal notices, and helps her. Willowbark then goes to one of the priests, asking if they know about her gods, but he sadly does not. He then suggests to her that they might all be aspects of Adea, without her knowing it, but Willowbark doesn’t like this idea. Kal tries to talk to the priests if they have heard rumors about a sickness spreading, and he indeed has heard the Rangers talking about it, but doesn’t know any details. He suggests heading to the library to research if they wish to learn more.

Kal the Great

Walking back towards the inn, Kal checks out a few more bridges, and finds that one of them is dedicated to Udall. Interested if it might help her connection to him, she stands in the middle of it, and summons a lightning bolt in her hands, scaring a few of the passing citizens. Some city guards quickly show up, holding spears at her, demanding to know what she is doing, casting spells in the middle of a crowded area. Willowbark tries to talk them down, but Demetrius suddenly grows confident, and yells at the guards for their “insolence”.  He refers to her as the “Great” Kal, and that captain Mericious has personally given approval for her actions. Demetrius is just bluffing, hoping the name he read on one of the bounty boards will be enough to convince them. To their surprise, it works, and they step down, allowing her to continue, but watching closely.

Kal is quite awkward by the whole encounter, but tries to focus. She tells her god that there is corruption spreading, and asks if he has any help to give in order to get to the bottom of it. It suddenly starts to rain, and as the citizens scatter to get to cover, she returns to the rest of the party, with Willowbark asking what he told her. Kal replies that she doesn’t have a strong enough connection yet to get a clear response, but the rain seems to indicate that he is listening at least. They head back to the inn, to meet up with Penny who stayed behind.

Back in the Tavern

When the party returns to the inn they can see that Penny is in the middle of some pretty heavy gambling with some of the locals, and she’s not doing too well, losing left and right. After she is done and has lost more money than she intended, she thanks for the game, and leaves to join her party at their table.

When the waitress comes over with their drinks, Kal gives her an extra copper piece, which causes Willowbark to be even more confused, as she keeps giving away money when she has told Willlowbark not to do that, but she decides to copy Kal and give a tip as well. Demetrius sees her confusion and explains that money is power and that society is based on a ranking system, and starts rambling on about how the elites versus the common folk. Kal and Willowbark remarks that he seems to be on edge now that they’re in a large city, but he just blows them off.

Penny sits down as Kal, Willowbark and Demetrius are discussing class differences, and attempts to listen in on people’s thoughts from the tavern. She scans the area, and gets a few people complimenting the music being played, another one misses eating dragon meat as it was too tasty to forget, but one elderly fellow seems to stick out, thinking about how his house is haunted. Penny excuses herself and walks over to the old man, asking him if he would like to tell her his story. He looks at her, very confused as to why she suddenly approached him, but she tells him that she’s a bard, and thought he looked interesting so would love to hear his story.

The old man introduces himself as Conrad, and he tells her that he is having a hard time sleeping, as he keeps seeing a man in his room. He guesses that it is a haunting, but tells her that his story isn’t that interesting or unique. Penny offers to help him out, as her party is quite capable. He tells her that he cannot pay her anything, but she doesn’t want payment, she just wants an adventure. She leads the man to her party, and tells them that there is a ghost haunting the man’s house, and that they have to do something about it. They ask him to describe the ghost, but he says that it just looks like a man, and he just stands there, staring at him. Demetrius thinks there might be someone trying to force him to move, to buy the house cheap, but they know more when they get there, so they decide to leave with the man, who takes them to his house.

The Haunting

The party follows the man around the corner from the Narrow Bar, realizing that he literally lives in the same block. His home is an apartment in a tall building, at least 10 stories tall. He leads them inside, and up the stairs, as he lives on the third floor of the building. When they get into his home, they find it to be quite nice, much nicer than most of the inns the party has stayed in during their travels. The party decides to look around to see if they can find any clues, and notices that it is significantly colder in the bedroom than the rest of the apartment.

Granny wants to see if she can detect the presence of the ghost, and so uses her primeval awareness to sense what is nearby. She is suddenly overwhelmed as she can sense a large presence of undead, but also within the city there are fey, dragons, fiend and celestials. She tells the party about this, and they look at each other, quite confused, but Theren seems unfazed, pointing out that this is a large city, and he has heard about dragons having the ability to shapeshift and appear to be humanoids. celestials and fiends are to be expected where people congregate, and fey are just weird, so they would probably stick around as well. Conrad nods in agreement, not being too surprised.

Granny does however get the feeling that there really is a ghost present, but she isn’t entirely sure that she can make it appear. Penny tries to call out for the ghost, trying to convince it to appear. They wait around for a few seconds, before a light suddenly appears in the doorway to the bedroom. It rapidly grows, until it takes the shape of a person, seemingly a man with elven features. It suddenly lurches toward the person who summoned it. Penny tries to resist, but she gets hit with a discombobulating force as the ghost enters her, and takes over her body. The ghost tries to run off with her.

The party, noticing what has just transpired, leaps into action, and attempts to restrain Penny, preventing her from escaping. Granny and Demetrius work together in order to hold her back, while Willowbark runs over to block the door. Kal uses her celestial powers to force the ghost out of her friend, but it does not relent, and tries to attack the party, but it is easily subdued. Theren gets the final blow with his eldritch blast, and in the end the ghost just floats in place, weakened, but not destroyed.

A Final Request

Kal tries to talk to the ghost, and it suddenly seems to start listening, almost as if it was unable to be reasoned with before. It asks them why they are in his house. The party tries to explain to the ghost that he is dead. The ghost at first thinks this cannot be, but the party manages to convince it that it is in fact true. They ask his name, and it has a hard time remembering, but thinks that it may have been Thomas.

Conrad tells the party that he has been living in the house for about 50 years, and has noticed that at times stuff have been moving around, and he has had some sightings of what he now realizes was Thomas, but had just ignored it, thinking he was imagining things. But seeing the ghost in front of him, he realizes that he never truly was alone.

They ask the ghost if he knows what happened to him, and the last thing he remembers is that he was petting his cat, and then heard a noise behind him, and everything changed. He tells them he was a tailor when he died, owning a tailors shop called the Magnificent Needle, located in the square close to here. When asked, he tells the party that he has one final wish of being able to walk in the park, and thinks that is where he was trying to go when he tried to escape with Penny. Penny allows him to possess her once more, giving him the chance to go for the walk.

They all follow Penny/Thomas towards the park, with the ghost remarking that he doesn’t remember any of this, things have changed a lot since he was last around. Looking at a jewelry shop, he says that it seems to be in the same place his shop was, but everything looks different, but similar at the same time. He also mentions that he lived in a house, not a large building with several apartments in it, suggesting a lot has changed for him. They ask him when he was alive, and he tells them he thinks he died in the year 834 in the second age. With them now being in the year 853 of the third age, this means he has been dead for over a thousand years.

As they reach the park, he says that this is different as well, saying that the layout is all wrong, like the city has changed completely. Kal asks if the bridges were there during his time, and he confirms that they were, but that they too are wrong somehow. But the party realizes that the city has probably changed a lot over the last 1000 years, not thinking too much of it. When asked about Roshan, he has heard the name, but is unsure who it is. Kal wonders what happened to her.

After wandering around for a while, looking at the park and the city, Thomas turns Penny around and tells the party that he feels that he is ready to move on now, having gotten his itch scratched so to speak. Penny, who has been a silent passenger for the journey, can hear the ghost saying “thank you” directly to her mind, before she can feel the presence leave her. Finally being laid to rest.

Conrad looks at the party and thanks them all profusely for solving his problem, and they all walk back towards the Narrow Bar, with the old man going home to hopefully get a good night’s sleep.

The Library

The next morning, the group wakes up and heads straight for the library, searching for potential answers to the problem with the spreading corruption. As they arrived in the evening when they got to Tempervale, they are astounded by how much more crowded the city is today. Elmroot looks around at all the people wandering the streets, on their way to do their jobs or go shopping. They overhear a town crier in the distance, proclaiming loudly that Princess Satine is rumored to be back in Ravenforge because the king supposedly is beginning to be sick, and in other news, a local dwarf has found the long lost Wave Echo Cave. The party remarks at how fast news travels.

As they reach the square in front of the temple dedicated to Adea, an old beggar woman asks Willowbark for a coin. She prepared to open up her coinpurse to give up all her money, but Kal quickly sees what is happening and intervenes, telling her to give her a silver or something. Willowbark does, and the old lady clutches Willowbark’s hand as she accepts the coin, thanking her for her generosity. The old lady then continues walking past and disappears in the crowd. Willowbark tries to look for her, but she seems to have vanished into thin air. She catches up with the rest as they reach the library.

Standing outside, they are all in awe at the beauty of the architecture, clearly being centuries, if not millennia old. Within there are massive bookshelves that reach from floor to ceiling, containing thousands of books. The scholars that work there move around, up and down the bookshelves using the stairs that are built to reach the highest levels, retrieving books and putting them back. A large desk dominates the center of the library, with a spiral staircase leading to the lower floor. An incredibly old elf stands behind it, writing in a book. The nameplate on the desk reads “Aelar Yaeldrin”.

Penny buys a journal for herself, while Kal buys some books to use as spell components. Theren wants to purchase a map of some regions, making it easier to track where they need to go, and asks for a world map, region map and a city map. They are hoping to get one of the Central Plains as well, but that is not something they have available, but the old librarian tells them he can just pop over to Elvenroth to see if they can provide a map of that region. Penny seems amazed that he can just casually travel over there, but he explains to them that they have a teleportation circle. It’s not available for public use, but they can buy access for a one time travel for 50 gp per person.

Wandering around, Penny goes over to random people and asks what they are doing, much to the annoyance of the scholars who are just trying to do their research in peace. One man who is in the middle of a lot of big books yells at Penny to leave him alone, prompting stern looks from the attendants, before he returns to his studies. Penny is unfazed and goes to look at all the various books around the library. Meanwhile, Demetrius is looking for information from or about The Rangers of The Wild, so Granny joins him. They get told that the Rangers are a bunch of disorganized adventurers, but they do confirm a safehouse is located to the south of the city proper. Remembering the request for brave adventurers, Demetrius and Granny decides to go and check that out, with Penny joining them, having nothing better to do.

Willowbark explains that she is trying to do research on the topic of corruption, so the librarian hails for one of the attendants to fix her up with a table, and retrieve a stack of books for her to go through. She has all day, which costs her some gold, but she thinks it will probably be worth it. Theren asks him about law books, wanting to see what is allowed and what’s not. He is told that there are no updated tomes on the subject, but some older ones should suffice. Kal asks the elf about Willowbark’s gods, and surprisingly he has heard of them, and even manages to pinpoint her home based on the gods, much to the surprise of the party members. He goes on to tell her that they theorize that Faunus and Selvans are aspects of the goddess Phymera, the goddess of nature and wind. There is a temple to her on the southern side of the city, along the river.

When asked if they can get directly to Ravenforge from the teleportation circle below, they are told that they only have a direct link to the Royal Athenaeum, but there is a teleportation hub in Elvenroth, where it is located. Kal considers borrowing a book to study her new found religion, as they require a deposit, and they are heading north to seek the treasure, the elf recommends them to get a guide to lead them safely through the mist fields south of the Twilight Peaks.

A Tooth for a Hand

Penny, Demetrius and Granny are all walking to Minotaur Park, to meet up with this mysterious Kody who is asking for adventurers. When the trio gets there, they can see a figure standing out, obviously waiting for someone. Each time someone gets close to him, he lights up, before realizing they are not stopping and moving on. Noticing a lute on his back, Penny thinks that he might be a bard. When they get closer, he realizes that they are actually stopping for him, and perks up, asking if they are here for his quest. When they respond, he cheers loudly.

He tells them that he is in dire need of brave adventurers who can help him in vanquishing a mighty foe, as he needs its teeth. The trio looks at him curiously, suspicious by the fact that he doesn’t say what the foe is. He caves, and tells them that it is a stone giant. Not any one in particular, just that he needs to kill a stone giant and bring back a tooth as proof of his deeds. 

The party wants to know why before they promise to help him, and he tells them that he is hopelessly in love with a girl named Anne, but her father doesn’t like or approve of Kody, and so has told him that the only way for him to prove his worth, is to take down a stone giant and bring back it’s teeth as proof of his great deed. Granny is conflicted, as stone giants aren’t inherently evil, so is having a hard time deciding if they should go through with this. Demetrius tells Kody that there are three more members in their party, which makes Kody even more ecstatic, saying this will ensure their victory. He then asks what they will be paid for helping him, and they do a little back and forth, without coming to a conclusion that either party is satisfied with.

The trio moves a bit away to discuss in private, with Kody taking out his lute to play a song. They all seem very unsure of the mission, seeing as he is asking for their help in killing something they are unsure deserves to be killed. They decide that they have to confer with the rest of the party before giving a definitive answer, and when they tell this to Kody he tells them that he will go by himself if they will not help, as he is desperate to have this done. But he will give them time to think about it, telling them that he will be in the same place tomorrow at 10-ish, depending on when he wakes up. He leaves the party, playing a song as he crosses the bridge of Udall to head home.

The Rangers

Afterwards, the trio decides to move on to find the Rangers of the Wild and their base, and so heads outside the city walls to the shanty town beyond it. Looking around, and asking the locals, they are guided towards an old cabin a bit further away from the rest of the buildings. As they approach they see a tabaxi sitting next to a campfire. When they get close, she welcomes them, introducing herself as Right Handed in Woods, asking how she can help.

Granny asks them for a membership, as she would like to join their organizations. Right Handed in Woods looks at her and seems to analyze her, looking her up and down, before asking her some very simple questions, for instance if she will protect nature, defend the innocents, and uphold the natural balance. Answering yes to all these questions, the tabaxi calls for her partner, Thorne, to bring some emblems. A halfling comes out with a box, and places it next to her, while sitting down by the campfire, as they both look at Granny, waiting for her to say something.

Granny tells them she would like to contribute to their cause as she travels, wanting to help out wherever she can. She also asks them about the corruption in the forest, saying that she is on a quest to help her friend get rid of it. The tabaxi tells her that the corruption is well known to the Rangers in the area, as it has been spreading for a few years, then slowed down, until it eventually stopped. But it doesn’t seem to recede, indicating it is here to stay. They have lost some of their members to the more dangerous areas, but doesn’t elaborate on what she means by “lost”.

Granny asks them about the Ruins of Thundertree, and tells them about the sickness currently plaguing Spiral Woods down south. The Rangers look at each other, worryingly. They tell Granny that Thundertree was taken by the corruption, forcing people to leave the area. If the corruption is spreading, then they have to stop it. The group ask the tabaxi how they can know if it is the same corruption, with the tabaxi replying that the one plaguing the Jaded Wilds is not easily fixed by magic, as opposed to other dangers that can plague the woods. They help them by telling them about three areas of corruption in the Jaded Wilds, explaining how to reach them. One is not far from Tempervale, another is near Thundertree and the last one is far to the east, on the other side of the mountain.

Granny tells the pair about Willowbark, and that she is the one on the quest to save her tribe. The halfling asks if Granny knows if she has been experiencing hallucinations, and when she confirms that she has dreams about a green eye, he tells them that some of the survivors of Thundertree also spoke of having nightmares and hallucinations. The party knows just one survivor from Thundertree, the woman who sent them for the emerald necklace.

Feeling confident that Granny can be a fine addition to the Rangers, they give her a pin, and fasten it on her shell, telling her that she is on a probationary membership, she still has to prove to them that she can uphold her promises. If her group manages to revert the corruption, that is definitely a good start. 

The trio thanks them for their help and guidance, and so the tabaxi and halfling ask where they are heading next, and the party tells them that they are seeking treasure near the Twilight Peaks. The halfling tells them to be careful heading that way, as it is riddled with wyverns and other terrible stuff. They thank them for the heads up, and return to the Narrow Bar, waiting for the other half of the party to return from their research.

On the way back, Granny and Penny go looking for a shop to pick up some ink, quill and paper. They find The Unseen Arcanity, with a lot of magical items, as well as the things they require. Penny asks the shopkeeper Claira what the oldest thing she has in the store is, and is shown a beautiful harp that will set her back 120,000 gold pieces. Penny jokingly checks her purse, and tells the woman that it’s not in her budget at the moment, but it sure is beautiful.

Having purchased what they need, they walk over to the tavern, as Granny tells Penny to write down the names of everyone in the group. As they do, they can suddenly hear large metallic footsteps, and everyone in the square around them freezes up, watching the approaching figure cross the square. A massive humanoid shaped creation made of metal, with fire coming out of its head like a brazier. Penny asks Granny what that was, with a bystander replying that it was a Royal Incinerator, royal bounty hunters sent out to track down the worst of the worst. They are rumored to be unkillable.

Studies

Back at the library, Kal is very curious about Roshan that has a bridge, but she cannot remember ever hearing about her. Aelar tells her about the Betrayal, which was a cataclysmic event that happened when one god went against the others to overthrow them. During that time, Roshan was the first casualty by the god, and this caused the world to fall into darkness for over 10 years. During this time, monsters from the Underdark emerged and invaded the world. Kal asks for the name of the god, but he tells her that he won’t say it, as it is forbidden to say out loud. Kal is surprised that gods can be killed, but he tells her that gods are powerful, but not immortal against other gods.

Eventually, after a long conflict, the evil god was overthrown and defeated, as was his army of drow, which in turn was nearly extinct. Roshan’s sister Ilene took over as the goddess of the sun as well as the moon which was her original divine task, returning light to the world. Kal takes Aelar to Willowbark, considering his previous knowledge of her gods, and asks her if she has heard of the Betrayal in her pantheon, but she tells her that this is news to her. She does mention that Baskar as the spirit of the sun, and Aruna as the spirit of the moon, but they are considered husband and wife. Aelar suggests that they might be influenced or be an aspect of Roshan and Ilene, but he cannot be sure.

Willowbark goes back to her studies, looking through all the books and papers she has been provided. She gives herself guidance by telling herself that she can do this. She discovers some information about Thundertree and that the disease acted slowly, and a few of the survivors had dreams about the same eye as Willowbark. It has also happened in a forest named Mirewoods. When she looks at the map, she cannot find a place or forest that has that name, so she asks Aelar about Mirewoods and he tells her that it has changed names and now it’s called Неизвестно. It is now a swamp at the end of Frumpkin Hills. 

The forest was turned into a swamp around 250 years ago. There was a time of corruption, before it settled down, and then it got worse. The place is uninhabitable and there are rumors of a dragon having moved into the area, but he doesn’t know if that is true or not. Willowbark is scared of this happening to her forest as well. Hearing Willowbark mentioning the dying wood and watchful eyes in her dreams, he remembers something, and goes off to find an old book. He gives it to Willowbark and it seems like a fairytale book. Suddenly she finds something:

"Of all the creatures that roam the planes, few are as twisted and evil as the hags. Hags dwell in dark and twisted woods, bleak moors, storm-lashed sea costs or gloomy swamps. In time, the landskape around a hag's lair reflects the creature's noxiousness, such as the land itself becoming toxic. Livestock gets poisoned, food and crops wither and die, and the inhabitants eventually get corrupted themselves, either dying or worse. A coven of hags might even watch their victims from afar to relish in their misery."

Aelar tells Willowbark that he knows that hags can take the appearance of anyone they have killed, which fits with what happened with Willowbark in the forest, although this saddens her as this probably means her mother is truly dead. She asks him how one prepares to fight a hag, but he unfortunately does not know, but tells her that the answer probably lies somewhere around them, looking around at the vast bookshelves that surround them. She thanks him, as he has given her hope at least, revealing her enemy to her.

Regrouping

The party all meet up back at the tavern, finding Granny helping Penny working on her writing, with Demetrius watching whilst drinking a glass of wine. They all notice that Willowbark seems a bit conflicted, and tells them what she learned about the corruption, and that her mother might be truly gone. Noticing that Willowbark has a hard time putting the words together, Kal tells the others that the most likely culprit of the corruption is one or more hags. 

They go through several of the various kinds of hags that Willowbark has researched, and they all agree that it probably isn’t a sea hag, so most likely it’s a green hag or maybe even a night hag. Either way, they are dangerous, evil, and must be stopped, lest the whole forest will be potentially ruined forever, like what happened to Myrewoods. Granny tells them what they learned from the Rangers, and they gave them the location of three spots of corruption. They take out the map they have purchased, and place markers on the locations described.

Spotting on the map a place in the middle of the forest called Castle Phalorn, they realize that this is the location of Cragmaw Castle, but nobody has heard about the Phalorn family. They look around, asking Penny where she is from, and she tells them that she’s from the Emerald Earth Sanctuary, and gives a vague description of what she remembers of the place, it being in the woods near water, and that she and Morgan sailed from Arcanharbor to Port Emerald. They figure that she is probably from somewhere near Rednook. Demetrius points to his home city of Cantalos, while Penny asks where Kal is from. She is hesitant to tell them, but eventually reveals that she’s from a place called Centahelm, showing it on the map. Penny realizes that is where Morgan disappeared from.

Demetrius and Penny tell the others about Kody and his wish to defeat a stone giant in order to retrieve a tooth from it. Granny shares her mixed feelings about it, not wanting to kill an innocent in a quest for love, but when they tell the others that Kody is going to go with or without them, they decide they should come along, otherwise he will surely be killed. Penny and Willowbark both agree that they should try to talk to it, as Willowbark knows the giant language, so may be able to resolve it peacefully, maybe even being able to talk Kody down and buy a tooth from somewhere. 

Come Hell or High Water

The next morning, Theren heads out before the others, hoping to find a particular item he has been searching for in one of the nearby magic shops. He goes to the Unseen Arcanity after Penny and Granny told them about it, to talk to the owner, Claira. He asks her for a particular set of armor, but she tells him that she doesn’t carry any of those, but recommends he talk to her colleague Arha Perry, who runs the Tranquil Eye, as she is more diverse in her stock, since Claira mostly makes her own items.

Going there, Theren finds the half-orc who owns the shop, and she confirms to him that she indeed has one in stock that might be what he is looking for, but she tells him that it will cost him 2000 gold pieces. Checking his funds, he realizes that it is a bit beyond his price range, and that they will soon travel north to the Twilight Peaks, which prompts Arha to think for a moment, before coming up with a proposal. She has been wanting for a while to work on a flail snail shell. She explains that they are known to reside near the mountain he is going to, and if he can procure that for her, then she could be willing to sell him the armor for a mere 750 gp instead, and tells him that she can hold the armor for one month. He agrees to this, and returns to the party after buying some spell components he has been needing.

When the party heads towards Minotaur Park, they can see Kody waiting there, and spotting Penny, Granny and Demetrius, he quickly runs over to them, excited to see them, thinking they have agreed to join him. Willowbark introduces herself and begs him not to go through with this, saying there are other ways, but Kody tells her that he has made up his mind. He doesn’t want to start off his relationship by lying, so want to defeat a real one, and after hearing the concerns Granny had the day before, he asked around, and as luck would have it, a stone giant has been harassing some local villages, so they would be doing a good deed by taking it down. The party agrees that if that is the case, they might be inclined to join him, but asks for payment. They negotiate a deal for him to pay them 75 gp per member on the successful retrieval of the tooth.

The group joins Kody at the stables where they boarded their horses, with Kody riding with Penny in order to be able to exchange songs, considering they’re both bards. As they walk he asks if she truly is who he thinks she is, and she confirms that she is Penny from Bows’N’Roses, prompting Kody to bow down to her, chanting “I’m not worthy!” in a joking manner. He tells her that he saw their show in town a couple of weeks ago, but Penny does’t realize the implications of this at first.

The party heads south from the city with Kody, towards the woods, and stops by a small hamlet on the way to the clearing where Kody has been told the stone giant was spotted. They meet a local farmer named Ballard, who confirms Kody’s claims that a stone giant has attacked the locals when they are out hunting or chopping wood. Willowbark is a bit ambivalent about the whole situation, saying that the villagers shouldn’t destroy the woods, but the group explains that the forest is big enough to regrow faster than the farmers can chop it down.

When they get closer to the area they are looking for, they dismount the horses and hide them in the nearby woods. Sneaking up to the clearing, they can hear a few voices talking, and can see that the stone giant is conversing with an ogre. Willowbark and a very reluctant Kal decide to make their presence known to the giants, in order to try to talk to it, hopefully solving things peacefully. Kal has little confidence in the plan.

When they emerge from the woods, hands up and showing they mean no harm, the stone giant turns toward them in a curious manner, wondering who is daring enough to approach willingly. They see a few ogres around, and notice that they seem outnumbered, but the giants apparently haven't noticed their party members hiding in the woods. Willowbark talks to the stone giant in his language, and tries to convince him that he is in danger if he doesn’t stop with his harassment of the local population. The giant laughs at her, being overconfident in his own survival, and does not heed the warnings. Kal comes up with an idea of trading the tooth for something the giant desires. Willowbark conveys this to the giant, but he just laughs again, and offers them ogre teeth instead, and the ogres are offended when they decline. 

Kal says to Willowbark that they would have been better off if they just decided to ambush them. This causes a few of the ogres to look at each other and then scan the surrounding forest to find anyone else, before telling the giant that it is a trap. Apparently some of the ogres knows common, and draws their weapons, ready to attack the pair.

Battling the Stone Giant

As Willowbark and Kal stand in the clearing, facing down the giant and ogres that are starting to surround them, they are all distracted by the sound of breaking sticks and moving foliage from the side. Another ogre comes running out of the greenery, looking stressed and tired, and just shouts out in giant “she found us again”. Just as the words leave his mouth, a young redheaded dwarven girl comes running out of the bushes after him, looks at Willowbark and Kal, and shouts “Well?! Are you just going to stand there?!” and starts attacking the ogres surrounding them.

The rest of the party watches this from the treeline, and decides to join as the negotiations have concluded. Penny emerges and everyone can see that she is suddenly engulfed in shadows, with large dark tendrils growing out of her and down around her feet like a shadowy dress, as her form of dread is manifested. She starts attacking with eldritch blasts like Theren usually does, and so the party can feel that something has changed about her. 

As the battle rages, Theren attacks from the sidelines, using the trees for cover, while Demetrius comes swooping in with his new Venomfang Daggers and throws sneak attacks out left and right, gravely wounding many of the foes. Willowbark tries to protect Kal, as the stone giant focuses on her, which causes her to almost get killed in the skirmish. Granny uses her bow to attack from a distance at first, but as the ogres get too close, she is forced to switch to close combat. Luckily her homemade shield makes this an easy switch. Kody stands on the sidelines providing bardic inspirations to the party, while attacking with a crossbow, but he is cornered and almost killed by a couple of ogres.

Willowbark pulls out another beast from her bag of tricks in the hopes of getting something to help protect the wounded, and pulls out a very angry badger. It attacks one of the ogres and bites its finger. The ogre tries to retaliate, but the badger is too fast, managing to dart away just in time. The stone giant succumbs to his wound when the party focuses on him, seeing as he is the biggest thread, literally.

As the enemy forces are dwindling, the redheaded dwarven girl gets the final kill by jumping up and decapitating the final ogre with her axe. Willowbark and Penny quickly help heal the downed allies, and when Kody gets up, he sees that the enemy has fallen, and so wanders straight over to the stone giant and begins tugging at his tooth. Noticing that he is struggling, Penny walks over to help him drag it out. As they are pulling, Penny asks him when he last saw her and Morgan. Through the heaving he insists that he saw them at a show just last week, much to Penny’s confusion, but she doesn’t question him further, and they eventually manage to get the tooth out.

Willowbark waves at the dwarven girl as she goes to do her usual ritual of gathering pretty rocks and sticks to honor the dead. Kal goes over to her, and introduces herself, and thanks for the help. The dwarven girl introduces herself as Leona the Tiny Lioness as the rest of the party comes over to say hello. Kody stands in the back and takes notes on the whole encounter. Penny has reverted to her old self, as the shadowy tendrils retreats back into her body. Willowbark goes over to ask her if she’s okay, and Penny assures her that she is fine. When asked what was up with all the shadows, she says it was just a gift from her new friend. Willowbark looks at her with a mix of concern and suspicion, and hands her a pretty rock she found, hoping it will bring her luck.

Searching the Dead

The party decides to loot the bodies, making sure they get anything of use from the giant and the ogres. Kal decides to search the pouches of the stone giant, finding a few supplies that suggests that a group of adventurers met with an unfortunate end encountering the stone giant and his companions. Among the equipment is a peculiar looking hat, which Theren can see is a Hat of Wizardry, that functions much like his Venomfang amulet, just for wizards. Kal decides to put it in the bag of holding.

Leona continues where Kody left off, and continues to pull out teeth of the stone giant. She spends some time doing this, as a few of the teeth are cracked and broken, and therefore useless, but she manages to get a couple of molars out that are of a decent size. Noticing Penny seeming a bit disappointed that she didn’t get a chance to harvest, she gives one of the teeth to her.

They continue looting the bodies, and Kal notices that Demetrius is just sitting on a tree trunk admiring himself in the reflection of his dagger. She walks over to him, slaps him on the back of his head, and asks him to please help out with the looting so that they can leave post haste. Seeing the potential for crafting magical items, they decide to take with them a pair of ogre hands, as well as pulling off one of the giant's fingernails, as Theren has heard they can be used to make powerful potions.

When they feel content in having retrieved what is of value, they decide to leave before more enemies arrive. As they walk they ask Leona why she was chasing the ogres and attacking them, and she just tells them simply that she finds them “ugly” and doesn’t like that they hurt people. About as good a reason as any really when you think about it. In either case they thank her for the help, and ask if she wants to tag along as they head back towards Tempervale.

When they go to get their horses, Willowbark tells them about what happened and that Kal got hurt, but she’s okay now. Kody sees this, and asks why she’s bothering to talk to the horses as they are only dumb beasts. Willowbark looks at him with a stern look, saying that they are much more than that, but Kody doesn’t really get it.

Night Gathers

Kody, sitting on Penny’s horse holding his tooth, can see that the sun is getting low in the sky, and they’re still a long way away from Tempervale which is laying in the horizon. He tells the party that they have to move faster if they are to make it to Tempervale tonight, but they tell him that they’re not gonna make it, so they have to make camp at some point. Kody seems rather adamant that they continue traveling, but both Willowbark and Kal intimidate him by saying that he won’t make it back without them, so he might as well go with their speed, and Kal assures him that he will not be harmed in the night.

As night falls upon the planes, they decide to set up camp as discussed, and find a fitting spot to make a campfire to defend them if anything comes during their rest. Willowbark, the badger and Kody take the first watch, and she spots 4 wolves lurking a bit away from the campfire, and decides to prank him by acting scared about being attacked by them. Kody is quite shaken by this and decides to hide in his bedroll.

As Demetrius and Granny hold watch, she points out that he seems to be very out of place whenever they leave a major settlement, and seems rather uncomfortable by being in the forest. She doesn’t really understand his motivation for traveling with them if he finds it such a chore, but he answers that sometimes one has to blend in where one is the most unlikely to be found. He retorts by asking why she’s with the group still, and she brushes it off, saying she enjoys being in nature and on the road.

During Leona and Penny’s watch, they mostly sit and watch the night sky. Leona tells her that she’s munching for something, so Penny uses her creation powers to make some candy for both of them to enjoy. In the distance, a large storm is looming over Tempervale, and so they sit and watch the lightning hit the rooftops of the city.

Kal and Theren take the last watch. When Kal gets up and spends a while looking at the storm that is raging over Tempervale. A bit beyond, she can see that the lightning strikes the same spot three times in succession some distance north of the city, and wonders what the god is trying to tell her. No matter now, so she and Theren keeps watch, until sun rises and Kal begins making breakfast. When Kody wakes up, he tries to grab a bowl of some of the food, but it proves to be a humbling experience for him as his hand is slapped away by Kal. He does get to eat, but nobody touches the food without her permission.

After breakfast they continue to head back towards the city. During the final stretch, both Penny and Willowbark notice that the ground around them has bones strewn across the grass, and they suspect that there was a large battle here many, many years ago. When they finally reach the city gates and have boarded their horses, the guards seem to be quite taken aback by the appearance of Willowbark, apparently never having seen a firbolg before, but they let them pass without any interruption. 

Delivering the Tooth

The party follows Kody to the Hill District, where the Harlow residence resides. He stops a bit before they reach the manor, and turns to the party that he would appreciate if they stayed back a bit, as they do stand out in a crowd. As he doesn’t want the father of his love to use the fact that he had help against him, although he never said he had to do it alone, he would prefer if they hid when he delivered the tooth. They agree, and so decide to stand a bit further down the road, with Willowbark and Penny disguising themselves to blend in.

Kody walks over to the house in a very nervous manner, and walks up the stairs, knocking on the door, tooth in hand. After waiting for a few seconds, the door opens, and the party who is watching can see a stern looking man emerge, looking Kody up and down. The daughter, Anne, emerges from the upstairs window, looking lovingly at Kody, as her father talks to him. Willowbark can read on lips, so she says that the father thinks he bought the tooth in a shop, but after his daughter convinced him that he has proven his worth, the father offers Kody to come join them for dinner that evening. Elated, Kody hugs the man, but quickly remembers his place, and waves to Anne, before returning to the party.

He thanks the party profusely for the help, saying it worked, and that they are having dinner that evening, thanks to them. He tells them to come with him to his home, and he will gladly pay them their fee. As they walk there, they ask what Anne’s father does for a living, considering the living situation being quite nice, but Kody is not entirely sure, only that he works with or for someone he calls “Muzak”. Nobody in the party has heard the name before.

They follow him to the northeastern part of the city, to a small house near a street corner. It’s quaint, but not luxurious in any way. Functional is the word, and when they enter they see it’s a one room house. He walks over to his bed, grabs a box he hid behind it, and counts out the payment to the party. He offers a payment for Leona as well, but she declines, saying she never made a deal with him in the first place. 

As Kody gives Penny her cut, he asks her when the next performance with Morgan is due to happen, hoping to maybe catch a show with Anne, but Penny tells him that he must be mistaken, as she hasn’t performed in this city. He tells her that he is absolutely sure that it was her, which prompts the party to theorize that a doppelganger may be behind the impersonation. They ask where the performance was held last time, and he reveals it to be the Transcendence Theater. Realizing that this is something they should investigate further, they assure Kody that he doesn’t have to worry about it, and wishes him luck with the dinner with Anne and her father. They then say their goodbyes and take their leave.

As they emerge into the streets, they do not get far before they realize that they are being cornered by a group of city guards who have been waiting for them to emerge. Coming from all sides, they are surrounded, and look around nervously, not knowing why they are being detained or thinking they have done anything wrong. A large minotaur comes walking from an alley, approaching them. He is also wearing a city guard uniform, but his looks nicer. He scans the party, before locking eyes with the cleric.

“Are you Kal?”

A Mino(tau)r Encounter

Kal nods her head at the question asked by the minotaur, who towers over her. He shakes his head, and tells her that he was told by his men that she was doing magic in the open on the bridge of Udall. He looks at her, and without waiting for a reply, he tells them all that his name is Kirrus Mericious, and he would love to know why they thought that he had given permission to use magic, dangerous magic no less, in the open, and scaring the public. He looks at each member of the group, and says “well?!”. As they look at eachother, they see that Leona has disappeared from the group, and sees her turning a corner, waving them goodbye while smiling, having managed to sneak away from the guards

Kal meekly tells him that she was simply trying to contact her god Udall, and wasn’t aware of there being any magical restrictions in the city. He tells them that using potentially dangerous magic in the open without good cause should obviously be restricted, as that should be common sense. He looks down at the symbol of her god on her chest, and understands. Kirrus asks them what their business is in town, and they reply that they are trying to figure out what is happening with the corruption in the forests south of the city, whilst glancing at Willowbark.

Kal profusely apologizes for the misunderstanding, and promises that they are not going to do something like that again. The minotaur looks up and down at her, and then over to Demetrius after some guards point to him. He gives him a very harsh look, before saying that he will let them off with a warning for now, but if they ever do anything so stupid again, he will have them locked up for the weekend. The party senses that the problem is more with the fact that his name was dropped, rather than the magic being the big issue.

As the guards and Kirrus walk away, they notice that a lot of people seem to be observing them. Kal announces to everyone that Penny of Bows’n’Roses are staying at the Narrow Bar and is having a show this evening, hoping to see as many as possible there. They murmur a bit, and then scatter. The party decides to move along as well, talking about what to do next. Penny says she wants to check out the theater. Willowbark doesn’t understand the connection between Penny’s music and trees, but the rest of the party isn’t following, until they all let out a collective groan.

Toil & Visions

As the party walks south from Kody’s house, they pass a potions shop, and decide that they want to go inside to check it out. Inside they find a wealth of potions positively littering every single counter space, with large shelves dedicated to dispensers of potions. The shopkeeper, a small, stuttering halfling, introduces himself as Hamil Fatrabbit, and asks if they are looking for anything in particular today.

They ask him what he has in stock, and he jokingly tells them that he has potions for every occasion, both legal and illegal. When asked what is illegal to do with the potions, he points out that he has potions for reading thoughts, which is illegal to do, but it is legal to own the potion, as long as one doesn’t use it. The party thinks this is very weird, but Theren checks his book of laws, and confirms that the halfling is telling the truth.

He asks the party if there are any spellcasters among them who would like to be the guinea-pig for his new concoction he has made before he mass produces it. They ask what it does first, and he tells them that it’s a Potion of Spirit, which should in theory refuel spent spell-slots if ingested. There might be side-effects though, but he would love for someone to try it out and report back to him the results. Penny agrees to take the potion, excited to see how it works.

When they are there, they decide to stock up on some potions of healing, and at the same time inquire about the possibility of making a potion of stone giant’s strength by using the nail they took. He looks at it, and tells them it’s in excellent condition, so it would be perfect for use in a potion. It should take about 5 weeks to brew it, and cost them 300gp, or they could just sell him the nail here and now. They decide to do the latter, as they are unsure if they will be back in time.

The Transcendence Theatre

Continuing south, they eventually reach The Transcendence Theatre, which is where Penny and Morgan supposedly held a concert a week ago. A large and impressive building painted white with gold embellishments and detailing, and one that truly stands out among the rest. Walking in, they find the reception. Demetrius looks down and can see that the floor is so well maintained that he can see his own reflection. The counter is operated by a kenku woman. Rather slender, with what looks to be an extremely expensive silk dress. Demetrius also notices a rather large gemstone embedded in her golden ring. 

When the kenku looks up, she recognizes Penny immediately, and says in her strange accent that she is surprised to see her back here so soon, as she was told that it would be a few weeks at least. Seemingly, Kody was telling the truth, and someone is impersonating her. The woman introduces herself to the others as Lady Kree, and when Demetrius asks about her ring, she seems to be a bit embarrassed and tries to hide it. 

Willowbark attempts to tell the woman that Penny is experiencing memory loss, so they are trying to retrace her steps, but the kenku can tell that she is speaking falsehoods. Penny admits the truth, that she is the real Penny, and fears that Someone is impersonating her, either by magic or by being a doppelganger. Lady Kree asks her how she can be sure that it even is the real Penny standing in front of her, but then suddenly remembers something, and pulls out a small pink spyglass, and looks at Penny through it. The kenku apologizes, as she can see that there is no trickery involved here, this is the real Penny. She takes a quick glance through it to check the others, and pauses a bit when she reaches Theren, but quickly puts it down.

Penny asks if she could try the spyglass out, but the kenku makes an excuse that you have to attune to it, so it wouldn’t be much use for her. Penny understands, but the woman seems to be enamored by both Demetrius and Theren, glancing over at them from time to time, smiling as she does. Penny asks if she can check to see who the other Penny really is the next time she is here, which Lady Kree says she will do. Penny then asks who is playing tonight, noticing that there were tickets for sale. She replies that it is “Imagine Humans”, and as she says this a band of dragonborn bards come walking down the stairs and out into the streets. “That’s them!” Lady Kree exclaims, waving at them.

Perusing

As the group leaves, Willowbark is confused once more, and asks about what art is, and whether trees are art. The group tries, and fails, to explain to her the difference between what can be found in nature versus what has been made to be beautiful, either visually or auditory. She thinks she might understand, but doesn’t get why people cannot just enjoy nature.

As they walk, Penny says that she thinks that the woman in Maplemere might have cast a curse on her, as she gets a headache from time to time, when whatever she does can be regarded as “mean”. Theren takes her to a secluded spot and casts a spell on her, confirming that she is indeed cursed. Kal says she can fix it, but has to prepare another spell, so it will be in the morning.

Willowbark goes back to the library to see if she can do some speed research about hags, finding out a bit about their strengths, but most importantly finding out that they are mostly inherently evil, and don't belong in the material plane, as they usually corrupt all that is around them. Penny joins her, hoping to work a bit on her writing and reading skills. Granny and Theren goes on a walk, while Demetrius decides to go back to the Narrow Bar for a glass of wine, with Kal joining him.

Theren asks Granny as they walk if she has ever heard about flail snails. She thinks for a bit, trying to remember what she knows, but tells him that she hasn’t encountered them before, but knows that they are elementals, big, and very special. Their shells are huge, so they might have to get a wagon to the north in order to carry it back with them. He thanks her for the help, and then decides to just walk the streets to take in the sights. 

Exchanging Intel

As Theren walks around the streets, he seems to be looking for something. And around the Great Fountain Square, he finds it. Delphine is standing in a dark alley, waiting for him. He walks over to her, and greets her with their symbols. She asks him if he is free to talk for a bit, which he confirms. She casts a spell, and they both disappear from the alley, appearing in her office in Edhellond. A place Theren has been many times before.

She sits behind her desk, and starts briefing him on what they have found out about the various members of the group. She remarks that some were much easier to find intel on than others, pointing out that Willowbark was impossible to get anything useful out of, with Theren remarking that is no surprise to him, considering where she comes from. Likewise with Granny, but she has learned she hails from the Independent Isles to the south-west. Penny was easier, considering her fame, and she tells him most of what he already knows. Demetrius, who Theren feared was a spy for Moroxia, seems to simply be a man involved in some clandestine affairs concerning arts and valuables. Theren manages to connect the dots.

Kal on the other hand, was the easiest to find information on. She gives him a folder with some papers in it, and he opens it up to look at it. Seemingly a veteran of the Akstan Army, she asks Theren how she became a member of the group, as she can’t find any connection to Gundren. He tells her that as they were meeting in the Forgetful Faun inn, she suddenly appeared from the kitchen, telling her that she had to join them, apparently compelled by Udall, her being a cleric and all. Delphine seems surprised to hear this, as Udall doesn’t have clerics as far as she knows. Theren confirms that she is, having seen Kal’s powers in action.

The topic then shifts to Wave Echo Cave, and the item they retrieved within. She knows they found something powerful, and Theren confirms that it seems to have bonded to one of his companions. Delphine says this is a bad development, as they cannot let the item fall into the hands of Moroxia, telling Theren that he has to retrieve the item from its holder, at all costs, and using any means necessary. Theren looks at her, and tries to keep up the mask, but she reiterates, ANY means necessary, otherwise she will have to take matters into her own hands, and that would be bad for Theren as well.

After this, Theren says that he will do what he can. Delphine casts another spell, and Theren finds himself back in the alley where they left from, scaring a random passerby as he appears. He quickly makes his way back to the Narrow Bar.

Preparing to Leave

Back in the inn, after everyone has returned from doing their business, Penny is playing her set, having drawn a full tavern after word has spread that she would hold a concert. The innkeeper is pleased at the turnout, giving the party a great discount on their rooms. After she is finished, she goes to join her party, as the regular band takes the stage. 

Penny and Willowbark sit down to discuss art, with her appreciating how good it is to hear Penny play. She tells her about her friend Lark, from Willowbark's tribe, and hearing Penny play reminds her of him. Penny tells her she had a great teacher, Morgan, and summons an illusion of him once more. Willowbark studies the image, thinking he looks nice, and hopes she gets to meet him one day.

Afterwards, Theren shoots in with a request to the group. He tells them that he has made a deal with a local shopkeeper to retrieve the shell of a flail snail, and that they might need a cart to retrieve it after consulting with Granny. Willowbark has heard about flail snails before, saying that they have weird shells that can throw magic back at the caster, which is rather concerning considering most of the group are casters, but they are sure they can do it if they work together.

Willowbark approaches Kal, asking how she is doing. Kal tells her that everything is fine, but Willowbark presses her on the fact that something happened in the tent back in Maplemere, during the Festival of the Sun. Kal tries to blow it off, saying it is only bad memories. It’s part of her past. The firbolg tells her that she will be there if she ever needs it. Kal says that one day she will explain, but not tonight. 

They talk a bit more about religion, as Willowbark thinks that her god is quite strange, but is having a hard time conveying what she means. She wants to know how Kal came to believe in him, and she tells her that she wasn’t always a believer. She didn’t grow up religious for instance, but suddenly one day she was given her powers, and now has to follow her god’s orders. Afterwards they return to the party with some more drinks, before heading to bed, preparing to leave in the morning.

Heading North

When the party wakes up in the morning, the weather is rather gray and overcast, and Willowbark can feel the rain just hanging in the air, waiting to be released. Kal casts remove curse on Penny as promised, and she can feel the curse leave her body, so she gives Kal a big hug as thanks. Theren suggests that they stop by the Unseen Arcanity before they leave to see if they have any magical rain ponchos. When they get there they are sorely disappointed, but they do have a lot of useful items, with Demetrius picking up a Cloak of Elvenkind. Kal asks if they have any useful shields, looking at Willowbark and her basic one, but Claira tells them that she doesn’t deal in armor, but recommends talking to Pijjirik Skaarzborroosh, as he is the go-to blacksmith around these parts. Penny decides to sell the hat of wizardry they found on the stone giant. They decide to wait with the shield for now, and heads outside to pick up their horses, and buys a cart at the same time to carry the shells.

The journey north goes well, rain doesn’t fall on their first day, so they don’t have to worry about rough terrain. After traveling for a while, they decide to make camp for the night near an old watchtower that has fallen into disuse. As they make camp, they can see a glowing figure on the top of the hill, next to the tower. They decide to head over to check it out, finding a ghost sitting in place, before it starts to wander around. Theren thinks this is merely an afterimage of a person's last moments, and recommends that the party not disturb it. During the night they see that the ghost is led up a set of stairs and then hung, before disappearing. Seems like Theren was right.

During the rest, Willowbark tells Penny the story about her gods and their own creation myth, describing in vivid detail how Faunus, her god, inhabited a seed that grew into a large tree, whose acorns spread and filled the barren and dry lands to be lush and full of life. She also goes on to tell her how the other spirits came into being and played their part in nurturing the land, finishing with Velho, who gave the gift of magic. Penny is amazed at the story, finding it quite beautiful, and attempts to accompany the story by creating small illusions to illustrate them. 

During the next day, they reach Elderkeep, and as they wander through, Granny notices that the place is riddled with cats all over the place. The party at first has no idea what she is talking about, as they cannot see any animals, but as Granny points it out, they can see small pawprints in the mud. Granny goes over to one of the cats that she sees, and picks it up, bringing it over to the others. Amazingly, they can all feel it, and start to pet it. Apparently the place is full of cats who are all invisible. Demetrius is flabbergasted by this, and Theren theorizes that it’s probably an experiment gone wrong. Kal tries to cast dispel magic, but finds that the magic is too strong for her, so the cat remains invisible. Theren thinks that i t is a good thing, because if it’s genetic, the cat would probably not live long, having adapted itself to not being seen. 

Outside Elderkeep they cross an old bridge that looks like it could fall over any second, and decide to rest for the night, joining up with an elderly couple who is heading in the opposite direction. Kal asks them about the lightning strikes she saw in the distance a few nights ago, but they don’t find it that unusual, as lightning striking the same place several times isn’t as unusual as people say. She gets the impression that the old man isn’t that fond of magic, but he is won over when Kal says that she is a cleric and can cure his gout in the morning. When she does, the man is overjoyed, and pays the party in some delicious venison, before continuing south. 

Continuing a bit further, they reach a functioning watchtower, with a lightning rod on the roof, that seems to have been hit by many lightning bolts over the years. They have a quick chat with the guards watching over the tower, asking if they have noticed anything unusual, but other than the occasional troll or giant that wanders over, there isn’t much of interest. Kal asks Udall for a new sign, and Willowbark can feel a strong wind picking up, blowing northward and interprets it as a sign to keep going that direction. Kal thanks the guards for their time, and rejoins the party as they continue.

Wayward Wyverns

In the late afternoon, as it is nearing time to set camp, they suddenly hear a scream of terror. Looking up to see where it is coming from, they can see a gravely wounded man running towards them on the road ahead, begging for help. His stomach is almost split open, and before he reaches them, a wyvern swoops down to finish the man off. Behind him they can see the remains of a cart, with another person lying bleeding on the ground next to it. They see three wyverns who have ambushed the pair, and now turn their attention towards the party. 

Demetrius, who is in the front of the group, is quickly overrun by the wyverns as they swoop down to feast on him, nearly killing him outright, damaging his armor in the process, but Kal and Willowbark both manage to heal him to get him back up, saving his life. The wyverns prove to be a mighty foe, but they are eventually dispatched, partly from Penny who summons a big illusion of Venomfang who scares off most of them, as well as an allosaurus that Willowbark summoned on top of one of the wyverns. As the wyvern is trying to flee, it is slowed down by the allosaurus attacking its back, allowing Penny and Demetrius to finish it off.

Kal does a funeral rite for the couple who passed, with Willowbark observing the ritual, fascinated. Whilst looking for some pretty rocks for the couple as Willowbark is prone to do when lives have been lost, she finds one rock that looks particularly charming. She notices with detect magic that it is HIGHLY magical. She asks Theren to identify it, who discovers that it is in fact the Rock of Improbable Events. A sentient rock that makes up its own mind about what it wants to do. It can't talk to the party, but it can understand them. Willowbark decides to call it "Rocky". They decide to test if it is truly sentient, and leaves it lying on the ground, turning away from it. Hearing a pop, they turn back around to find it has vanished, and Willowbark finds it in her pocket when she checks. 

The party leaves the dead couple by the side of the road, after successfully harvesting a single vial of Wyvern poison which Aerolla, and probably other alchemists as well, were looking for. She was willing to pay 900gp for a single vial. so it might come in handy. They also grab the supplies the dead couple was bringing north, a lot of food, meats, cheese, bread. After a few more hours of walking, the party is spent for the day and decides to make camp for the night. Being more cautious about wyverns, which they also hear during the night and the next day, they manage to avoid any more encounters with them.

The next day, after walking for most of the day, they finally reach Thielheim as dusk begins to creep in. When they enter the town they approach what looks like some guards or rangers that seem to be patrolling the city. Theren approaches them to tell them that they found a couple that had been attacked by wyverns, and that they sadly were unable to save them. 

The ranger appreciates the information and tells the party he will send a couple of his men south to retrieve their bodies and give them a proper send off. As for the supplies, the ranger remarks that this being the "wild" north, he tells them "finders keepers", unless they want to go out of their way to find someone who might be waiting for some supplies. In either case, he thanks them for the information, and goes on with his day, leaving the party to do as they please.

The party looks at the small town of Thielheim, which seems to be a busy crossing where the people of Jasperpost, Willowfell and Darkmouth congregate to trade or to head south. They enter the town, hoping to find someone that can help them during the final trek north, having heard rumors of the dangers that await them.

Stocking Up

Looking around the small town, Demetrius decides he needs to fix his armor as soon as possible, as it got quite torn up by the Wyverns. He asks around and is led towards a leatherworker that may be able to help him. On his way there, next to the leatherworker, he notices a young half-elf woman working on some blacksmithing. Putting on his charm, he tries to get her attention, asking if she knows how to fix his armor. She looks at the armor, and says that she only works with heavy metals, and if it’s leather armor he is seeking, he should ask Thokk next door. Demetrius asks for her name, and she introduces herself as Ida. Ida doesn’t seem particularly interested in his advances, so keeps the conversation professional, but does laugh a bit at his jokes. When Demetrius tries to show off his daggers, she seems unimpressed, asking him to be careful, and calls out to Thokk, saying he has a customer.

A large half-orc man comes wandering out the next-door building. He sees Demetrius and his ruined armor, and grabs his shoulder to pull him inside, saying he can help him with his problem. When they enter, he easily tosses Demetrius around to inspect the armor, and having gotten a thorough examination, he says that it would take quite a while to repair, but that he also has a lot of armor for sale. Demetrius looks around, and can see a large selection of various light armors, with Thokk showing off a quick change armor for easily donning and doffing, but it proves too expensive for him.

Demetrius is given a few armors to try out in the back, and when he emerges, he notices that Thokk has moved some stock around, to try to draw attention to the various chairs and tables he has for sale, asking if he is in need of furnishings as well. Demetrius tells him that they are of little use right now as he’s on the road, but Demetrius offers to barter for the armor using some of the hides they have picked up over their journeys. Thokk just stares back at the large pile of various animal hides, saying that unless it’s a particularly rare hide, like a displacer beast or equal, then he could be interested. Demetrius embellishes, and claims to have single-handedly taken down a wyvern or two, and could come back with that hide, which gets Thokk interested. Demetrius makes no promises, but if he finds more wyverns then he will return, and ends up buying new leather armor to replace his destroyed one. As he leaves to rejoin the others, he waves at Ida, who waves politely back.

The Honest Tankard

As Demetrius returns to the party, they have been looking around for a stable to board their horses, but they work mostly on the honor system, with everyone watching over each other's mounts to make sure nobody steals anything. They decide to head for the closest inn, and find a tavern called The Honest Tankard with a hitching post outside, so they leave their cart in the alley, hitch their horses and heads inside.

When they enter the premises, they find that the clientele are mostly humans, some half-orcs, half-elves and elves. Surprisingly enough they can also spot an orc, which is a rare sight to see outside of the Thax'ning Tribes to the north. There is also a mysterious figure sitting in a dark corner, barely illuminated, and in the middle of the tavern some well dressed goblins are eating a meal.

Behind the bar, a half-orc woman is seen cleaning some tankards. She’s wearing an eyepatch, and hanging over the bar on the wall behind her there is a well worn shield, as well as a great axe with some gold trimmings on it. Penny walks up to her and asks if she has any rooms available for the group, and she in a warm and welcoming manner says that of course she does. Granny and Elmroot decide that they want to sleep outside again, but are staying for drinks and food. 

The barmaid, who introduces herself as Eliza the Strong, asks the party if they would like a round of the local specialty, Sprigwyn Iced Tea. They ask what makes it so special, and she replies that it has a magical effect, different for each swig. The party is intrigued, and orders a round, but Granny doesn’t like to drink, so she orders a kale smoothie. Eliza leads them to a table, and brings over their drinks. 

Drinking the liquor, it tastes quite delicious, and the party immediately notices the various effects that it causes. Demetrius suddenly appears to be dripping wet, and tells the others that he can taste salt water in his mouth. Kal suddenly hears someone speaking incoherently, and realizes that it’s Corn. She gets close to him, but realizes that he just wants food. Penny changes looks, with her skin becoming yellow-green, and her hair turns dark green, while her eyes become orange, and she shrinks a bit. Theren turns completely gray, as if someone drained all the colors from him. Willowbark freezes completely for about a second or two, before coming back, but she didn’t notice anything, indicating that she skipped time for a second or two. Kal tries to feed some to Corn, and as he drinks, he suddenly disappears, and reappears at the next table over. The party laughs at the weird effects, and finds the drink to be quite pleasant at the same time.  

The party looks around at the patrons again, with Willowbark pointing out that the fellow sitting in the corner appears to be a firbolg. He has a small bird with him that flies around the tavern before returning to him. She considers going over to talk to him, but has to work up the courage first.

Penny and Kal walk up to the bar to get more drinks, and Kal uses the opportunity to ask her about the shield an axe hanging behind the counter, and she tells her it was from her time as an adventurer, and it’s a way for her to show that she is not to be messed with. Her bar, her rules so to say. Penny tells her that she loved the drinks, which pleases Eliza. She tells them that there is a stronger version for sale that could enhance their powers, but it’s a little more expensive, coming in at 150 gp for a bottle holding nine portions. They tell her they will have to think about it, with their budget being stretched already.

Penny asks Eliza about the goblins that seem to be surprisingly civilized, and she replies that they are on their honeymoon. Penny thinks that is quite beautiful, so she goes over to them, congratulates them on their marriage, and offers to play them a song for free, as a wedding gift. They at first appear quite skittish, being among all the bigger races, but accept, and sit there waiting for her performance. 

She starts playing, which causes the whole tavern to pay attention, with smiles all around, and delivers a great performance, prompting cheers and claps from the audience. The goblins however, sit there stone faced during the entire performance, and when she finishes, claps politely in a synchronized manner. The rest of the party figures they probably have been to a theater, and gotten the impression that all applause should be delivered in this manner. Penny thanks them for their time, and wishes them a pleasant day.

Theren goes up to the bar after Penny and Kal have returned to the table, and begins asking Eliza about the rumored mistfields that they have heard a bit about. She tells him that she doesn’t recommend going there at all if they can avoid it, seeing as it is almost impossible to see anything in front of you, even in broad daylight. If they insist on going, keep a fast pace and bring someone who can guide you, or don’t go at all. She definitely recommends leaving the horses behind, as they will only slow them down. Theren says they are quite capable, so he’s not worried, listing wyverns, giants and dragons as having fallen to them. She wishes them luck on their journey.

The Ranger

Willowbark finally shakes off the buzz from the liquor, and goes over to talk to the mysterious firbolg sitting in the corner. As she gets closer and gets a clearer view, she can see that his armor seems to be emanating small tendrils of mists and fog. He has gray skin and a red bushy beard. He doesn’t seem to be very talkative, but doesn’t protest when Willowbark asks to sit down, so she does.

She begins asking him questions about where he is from, considering he is a fellow firbolg, but he counters by asking her where she is from. She sits there for a few seconds, and struggles to remember the common name for her forest, before remembering, telling him she’s from Spiral Woods. He responds by saying he is from the local area around Thielheim. She seems surprised by this, and tells him she assumed he was from one of the tribes, and tells him she’s from the Tribe of Elm. It doesn’t seem to ring any bell, and he tells her that he doesn’t know what she’s talking about.

Seemingly annoyed that someone is asking him questions, he tells her that she should know that one does not sit in a dark corner in a tavern alone if one wishes to speak with others., but she counters by saying that he should not have invited her to sit with him. He replies that he didn’t invite her, he just didn’t object when she asked to sit down. She tries to smooth over the tensions by saying her name, but he laughs, saying that’s a funny name, wondering why he chose it. He presents himself as Verkenner. 

She asks him what he does, and he tells her that he guides people through the mists. Willowbark tells him that this is a wonderful coincidence, as they just so happen to be traveling through the mists, which prompts him to ask how many they are. When told they are six, with a couple of horses, he tells them he can lead them through for 100 gold per person. Willowbark thinks for a bit, and thinks that she should have the rest of the party here to discuss.

Wandering over to Kal, she tells her that she found a guide who can lead them through the mists for 600 gold pieces in total. Demetrius sneaks up to them to listen, being curious about the mysterious firbolg. Willowbark explains to them that he is a guide, but Demetrius believes him to be a spy. She doesn’t understand what he means, but Demetrius remains suspicious. Willowbark says that she is confused why the word for guide can mean so many things, as the guide in her tribe leads people in a spiritual sense over the physical sense. They realize they have to leave most of the horses behind, considering what Eliza said about them being a burden, only taking a couple to drag the cart.

Penny, having overheard this, orders a beer for Verkenner and walks over to him with it, with the rest of the gals joining him around the table. They try to bargain with him, and he eventually gives in when Theren mentions that they are also looking for flail snails, saying he can have a cut of the profits from that, but Kal tells him that they would rather pay him in gold in that case. Verkenner says that in that case he would require the payment up front. Demetrius suddenly appears, smoking the magical pipe they found in Wave Echo Cave, asking if he would stab them in the back if he gets all the money up front, but he genuinely would not, as far as he can tell. 

Verkenner thanks Penny for the beer as he finishes it, and rises, telling the party that they will leave at dawn, and that he will meet them outside the inn. He calls out “Rafik! Come!”, and the small bird they saw earlier comes flying up to him, landing on his shoulder, as they depart. Penny leans back and starts singing a song about being lost in the woods. Wanting to feel fresh before heading out for an extended period, Kal asks Eliza if they have a bath available, and everyone decides to take one except Granny.

To prepare, as they notice that Thielheim doesn’t have any stables, they ask around for anyone to hold on to their horses while they are gone, and they find a farmer who is willing to keep an eye on them. They decide to bring Speed and Henry the Ate with them to the mountains. The farmer says that if they’re not back for a few weeks, he’s going to sell the horses, much to Willowbark’s objections. He tells her that if they don’t come back they can’t stop him anyway. Willowbark tells Penny that they have to return quickly, as she doesn’t want the rest of the horses to be lost.

Guided Tour

The morning after, at dawn, Verkenner is waiting outside the tavern for the rest of the party to wake up, so that they can leave in a timely manner. Willowbark and Granny have woken up early to be ready, and they show up first. Willowbark tries to introduce the horses to him, but he tells them he does not want to remember their names. It makes it easier when they get lost on the way. Granny thinks that’s a bleak way to look at things, as she’s sure they’re all going to make it fine.

When the rest of the party finally wakes up and makes their way outside, they start heading west, with Verkenner scouting ahead, looking for dangers on the road. Rafik, the bird, flies above and helps him look for trouble. As he does this, the journey goes quite well, and they avoid being ambushed by monsters or bandits in the night. Seems Verkenner really knows his way around.

At the end of the second day of travel, they finally reach the beginning of the mist fields, and they are not something that can easily be missed. A few hundred feet from the road there is a wall of mists that reaches as far as they can see. It seems to be contained by an invisible field, but it can be seen trying to reach outwards, but being forced back. In the distance they can see the Twilight Peaks above the field. Verkenner says that they will rest outside the mist fields for tonight, and then try to travel through it in one day, not wanting to go through it at night. As the party sets up camp, Verkenner wanders into the mist fields, and the party can see that he becomes one with the mists, disappearing among them, before returning shortly after, and says he can’t see anything dangerous nearby.

During the night, as the party keeps watch, they can all hear whispers coming from the mists, trying to lure them in. Willowbark asks Penny if she heard them, but Penny just shows her that she has written Kal’s name in the book, making improvements. She wonders out loud how the mists stay in place, and if it maybe is a curse. Verkenner approaches, and says it’s impossible to remove the mists. Many have tried over the years, and that it has been there for as long as he can remember. 

During Granny and Verkenners shift, they chat a bit about enjoying their travels, while Rafik and Pip are having a conversation in bird in front of them. Verkenner admits that he does appreciate company, but that he has lost too many people on his travels, so he wishes not to be hurt again. Granny says that it is okay, she’s only died once so far, it’s not too bad. He doesn’t respond to this, but just stares at Rafik and Pip.

Demetrius takes his shift alone, and tries to distract himself from the voices he can hear calling to him from within the mists, being thoroughly creeped out. When he wakes Kal and Theren for the final watch, he tells them to be careful about the mists, as they try to talk to you. They look at eachother, creeped out, and as the keep a lookout they swear they see shadows moving from within the mists.

The Mists

When the rest of the party wakes up to Kal’s cooking, Verkenner seems very eager to get moving quickly, not wanting to be stuck in the mists at night. The party gathers their things, puts them in the cart, with Willowbark talking to the horses, telling them that they have to follow their lead, or they might get lost, and they don’t want that. Verkenner and Granny go first, to lead the rest of the party through the unknown mist that reaches for as far as they can see.

After a while, they come upon the body of a half elf lying next to a large boulder. It seems to be unnaturally skinny, and its lips are cracked, almost as if it has been drained of all moisture, but having a closer look, it seems to only have been dead for a few hours. Kal tries to look around to see if anything is hiding nearby, but she notices nothing. Penny decides to look through the corpse’s belongings, finding a purse, a potion, and a letter. Penny hands the letter to Kal, as she cannot read. It was already opened when they found it, and so she reads it for the rest of the group.

"Ever since Aldo disappeared from us in the mist, I have been inconsolable. I cannot carry on living without knowing what happened to our dear boy. I'm sorry for doing this to you Anslem. If I do not return, do not come looking for me. Carry on living for the both of us. Yours forever, Margery."

As she reads, Demetrius notices that his vision becomes blurry, and suddenly realizes that he is being pulled into the mists, as something drags him backwards. Granny jumps towards him and pulls him back out, but he is clearly shaken by the experience, as something tried to drain his lifeforce from him. Willowbark jumps onto the cart along with Kal. The cleric yells to the others to get on it, as she takes the reins and starts moving the horses.

Theren sees the mists coalesce into a large figure, and tries to shoot it with eldritch blasts, but as the necrotic damage from his hex hits, it just absorbs it. He yells to the party not to use necrotic against the beings, before jumping onto the wagon along with Demetrius. Penny sees Verkenner glide through the mists onto the top of one of the boulders. 

In the chaos of the battle, the cart leaves before Penny and Granny manage to get on it. Not wanting to be cornered, Granny climbs on top of the largest boulder, hoping to get a glimpse at her friends, and intercept it on the other side, as the mist-beings are starting to surround them. Verkenner flies through the mists once more and joins Granny on top of the largest boulder, and tells her to be prepared to run, as he looks for the others.

As Penny turns to get around the rock, she can see that the mists are targeting her now, and so she tries to cast a repelling spell at it, causing it to move backwards. Unfortunately, it gets pushed straight into her friends who are trying to escape on the cart. Demetrius notices that it is moving straight towards them, and lunges at it with his dagger, hoping to find a spot where he can get in a hit, but as the mists envelop them, Willowbark notices that Speed falls over, the damage being too much for the horse. Kal creates a gust of wind, pushing the mist-creature away, while Demetrius jumps off the wagon, runs over to Speed, and shoves a healing potion into his mouth before jumping back on. The horse gets back up, and so Kal leads the cart straight north. 

Penny, Granny and Verkenner join up, and run as fast as they can while Theren fires at the mists with his blasts, repelling them to the best of his ability. One of the beings disperses, and after about a minute of running, they seem to be in the clear. The party all sits down to catch their breath, not wanting to deal with those things again. 

As Willowbark is sitting and trying to calm down, she notices a shape a few meters away. When she gets closer she sees a beautiful lotus-like flower, with dark, nebula-like petals. She tries to detect magic, and notices that it is radiating with divination magic. Surrounding her she also notices that the fog is flowing with necromancy. Penny comes over when Willowbark says she found something. When Penny touches the flower, nothing happens. She then picks it up. 

Willowbark recognizes it as a Doom Bloom, a magical flower that can be inhaled when crushed, and if a name or location is spoken, they can see where they are at this moment. This also causes a Doom Bloom to grow where the target is. Both Willowbark and Penny realize that this could be used to check up on their loved ones, but cannot decide at the moment who should use it. They decide to pocket the flower for now, and decide later.

Visions in the Mist

The party continues to trek through the mist fields, being careful not to disturb anything of danger or draw attention to themselves, so they try to remain quiet, and don't talk much. Without any warning, Willowbark suddenly stops mid-walk. The others start looking around to see where the danger is, but Verkenner sees through the mists. An old man sitting next to a small lantern. He has his back turned to the party and doesn’t seem to have noticed them. They decide to be on the safe side, as nobody should be in the fields by themselves, and take the long way around him. It seems to work, as the party cannot see anyone following them.

As the party continues forward towards the mountains, Demetrius can be heard muttering to himself “there are no voices here, there are no voices here”. Granny touches his shoulder to make sure he is okay, which spooks him, but he is fine, just a bit tense from being in the middle of evil murderous mists. They see the occasional shadow drift by, hinting at a large creature nearby, but luckily they manage to sneak past these as well.

A couple of hours have passed, and they can feel the wind picking up. Not enough to disperse the mists, but enough so that it is thinner, allowing them to see that they are nearing the mountains. They get closer and closer, and cannot stop the feeling of being watched from all sides. Verkenner peers through the mists ahead, and suddenly shouts to the party to run. Kal makes the horses go as fast as they can, racing towards the edge. Just as they pass through the border of the mist field, they can hear the sound of something massive getting close to them from behind, and they see a large shadow being stopped from exiting. The party has made it through, and are safely out on the other side.

The Twilight Peaks

Looking at the landscape surrounding them, they find that it is barren and almost without life. There are the occasional bushes, but wildlife seems pretty much non-existent. Looking up at the sky, it is well past noon, closing in on the evening, as the sun lies low in the sky. Verkenner and Rafik hovers behind, making sure nothing follows them out of the mists, whilst the party begins looking for a fitting place to make camp for the night. After searching for a bit, they come across a rock overhang that would give good cover against the weather, no matter how little there is. The barren lands at least have the benefit of providing them with plenty of dry firewood.

The horses seem to be very stressed by the situation they are in, especially Speed who had a close brush with death for the first time. Willowbark walks over to the horses, managing to calm them down with her soothing words, promising that the worst is over, and they will soon head back to the others. Speed and Henry both hold their heads against Willowbark, as she gently strokes their manes.

During the night, they watch the fog try to break the boundary separating them from it, but it always rolls back into itself, almost like a wave hitting the beach on the ocean. Granny sits admiring the stars during her watch, as nothing evil or malicious approaches. Willowbark is awoken as Demetrius and Verkenner are having a rowdy conversation, laughing and hollering. She tells them off, reminding them that dangers lurk around, so they finish the watch in silence. With the occasional giggle from Demetrius. 

Theren and Kal take the last watch as usual, and as the sun is beginning to approach the horizon, they can see a large silhouette trudging across the barren landscape. They both think that there might be a tribe of giants in the vicinity, but it doesn’t appear to have noticed them, as it isn’t walking over. When the party wakes to Kal’s breakfast, she gives the horses an extra boost, as they might need it.

When they wake up, Penny goes over to talk to Willowbark. She gives the Doom Bloom to her, feeling it is more important that she checks on how her tribe is doing, rather than her trying to find her mentor. Kal remarks that she has prepared the sending spell, so she can try to contact Morgan, but she tells her to save it until later, they might need the spell slot. 

Willowbark holds the flower in her hand, and is at first a little unsure about who to try to look at from her tribe. After a short discussion about who would be the best one, she decides that she wants to see what Sage is doing. She crushes the flower, and inhales the seeds, falling into a state of higher consciousness . 

Her mind is pulled away from her body, as she soars through the sky, and down into a familiar forest. She can suddenly see Sage, who seems to be fine. It’s early morning, and they appear to be ready to pack down the camp, hoping to move on. She thinks that she can see Hawk in the distance, and suddenly notices a small goblin, Droop, walking past Sage. They acknowledge each other as they pass, with Sage giving the goblin a short nod. She can hear Lark playing a tune, but he is out of sight. Sage seems to be packing his stuff, and right before Willowbark is pulled away from the mission, she sees Aster, who approaches Sage. She asks if they have to move again, and that the people are tired about the constant move. Sage replies that they are being hunted, and that it is safer to move. They haven’t had any deaths or disappearances in a while, and they need to keep that going. Aster then moves on, and Sage scans the treeline, with Willowbark feeling as if he can almost see her, just as she loses the vision, and is back with her group.

Willowbark tells the others what she saw in the vision, and that Aster seemed to be alive. She also tells them that Droop made it safely to her tribe, and seemed happy. They all really seemed healthy, albeit stressed from being on the run from the sickness. Willowbark says she wants to find the tribe, but the rest of the party convinces her that it is folly, as it would be like finding a needle in a haystack considering they constantly move around.

The Entrance

The group starts to wander towards where the map says the treasure should be, but struggles as the terrain is harsh, forcing them to stay near the mist fields or the cart could be damaged. They occasionally check further up the mountainside in hopes of finding the signs referenced on the map, specifically the part where it mentions a dragon body, leading to a doorway. As Kal and Theren study the map one more time, Willowbark notices that they are standing right below a stone formation that looks like a mouth of some kind. She points it out, and they all realize they are standing amongst the bones of a gargantuan dragon. The first waypoint.

They take the horses, and carefully lead them further north as the map suggests, approaching the mountain wall of the highest peak. After about 200 meters, they reach a large boulder standing in front of the doorway, with another boulder having fallen next to it. Penny sees that there is some space between the boulder and the mountain, so checks behind it, and finds a narrow opening. They ask Verkenner to watch over the horses, as they all go investigate. Verkenner replies that they will be waiting for their return.

Within the cave, Theren can see a couple of statues, as well as a doorway with some writing above it, carved into the stone wall. He does not recognize the language, but if they get inside, they can decipher it to see what it says. Getting close to the door, Willowbark decides to listen to it, but she can hear nothing within, almost like there is a vacuum. Kal can understand the writing on the wall, and translates to the party.

“What does man love more than life, Fear more than death or mortal strife? What the poor have, the rich require, and what contented men desire. What the miser spends and the spendthrift saves, And all men carry to their graves?”

Willowbark hears this and enthusiastically says that she thinks she knows the answer. The statues that surround the door seem threatening, albeit non-moving. Penny says that she should go for it, if she thinks she knows the answer. She gets closer to the door, and whispers “nothing”, but it doesn’t seem to have any effect. Kal repeats the word in the language the riddle is written in, and the door suddenly reveals a crack in the middle, and swings open, revealing a room within.

The Steps

They enter the pitch black room, feeling the cold surrounding them. There is a stairway leading up into the darkness, and two, robed statues guard the interior. The place looks old, yet pristine; no dust or rust cover any surfaces. As the last one enters, the door closes and torches light up the stairways, which they can see turns further up. The party asks Kal how she knew what it said, and she reveals that it was written in celestial, which she claims she learned from her god.

The party ascends the stairs, and reach another room, with another statue to the right as they come in. Looking at it, it appears different, but similar. Getting closer to it however, causes it to glow up with dim blue light, as an elven looking spirit suddenly appears from it and greets the party.

“Attempting to climb the stairs is not an easy task. You should prepare.”

The spirit watches over the party, making eye contact with each and every one of them, before it slowly fades away. Penny decides to take out the compass they found in  Cragmaw Castle, that points to what it deems to be the safest place, and it points straight forward, up the stairs. They decide to continue.

Ascending the next set of stairs seems to be rather mundane, as nothing happens, no spirits or traps await them. They reach a landing, with a large set of iron doors in front of them, as the stairs continue to their right. Theren walks over to the iron doors, and tries to open them. With a creak of metal against metal it swings open, revealing a hallway within. At the end of the hallway there are another set of doors, and the party can see through the cracks that it seems to be bolted shut from the other side. Thinking that the doors lead to their destination, they realize the only way forward is up. 

Walking up the stairs, the party reaches another landing, with another statue in the corner, as the stairs continue to their left now. As the way is lit by torches, they see that the stairs lead to a hallway at the top, with small landings that break up the staircase into three segments. Penny examines the statue, finding it to be rather well made, but nothing comes out of it. Willowbark takes a step on the next segment, and as soon as she does, the torches on the wall dim, as four ghosts suddenly appear and attack the party.

Kal, being a cleric, uses her powers to force the ghosts away from her friends, knowing they can possess them. One of the ghosts lets out a blood-curdling scream, which causes the party great pain and horror. Granny is especially affected by this, visibly aging several years due to the stress. Demetrius comes to her aid, and strikes at the ghosts, holding them back, with the party working together to finish them off. As each ghost perishes, the flame on the torches rekindles, so Kal tries to light one herself, but it doesn’t seem to work. After all four torches are re-lit, they reach the second landing. To their right is another statue, and this too glows up, revealing a similar spirit as before, but distinctly a different individual.

“The stairs are difficult to climb. Good luck.”

Granny looks at her hands, and realizes what has happened. Feeling that she is beginning to near the end of her natural lifespan, she sits down for a bit to catch her breath, and tells the party that to reverse the aging, she needs a greater restoration spell within the next day. She muses to the party that she was looking forward to a man before she dies. Willowbark asks her if she is looking for a husband, and she says that she was looking for a husband to have children with, and to grow old with. She seems to be rambling, and Willowbark and Penny fears that she might be growing senile.

They decide to take a short rest before continuing, using the coffee pot to shorten the length of it. It works, makes coffee as usual, but it is silent. Penny shakes it a bit, asking for Bozuuth, but she gets no response. Penny worries that the coffee pot is broken, but Kal tells her this just confirms that it is indeed possessed by a demon. Granny, who has grown hard of hearing in the last half hour, advises Kal to not talk about her private life, having misheard what she said.

Willowbark braces herself as she places her foot on the next segment of stairs, but finds that it just seems to be extremely slippery, like it has absolutely no friction whatsoever. The party starts strategizing about what to do, as they see that it is just beyond the reach of a misty step, and they don’t have any more powerful teleportation magic. Theren sighs, and asks for a rope. Kal takes one out, so Theren grabs the end of it, and suddenly his feet are on fire, and he casually floats to the next landing. They all look at him, in a way that only conveys “how long have you been able to do that?”. He fastens the rope on one of the torches, as the rest of the party makes their way across the slippery stairs. 

When the last person reaches the landing they see another statue, and once again, the statue glows dim blue, as a third spirit emerges from it. 

“Trust, and do not get distracted from the path ahead. Good luck.”

Willowbark takes a moment to realign herself, saying she doesn’t trust the next segment of stairs, having seen what the last two segments did. The rest of the party points out that is the exact opposite of what the spirit said. Granny lays her hand on Penny’s shoulder, and says that she is sorry, but as she is easily distracted, she should stay close to her.

The last segment seems to be harmless, as they manage to reach the top without issue. The hallway leads to the left of them, and they can see two large statues looming on each side of the hallway. Both Willowbark and Demetrius check for traps, but cannot find any. They are a little scared about crossing the threshold, and close their eyes as they do, but nothing happens. Continuing along the hallway, there are several paths, but only one of them is lit up by torches to the west. To the south of them there is a large set of double doors, and to the north, on top of another set of stairs, they can see light and smell food. Realizing that these are just distractions, they tell each other to continue onwards wherever the torches lead.

The Monk

At the end of the hallway they reach another room, and can see that there is a chasm at the end of it, with a ladder that leads down. Demetrius peers over the edge, and cannot see the bottom. There is another statue in the room, which once again glows blue, as the spirit from the first room they were in appears.

“What comes next requires a leap of faith.”

The spirit vanishes once more. Theren peeks down, and cannot see the bottom either, indicating that it is a significant drop. He uses his flying powers to descend, and the rest of the party can see him disappear in the darkness, before yelling up at them that he is at the bottom. Penny thinks for a moment, and looks at the ladder, and recites the words. She doesn’t think, and just starts running, jumping into the chasm, much to the horror of the rest of the party. Penny falls, and just as she is about to hit the floor, she is slowed down, and floats mid air, allowing her to land safely. She sends a message to Granny, who doesn’t understand where the voice is coming from, wandering around in circles looking for her. Kal asks her if she is feeling okay, which she is, just a bit confused. She asks Granny to jump over the edge, as it seems to be the test. Granny starts to walk over to the edge, but just falls off it, instead of jumping deliberately. After this, the rest follow, and they all land safely. 

Theren figures they must be getting close to the end, and after making sure everyone is okay after the fall, they continue down the set of stairs, that they can see lead into a bigger chamber. As they reach the end, they can see a figure sitting on the ground on the other side of the chamber. A woman, dark skin, white tattoos, with a staff laying next to her. She looks up at them, and announces to them that they have reached the final task of the Steps of Aranon. Kal has heard this name once before, with him or her being a builder that helped by assisting the gods with their requests.

 “Welcome. Welcome to the final trial of the Steps of Aranon. You have traveled far to be here, Kalyssandra Merwen, Pine of the Woods, Penelope Roxley, Demetrius Archangel, Theren Amblecrown, Baraka. Your unity, your reliance on each other, has taken you this far. Fate brought you together, for a reason. I have seen the path that lies ahead, and it is a difficult path indeed. Do you have what it takes to persevere?”

The group looks at each other, feeling the journey over the last months has made them all stronger, as they feel they can all trust and rely on each other. They look back at her, with Kal confirming that they believe they do.

“Then let me see how powerful your bonds really are.”

The monk rises, grabs her staff, and goes into a fighting stance, ready to face the party.

The Final Test

As The Monk prepares to fight the party, she doesn’t attack. She just does a typical monk-flourish, and then the tattoos on her head starts to glow white, and she just stands there, prepared for whatever is to come. It seems like whenever someone attacked her while in this state, she could somehow get a read on their weakness or secrets. During the fight, the tattoos on her torso lights up instead, which seems to make her harder to affect with magic or anything really, and when her arm tattoos lit up, she seemingly could affect the fates to make others miss, or make her hit better.

In the first half of the fight, she merely just avoids the attacks, and only throws a few punches between the turns, but still being dangerous. She sweeps the legs of people, or punches them into the air, making them take fall damage, but nothing too serious at first. Her fluid motions make her extremely difficult to hit, and she moves with almost supernatural speed. They manage to get in a few decent hits, fill half the room with a fog cloud, forcing the fight to be close quarters lest nobody but Grannycan see anything, and at one point, Kal manages to actually shove her to the ground and her lightning powers shunts her into a corner, where Elmroot fries her with a moon beam. As the Monk lies on the ground, squirming in pain, all her tattoos suddenly light up, bright white light, and she gets up, with a smile on her face.

This time, she doesn’t hold back. She continues to sweep the legs of everyone she sees, and throws a few people into the air, but she is much more dangerous and attacks a lot more than she did before, taking down Granny and Willowbark a couple of times, even managing to hit Fie, which is an achievement in and of itself. Kal hits her with a shatter, but manages to catch Penny in the area as well, making her lose concentration on her Witch Bolt which was attached to the Monk. As things look bleak for Granny and Willowbark, Kal manages to get one final blow in, swiping at her feet (as payback for her swiping at their feet all the time). The Monk manages to dodge the final attack, grabbing her Lightbringer, and exclaiming “Wow! That was a good fight!”

Victorious

The Monk profusely apologizes for hurting the party, but it was important to test them, to see if they were able to face the challenges ahead. Her demeanour changes from serious to cheery, walking around the room helping people up, and using her innate powers to heal whoever took damage. Penny gives her a hug as she is healed by the Monk. She focuses on Granny, pointing out the fact that the Steps have taken their toll on her. He places both her palms on her cheeks, and the rest of the party can see that she noticeably gets younger, even more younger than she was before. “Oops, might have taken a bit more from the top than I hoped for, hope you don’t mind!”. Granny seems to be disappointed by this, maybe being prepared for her twilight years, which is now postponed.

After getting everyone back on their feet, she waves her hand, the door unlocks, and she brings them down a set of stairs to a room with a lit fireplace, and a table set with a proper heroes’ feast. She tells them to relax, eat, they’ve earned it. 

During the feast, Penny finally tries out the Potion of Spirit. She regains some of her spell slots, as the potion was supposed to do, but the energy flowing back into her makes her very exhausted. She also notices a surge of wild magic, but it appears there was no noticeable effect for it. 

They ask the Monk for her name, but she gives none, instead claiming to be an Avatar of Azuna, the creator and head of the pantheon, Goddess of Tranquility, Peace and Reason. Apparently Azuna has told her that things have been set in motion. She asks if they know what they found in the Cave. She explains that the Key has potential to be used for great evil, but it depends entirely on the wielder. In time, they might have to make a choice for how they wish to use the key. By picking up the Key in Wave Echo Cave, they have set things in motion. She also theorizes that Azuna herself placed the map in their path, hoping to lead them to the Steps.

As they are feasting, the Monk goes to pick up a box lying on a shelf, as well as a red scroll of some kind. She opens the box, and gives each person a ring, designed like interlocked arms, that she calls the Rings of the True Companions. It will help them keep each other alive. The scroll is a Scroll of Momentary Omniscience.

She is also very excited about the prospect of actually talking to people again. Last time was over 500 years ago, when the last person tried to complete the Steps. They ask how old she is, and she claims to be over 1000 years old at least. Before parting from her, she will answer three questions they ask, to the best of her ability. Penny gets a voice in her head, telling her to ask what she wants to know, but she shakes it off.

About the Key

Penny is very hesitant to give away the key to the monk. The voice in her head tells her not to do it. Kal notices that something is amiss. She asks to see the key, but Penny won’t let her hold it. The monk explains that Penny has made a deal with the "forgotten god". He is not the best person to give her what she wants. He is not an honest god. The key is the holy symbol of the Forgotten God. They trapped him when he betrayed them and tried to kill them. The monk reassures them that Penny should not be in any danger, but to be aware that they should let him go eventually and to keep the key hidden. Someone is probably searching for it. Penny emphasizes that she can trust everybody in the group to not take it from her. 

About the Hags

Willow asks about the trio of hags; Morana, Hala and Selene. 

She says the hags might be getting power from the corruption in the Jaded Wilds. By getting rid of the corruption there, they might weaken the hags and make fighting them easier. 

About Tim

The group has not yet met the real Tim. There are about 3 or 4. The monk tells them that Tim puts on an act as a simple mind and that they probably know about each other. The group will meet another Tim if they go west. 

The monk tells them to remember who they are and what they can do. She tells Kal “Your parents send you their love, they miss you a lot.” Everything suddenly turns black. 

Gaining Power, 7th

Willowbark

Tavern. Her friends are having fun in a tavern. Meanwhile, a giant black dragon sleeps restlessly behind her. Her friends are being too loud, and will wake the dragon. She tries, and fails to get them to stop, and suddenly the dragon wakes up, looking at her.

Granny

Granny wakes up in the desert and sees another creature far away. They walk towards each other. Before they start to run and see that it is a tortle.They collide and are thrown back. It was a mirror. There’s a hole in the top of the glass hall. Sand starts falling. Before she is completely buried, she sees two eyes and a slight smile, but does not recognize the face. 

Theren

He’s holding watch alone. Kal is not with him. Dark silhouettes come out of the darkness around them. They attack Theren, trying to take the ring from his finger. They are all copies of Theren. One of them manages to get the ring and runs away. Theren and the other Therens follow him into the dark.

Kal 

Lying on something hard. She’s in a grave. Silhouettes crowd around the opening. A woman throws dirt on her. It’s the same woman as she’s seen before in her dreams, pleading for her life. She recognizes more people. They bury her alive. The end doesn’t come.

Penny

Walking through a corridor made of bright light. Behind a beutiful door, she finds a woman playing a harp, when she notices Penny and their eyes lock, her smile disappears. She throws her harp to the side, and starts moving away from Penny, further into the room, until she is trapped in a corner. Penny is walking calmly towards her. As she reaches her, her eyes are teary, and Penny chokes her to death. She notices her hands are not her own. Skinny, pale, with dead fingernails. The room has become dark, and she sees her reflection in the mirror. A pale, bald, skinny man with hollow eyes are staring back at her.

Demetrius

He dreams of being back in the hallways of Wave Echo Cave, near where they fought Nezznar Khalazza. Cobwebs all around, he hears something approach him. He goes further into the hallway, reaching the temple they had their final battle in. He tries to barricade the door, but whatever follows him comes bursting through. A massive figure, a spider lower body, with a elf upper body. Nezznar, with a massive wound at his neck where Demetrius struck him down. He looks down at him, saying “I told you, you would not end me”, before striking at him with his massive greatsword.

Awakening

As the group comes to, they are at first disoriented, everything is blurry, but they soon realize that they have woken up in the cavern where they first found the door. Gathering their bearings, they take a look around, and realize that the door, statue and riddle, are gone. What remains is just a solid stone wall.

As they exit the cavern, they see Verkenner standing there by the horses. He turns around to look at them, and asks if they forgot something, considering they’ve only been gone for a few minutes. Theren deceives him by saying that there wasn’t much to see, much to Verkenners disappointment. They do however set course eastwards, towards where the supposed Flail Snails are located.

After traveling for a whole day, and a little more, considering the difficult terrain they are facing, as there are no roads where they go, Verkenner stops them, and tells them he hasn’t been completely truthful. He knows about at least one place where they can find Flail Snails, but they are being kept as pets by a band of goblins. These goblins have apparently been harassing and killing travelers on the road between Thielheim and Jasperpost. He proposes that they get all the loot, and the flail snail shells, as long as he gets to get credit for solving the problem, as he promised this to the people of Jasperpost. 

Monetary Payment

As they are walking between the mountains and the mists, Kal suddenly gets a message in her head. An unknown voice says: “Message from Gundren Rockseeker Follows: Have first payment. Which branch to send payment. You can respond to this message.”

Kal tells the voice to send it to Tempervale, as they will be going there next. A little bit later, she gets a new message: “Message from Gundren Rockseeker Follows: If visiting, come from the east. The West is not safe anymore. You can respond to this message.”

Kal asks what they mean, and after 10 more minutes or so, she gets one final message: “Message from Gundren Rockseeker Follows: Each sending costs a 100 gold pieces. See you soon. You can respond to this message.”

And after wards, she gets a final message: “Thank you for using Speedy Sendings. You can find us in all major cities. For easy long distance contacts.”

She tells the rest of the party about it, but they are not sure if he meant visiting him or Tempervale. 

The Band of Goblins

As they are almost approaching the goblin hideout, Willowbark and Verkenner climb to the top of a ridge, to take a look at the opening. They see four cave openings of various sizes in the mountain wall. Outside of the righter most, there is a large snail creature, which is sliding along the ground, before being led inside by a small figure. The other entrances are being guarded by more small figures. 

Verkenner tells Willowbark that they can either go in alone, or he wants part of the treasure on the inside. He really doesn’t want to approach them again if he doesn’t have to, as he has already been shot by them once. As they get back down, they make camp for the night, keeping watch as normal. 

Willowbark and Penny discuss their gods a bit, after Penny has been studying the Key for a while, and asks Willow about her gods that represent decay and destruction. When Kal and Theren have their watch, they can hear voices from beyond the ridge, most likely from patrols checking out the area. They are not discovered, luckily. Theren tries out his books ability to cast sending by having Kal write her name in the book.

The morning after, Kal tries to ask her god by making an offering what the best course of action is if they want to take out the goblins, but she only gets a response of using the two middle openings. After asking her question, it starts to rain and thunder. Theren blames Kal for this, understandably so.

The group discuss whether to approach this diplomatically, or by using force. They won’t have an element of surprise, as it is a large open area, leading straight to a big stone wall, so there are no places to hide. Willowbark hopes to solve this peacefully, but the rest of the group is sceptical about this, but willing to give it a go. Granny points out that goblins respond best to force, and authority, so they decide Kal should be the one to do the talking. Best case, they can convince them to try to move to Honk, the goblin “capital”.

As they approach, the two guards aim their bows at them, demanding to know who they are. Kal demands to speak to their leader, intimidating both of them. One of the goblins tells the other to get “Harold”, and it runs inside. After a few minutes, a posse of goblins come walking out, one more bulkier and taller than the rest. They are sceptical about the prospect of just moving because some random travellers told them to, but after conjuring lightning, and with Penny summoning an illusion of a dragon, the goblins believe they are outmatched. 

As the goblins gather their supplies, they move out of the cave, and the party can see that they have taken what they can carry of food, and they see women and children among the tribe, which tallies almost 50. The party has given them directions, and a stern warning not to attack other people on the way there, lest they will feel the party's wrath. Granny tracks them with their hunter’s mark, and senses that they have moved underground.

As they look through the cave, they find both entrances trapped, and search through the entire cave system, finding no goblins, but they do find a spider that is extra hostile towards Penny, so she turns invisible to avoid it. In the inner cave, they find a treasure chest, also trapped, but Demetrius has no problem disabling it. In the chest they find a wealth of gold, silver and platinum, along with a couple of sending stones, a spell scroll of scrying, and Oil of Etherealness. 

As they search the leftmost tunnel, they find the poor souls who have lost their lives to the goblin tribe. Various humanoids in various states of decay, ransacked, and left to rot. The stench is unbearable. Willowbark druidcrafts some flowers, and leaves them at the entrance.

The party finally enters the rightmost tunnel, where the flail snail was seen going in. As they round a corner, Theren can see one of them feeding off the ground, and then sliding further into the cave, as the group is left to contemplate how to approach the situation…

The Flail Snails

As the party approaches the cave with the flail snails, they try to sneakily approach it as quietly as possible. It seems to go well, but alas, Kal’s armor yet again proves the parties downfall, as her heavy footfall attracts the attention of a curious Flail Snail, approaching the party slowly. Fie can see that the snails have no visible eyes, so deduce that they should be able to use light without problem, so Kal comes close to the front of the group. Seeing the large elemental slowly approaching, she decides to make the first strike against it, trying to ward it off. 

The rest of the party quickly joins the fray, deciding to get it over with, apart from Elmroot who stands back, not wanting to hurt an innocent creature unprovoked. As the party manages to get in a few hits, the snail desperately tries to get away, further into the cave, but doesn’t manage to get far before all its flails are chopped off or destroyed, causing it to retreat into its shell, wailing an awful, sorrowful screech. Kal tips over the snail, exposing its weak spot, and Granny finishes it off, squelching the scream.

Further into the cave, the party encounters two more flail snails, one larger than the other two, who approaches the party having heard the wails of its companion, trying to defend it. They too however are quickly dispatched and silenced, with Willowbark joining the battle in black bear form.. The battle over, the party takes a look around the room, finding little of value, apart from a chest in a corner, covered in some sort of salty goo, which Theren cleans up with prestidigitation. Inside they find a wizards cap with a “D” in a rune on it, some supplies for maintaining the flail snails, a small bag of a powder that appears to have been taken from a flail snail shell, and a tarot card. Identical to the other cards they have found previously. 

As they study the tarot card they realize that the symbol of Shehemis has gotten slightly more visible. Before, only barely being able to be made out, now it is actually much more protruded. They know Shehemis is a trickster god, who resides in the plane of Pandemonium, but is also one of the few gods who still has a presence on the material plane from time to time. 

With a little help from Willowbark and Penny, Theren manages to successfully harvest the two flail snails without harming the shells, allowing the party to bring back them for sale. Granny, Kal and Willowbark easily carry out the shells to the cart. Waiting for them, three Stone Giants can be seen talking to Verkenner. Willowbark reads on their lips that they seem to not be hostile, talking to him in a calm manner. As the party approach, they thank them for clearing out the goblin menace, as they have been killing some of their livestock, and harassing the giants for some time, before returning to their lands to continue their work. 

Granny remembers that the goblins seemed to disappear underground, so they all look for where the entrance of any cave could be. After a little bit of searching, they manage to find, hidden behind some boulders, the entrance to a cave that leads east. Preparing for the journey, they strap themselves in, fastening the flail snail shells, and venture into the cave.

The Journey Back

As they travel through the system, they are luckily guided by the signs the goblins used to navigate the cave system. In the distance, lit by natural glowing stones and the occasional opening into the world above, they can see flail snails, spiders, stirges, and other curious monstrosities they have not encountered before. Luckily, none seem to heed the party.

After traveling for a full day, they eventually find an opening in front of them, where the last of the daylight can be seen shining through. They spend a while carefully leading the horses up the narrow walkways, as they carry the cart and its treasure up the cliff by hand, managing to make it through without harm. They can see a small hamlet in the distance, next to the road, and throughout the night, they can see heavily armored trade caravans traveling from Jasperpost to Thielheim with supplies. Little do they know that the roads are much safer now. Penny has decided to try on the wizard cap they found, and discovers that it seems to mess with her intelligence, and she is unable to take it off. It takes a few days, and a couple of attempts to dispel the magic to remove it again, and the party teaches Penny a lesson never to put on something without Theren identifying it first.

As they enter Thielheim a couple of days later, their horses are over the moon to have the party return. The farmer is a little disappointed that they managed to survive, but assures the party that the horses have been taken care of to the best of his ability. Diamond is extremely happy to have Penny back and wants to get back on the open road as soon as possible. They spend the night in Thielheim, setting off towards Tempervale the next morning, after saying their goodbyes to Verkenner. Verkenner goes over to Granny to kiss her, thanking her for the journey, and expresses his joy of having met the party. Maybe they will see him again some time.

The journey back to Tempervale goes without much of a hitch, having learned now what to look out for, and at times spending time traveling with other wanderers heading the same way. As they reach the city gates after four days, they are stopped by a couple of guards, who points to Kal, and asks the party to approach. They assure them that they aren’t in any trouble, but wants them to know that Captain Kirrus Mericious is requesting to speak to them the following morning.

The party checks out the Tranquil Eye, hoping to offload the shells to Arha Perry sooner rather than later, but finds the establishment empty and nobody home. They decide to guard the cart for the night, trying again in the morrow. Willowbark and Granny sleep among the horses, while the rest of the party go to sleep near The Transcendence Theatrer, at an inn called The Proud Tower Tavern. A tall tower, with at least 15 floors, an open plan so one can see to the roof from the bottom, with a massive hearth in the center, and a big bar at the opposite side, with a small redheaded elf greeting the party. They check in, taking two double rooms, before settling in for the night with some drinking. Kal asks the barmaid and owner, Lily, about any Temples of Shehemis, but she doesn’t know if they have any. She also asks about where to get paid the transfer from Gundren Rockseeker, and is told that The Tempervale Bank is the one and only place to go, as that is the only financial institution in the city. She also warns her to be careful not to cross the owner, Kali Merit, as she has a reputation for being… ruthless. Or bitchy, as Penny helpfully points out. Kal thanks her for the information, and gives her a tip. 

The Departure

The next morning, Theren emerges from his ring, noticing that Demetrius is not in the room. On the nightstand, he can see a letter waiting for him:

Dear friends and party 

By the time you read this letter I will have left Tempervale. I have received a message that I can not ignore and must treat with the utmost haste. An old friend has called upon me for action and assistance. Due to the sensitive nature of this call, I can not disclose any more information.
As the sun sets in the West, be aware this is not a final farewell, and I shall return when my mission is complete. We shall be reunited once again when the sun rises to the east. .  

May Kals strength protect you all
Theren bring the darkness to furious fire and clear the path of the evil lurking.
The curiosity of Willowbark will  lead you to new treasures and friends,
and may Granny give you wisdom while Penny inspires you all to fight on.

I am
Demetrius Archangel Esquire.
You are the lucky Five.

Theren shows the party the letter, and they are saddened by the fact that Demetrius has left, but hopes he returns soon. Kal sends him a message wishing him luck, but reminding them that he owes them money. Demetrius happily responds that he will bring more money after doing the job he has been set out to do.

Buying and Selling (and Reporting)

The party first of all goes to The Tranquil Eye to offload the shells, managing to get the armor that Theren was looking for, as well as 7000 gold in payment. Theren is very pleased by this, and happily accepts his armor. Kal asks about shields, but Arha says this is not really her speciality, but if they are looking for armor, then Pijjirik Skaarzborroosh is the best person to go to, as he is the best blacksmith in town. She doesn’t want to buy the dragonscales or the ogre hands, but will happily take the Stone Giant Molar they have been dragging around. 

Penny goes to give her report to Hamil Fatrabbit about the Potion of Spirit (Experimental). He is a bit disappointed that there was so much problems with the side effects, but is happy that the potion at least does what it’s supposed to. He has to work out a few kinks, but thanks Penny for her help. He is however not interested in buying her molar.

Back at The Molten Gauntlet, Kal and Willowbark is asking Pijjirik about a new shield. He has loads of different ones for sale, but considering Willowbark is a druid, he knows that she would be opposed to anyone with metal in them. So he goes to the back of the shop, coming back with a beautiful ebony shield (+1), that he has for sale for 450gp. Kal helps Willowbark count out the money needed to buy the shield, hoping to teach her a lesson about money at the same time. Pijjirik is happy to take the dragonscales off her hands, and promises that once he has completed the armor that it can be used for, they will get a rebate on it (13000gp instead of 15000gp) if nobody else has bought it before they do. It should take about 6 months to complete. He can also make the severed ogre hands into a set of Gauntlets of Ogre Strength in a couple of weeks for a little bit of gold, but nobody has any use for them, so he takes them off their hands for 5gp.

The Shape of Things to Come

Penny is getting really impatient about the potential other “Penny” being around with her Morgan, so she decides to go over to the Theater whilst the rest of the party go talk to Mericious. At the guard barracks, Kirrus greets them, welcomes them in and gives them the rundown of the situation. Over the last few months, people have been disappearing whilst wandering the docks. They have managed to keep a lid on it, but Akadio Zetterlund is breathing down the city guards collective necks, hoping to put an end to the disappearances. All he knows is that the ones taken are either alone or walking in pairs, never more than that, and sometimes, a body might float down river, with its jaw removed, preventing them from speaking with the dead to find out what happened. Mericious have been checking out the party since last time they met, and knows about Phandalin and Wave Echo Cave. He also drops the bomb that Phandalin has been taken by the undead, much to the parties shock and surprise. In either case, he hopes that the party is what they need in these trying times, and offers them either a monetary payment or maybe some property in the city if they manage to put an end to the disappearances. The party tells him they will see what they can do, and Mericious tells them to visit the Morgue to check out the body that was found this morning for clues. 

Meanwhile, Penny walks straight into the Transcendence Theater, and requests to be guided to her room by Lady Kree. Kree suddenly remembers that Penny came by a few weeks ago, and uses her magic spyglass to confirm that it is the true Penny, having seemingly forgotten to check the other one. She tells Penny where the room is after accepting a small bribe, and asks her to “please do not wreck the room”. Penny says she won’t.

Walking up the stairs, down the hall, to a room marked with “Performers”, she senses two minds on the other side. She tries to listen to the door for voices, but can only hear mumbling. She wastes no time, opening it and walking in. There she can see a silver haired man, looks like Morgan Lowblade, lying with his back towards her on a futon, whilst “Penny” is seen with a drink, sitting at a dressing table. She looks up at the mirror, sees Penny, turns around, and starts running towards her…

“Penny” & “Morgan”

As Penny, the real Penny enters the backstage room, the other “Penny” turns around, and starts running towards her. In a panic, Penny turns herself invisible, and jumps to the side. “Penny” calls out to her, saying she needs to come back, as she can’t lose her again. In a voice Penny recognizes. She turns herself visible again, and asks “...Trixie?” Trixie takes off her hat of disguise, and runs to Penny, giving her a long and longing hug. Apparently she has been looking for her ever since she left the Emerald Earth Sanctuary, and when she heard Morgan went underground, she hired a musician called Ranfrey, put on a disguise and toured the countryside as Bows’n’Roses, hoping to draw out either Penny or Morgan. Trixie, overjoyed at finding her friend, asks her to tell her all about her adventures.

Meanwhile, the rest of the party, having left the guard barracks, discuss where to go first. They talk about the money that is being sent their way from Gundren, catching a few looks from people walking past. They realize that some are more… suspicious than others, and some of them do smell really bad. They send Penny a message, telling her to meet them at the Tempervale Bank. She and Trixie head out, meeting them there, and she introduces her friend to the rest of the group. Trixie helpfully marks down where Penny is from on their map, since Penny didn’t know exactly where it was.

Making a Withdrawal

In the bank, which is immaculate and clean, so clean you can see your reflection in the floor, they go to one of the tellers, asking about a transfer. The teller, a halfling woman, notices the names, and goes to the back to fetch the manager. She leads them into her office, where they see that her name is Kali Merit. The woman the barmaid warned them about last night. Kali asks the party about the whereabouts of Demetrius, as the transfer specifies 6 people, with only five present. They tell her he’s on a personal assignment to the west. She also asks where they are planning to go, and how long they plan to stay in Tempervale, to which the party replies that they either plan to head to Ravenforge or south to Spiral Woods, but should be in town for at least a week. Satisfied with their responses, she goes to the vault to fetch their prize. Over 80 platinum pieces and change. Willowbark is fascinated by Kali’s office, especially her many translucent orbs with shimmering movements in them, sitting in a display case. When asked about them, she tells them it’s a collection from her travels, but doesn’t elaborate further.

Back out to the foyer, Trixie is waiting for the party to finish, and as they exit the bank, she tells the party that she will leave 5 tickets for them, if they want to come see the show later that night. The party thanks her, and they split with Trixie, as she has to rehearse for the evening.

Lighting the Lone Candle

The party heads south-east towards the morgue, stopping by the Great Fountain Square. There are, as always, a lot of booths around with many different items, both food, samples, souvenirs from the city and other collectibles. The party takes note of a lone tabaxi girl sitting with her wares in a corner of the square, so Penny, Willowbark and Granny go to check out what she has to offer. She introduces herself as Lone Candle, and gives them the rundown of what she has. A myriad of items, all made by herself, but the ones who peak the partys interest is a Chest of Preserving, a clearly homemade magic item, but one that definitely works. Also, 3 pairs of Earring of Message. The party decides to buy all three of them, and the chest, while Kal gives Lone Candle her earring and asks if she can enchant another Earring of Message from it. Lone Candle says it will take a week, but she thinks she can do it. Penny also trades some earrings for the Wand of Smiles that she has. She thanks the party for all their patronage, and tells them more about her situation. She lives in a homeless shelter down the road, and is trying to save up enough money to buy her own place so she can get better at enchanting and have a store, just like the others in the city, but has been having troubles with random gang members assaulting her and taking some of her profits. The party tells her she can come with them when they travel west, as she expresses an interest in going that way.

In the meantime, Theren have been looking around for a particular item. He notices a symbol on one of the shops, written in thieves’ cant, so he enters it, and convinces the shopkeeper, a shady half-orc, that he isn’t one of the city guards, so sells him the item he is looking for. For a marked up price. He happily returns to the rest of the party later, as they depart the square, going to the morgue.

Dead Men Might Leave Clues

Reaching the morgue, they find it to double as a temple of Mova. As they enter and pay their respect to the goddess-statue of Mova, they are greeted by a woman who asks them what she can help them with. They tell her that they have been sent by Kirrus Mericious, and is hoping to examine the body that has been found. Hazel, the woman, leads them to the back, where there are several stone slabs, but only one has a body on it. Missing its jaw, but also most of its other limbs, as well as being almost torn open by the belly. The party all examine the body, and deduce that the jaw was ripped off while he was still alive, but the other injuries most likely happened after he was disposed of. They also find a puncture wound on the neck, with distinct markings of what appear to be a poison entering the bloodstream…

The Greatest Show

Back at the Transcendence Theater, they pick up their tickets to watch the show. It is packed full, with a lively audience really engaged in the act. Even though it is a short show, only 45 minutes, they play amazingly well, and put on one hell of a stage show, with Trixie at one point hanging in a rope over the audience, whilst playing her flute. Ranfrey is flirting with the ladies in the front, and at the end, the audience moves on east to the nearest tavern to keep drinking. The party goes backstage to talk to Trixie about the future. Penny and Trixie come to an agreement that Trixie can keep parading as Penny until she finds Morgan again. She makes good money and has a lot of fun doing it, so she doesn’t mind. Maybe they can form a band together when the time comes. Willowbark tastes some of Ranfreys wine, but finds it repulsive, even more so than the wine she tasted before. They spend the rest of the evening just hanging around with Trixie and Ranfrey, waiting to go on the stakeout. Theren uses his disguise kit on Kal, changing how she looks, as she usually sticks out. The party thinks he must have sisters, considering his skill with the makeup.

As they leave to try to find the kidnappers the party decide that they should try to get kidnapped themselves, hoping to lure the kidnappers to them so they can be taken to their base of operations. Kal and Theren is to act as bait, whilst Willowbark sits in Kals pocket as a rat, with Penny and Granny staying nearby, hidden from view. They take a few nights doing this, but for the first five nights, nothing happens, and nobody is kidnapped.

O Morgan, Morgan, Wherefore Art Thou Morgan?

The next day, Kal tries to send a message to the real Morgan, hoping to get a hint to where he is. The first time she knows the spell has reached its target, but gets no response. The next day, she tries telling him to cough if he is unable to respond and if he needs help. Still no response. Penny decides that she is desperate to find what happened to her mentor, and so takes the scroll of Scrying from the bag, and opens it, hoping to find a clue to his whereabouts. The scroll, even with her newfound reading skills, turns out to be too complex for her, and the scroll is sadly wasted and disappears. Penny is crushed by this, and asks her patron if he knows where Morgan is. “I know exactly where he is..” the creepy voice responds. Penny demands loudly that he tells her, to which he responds “my dear, I have given you everything you need to find him…”. Penny realizes what she must do.

Over the next few days, Willowbark and Kal research the corruption in the forest and the god Shehemis, as they keep finding cards with his symbol on it. Theren does his best to find out who the gang members harassing Lone Candle are, and finds that there are several gangs in the city, the Warthogs, the Royal Badgers, the Sewer Hounds, but there doesn’t seem to be one gang picking on her. She just seems to be a common target considering her status. He hires a group of street urchins to keep lookout and report to him if they see her being harassed, which they do over the week, but nothing is taken from her as she has made little profit. Penny in the meantime spends time with Trixie, and helps Lone Candle get a sale by playing some music promoting her business. Granny in the meantime has paid to use a forge at a blacksmith, keeping up her work on the armor.

At the weekend, the harvest festival comes to town, a two day event, where the party uses their newly bought Chest of Preserving, filling it up with loads of delicious food that is hard to find on the road by foraging, even after Willowbark protests that she can find most of the stuff they have bought.

So Long, And Thanks For All The Entertainment

Theren has woken up that day, with hair covering all of his body. He shaves it off, most of it at least, and at breakfast, he draws two cards from the deck. One marked “liar”, and another one giving him a chest with 10000 counterfeit gold pieces, with the image of a jester on them. The party keeps this, thinking it may come in handy. They decide to draw the rest of the four cards in one of their rooms, hoping to be done with the curse. They draw some good cards, some bad, one leading to an explosion causing the room to catch fire, but as the last card is drawn, and Theren starts to wail like a baby, a pair of Gloves of Thievery appears in the box, along with a note thanking the party for the entertainment, signed with “S''. The party quickly realizes that Shehemis is most likely behind it. Theren happily dons the gloves.

Having finished their research in the library, Willowbark didn’t find much of value, other than the fact that the forest that has been corrupted needs to be burned down to finally cleanse it, while Kal learns that Shehemis is a trickster god, who most likely has taken steps to ensure the party finds these cards. It’s no mere coincidence. The cards are also most likely part of a set, and if they are from Shehemis, they are most likely chaotic in nature. They tell the rest of the party this. Theren tries to identify the tarot cards they have found, but finds that even though they are magical, he is unable to deduce what their function is, as they feel incomplete.

From Rags to Riches

Kal realizes that the party might need some new clothes, so they decide to go to a clothing shop they saw earlier called "From Rags to Riches". Within, a goblin man called Stagz, along with his siblings, helpfully, although condescendingly, measures up Willowbark and Penny, in hopes of getting some formal clothes in case they should ever need it. Kal simply asks for a vestment to carry over her armor, in the design of the symbol of Udall, which can be arranged. Granny doesn't really need any clothes as she has her shell, and Theren already have any clothing he ever needs, thanks to his new armor. Stagz tells the party that the clothes should be completed within a day.

Springing the Trap

That night, they finally have a breakthrough. As the party set up their usual honeypot, as a city guard passes by and greets them, Willowrat notices the smell that they smelled earlier from the shady looking people in the street, and desperately tries to warn Kal. She however has already noticed that three people have come out of one of the maintenance-hatches that leads into the sewers, and they happily decide that they have found their next victims. They quickly shoot their crossbows at Kal and Theren, and Kal falls unconscious, whilst Theren manages to resist it, but feels the poison enter him, and pretends to fall unconscious as well. The group grabs the pair, and ventures into the sewers, with Granny casting Hunters Mark on Kal to help track them. They wait a few moments, and then open the hatch with brute force, following the group.

They walk for a while, over 20 minutes, taking turns left and right, going deep into the sewers, so deep that they reach the old city that has been built over throughout the centuries. Granny manages to track them well enough that they can barely see them enter what appears to be an abandoned building that has been rebuilt, with most of the buildings around it being destroyed, with only the facade remaining.

Inside the building, Theren can see four more people sitting around a table playing cards. And a lot of blood on the floor, as well as on the outside before he was taken in. The thugs put Theren and Kal on the floor, and try to search their pockets. Theren has hidden his ring well enough that the thugs can’t find it, but they quickly notice Willowrat hiding in Kals pocket. Willowrat bites the thug on his finger, and tries to escape, much to the thugs surprise, so the thug tries to kill the rat in return. As he stomps on it, Willowbark quickly returns to her regular form, with the whole gang looking shocked at the now suddenly appearing firbolg in their midst. Willowbark quickly uses a lesser restoration on Kal to bring her out of her sleep, as the gang rises from their chairs, ready to attack, with Granny and Penny waiting just outside the door…

Facing the Beast

As the battle springs into action, Penny and Granny joins the fray, having heard the commotion from outside. Granny quickly Hunters Mark one of the bad guys, while Theren misty steps outside of the door, hoping to get clear of the worst danger, as he is best suited ranged. The Sewer Hounds seem to be an easy match for the group, not really being a big danger for anyone, but what can you expect with the experience the party has?

After taking down about half the gang, the door to the north suddenly opens, and out comes a tiefling, wondering what the commotion is. The hostilities stop momentarily, and the tiefling introduces himself as Raam, asking about the rest of the group's name (explicitly saying that he isn’t fey, so he isn’t stealing any names). They seem to be quite reluctant to give out any information, with Willowbark saying that her name is Leaf. Granny simply says he reminds her of someone they know.

In the meantime, Penny has turned herself invisible and sneaks into the room, with only Willowbark noticing her presence. They ask Raam what his intentions are for the people, and he simply refers to them as assets in need of relocating. Some have to die to convince the others that they have to follow the rules he sets up. They ask if he rips off the victims jaws to avoid having someone cast speak with dead on them, but he simplys says that’s a consequence he hadn’t considered. He offers the group a… payment, to compensate them for ignoring Kirrus’ request, and leaving well enough alone. They seem disinterested in accepting, with the Sewer Hounds, well, those that remain, giving looks that suggest they should do what he says. Raam makes it clear that he isn’t a person they want as an enemy, and especially not the man he’s working for. 

An Offer Refused

Making it clear that they do not want to play Raam’s game, he says “very well, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” and turns into a big, horned, winged beast. A horned devil, with a massive pronged spear, prepares to attack. After some back and forth, Kal nearly gets killed, but is saved by the rings they received from the Monk, thanks to Penny looking out for her. Trying different approaches, realizing that he regenerates health, they find that radiant damage halts the healing process. Penny also thinks, thanks to her tiefling background, that he should be weak to silver and holy water as well. Kneeling, heavily damaged, and looking at the group, and says that he will find them again, and they will regret this. Willowbark is having none of it, and blasts him with a Moonbeam. The beam sears his flesh, causing him to scream in agony, before nothing remains except a hand, his wings, and a pile of fried, smoldering goo. He is defeated. The rest of the sewer hounds are quickly dispatched of, with Kal taking out the leader, Cedric. 

The Plot Thickens

Out of danger, the party searches the area, and finds six people, starving, miserable, tortured, lying in their own filth, in cages. They quickly release them and guide them outside, after having cleared away the bodies. The rescued people tell them that Raam would transport them by using a sort of teleportation spell, but if anyone objected or were “difficult”, then he would simply kill one at random, forcing the rest to fall in line or face the same fate. They gladly accept any food or water the group gives them, and wait for them to be guided out of the undercity.

Penny searches the desk of Raam, and finds a bottle of Aged Goodberry Wine, a Mystery Key, another Potion of Spirit, as well as some gold, which seems to be payment for the gang. She also looks through the documents on his desk, finding them to be lists of people that have already been transported, as well as references to a “Muzak”, a name they have heard before, mentioned by Anne Harlow’s father, according to Kody. 

Rendezvous at the Docks

Venturing back the way they came, Granny manages to find their way back whence they came, with a squad of city guards waiting outside, after Kal sent Kirrus a message, saying where to meet them. Kirrus approaches them, looking very tired, but happy that they managed to hopefully put an end to the kidnappings. He is also particularly glad that they captured the head of the Sewer Hounds, Cedric Baldini, who is taken to the stockades. They ask if he has heard the name Muzak, and Willowbark instantly senses a look of recognition on his face, admitting that he is a crime boss that has his fingers in every shady business happening in every major city. Nobody knows who he is though, as he works with an intermediary. In either case, he thanks the party for their service, and promises to go through the reward the coming morning. 

The party however is not done, having seen bloody trails leading west from the base. They take a short rest, using Bozuuth, the Sentient Coffee Pot to shorten it. Bozuuth is delighted that they managed to take down one of his enemies, and is looking forward to the rematch. Seems that the devils are still at odds with demons. They wonder if the coffee pot is on their side or not.

“Damn Thing Cost Me an Arm and/or A Leg”

Back in the undercity, following the trail, they eventually reach an opening that leads into the sewers. The stench is horrible, and they do what they can to keep the smell at bay, using whatever means available. Venturing forth for a while, they eventually reach a large chamber where the trail ends, with all sorts of inlets pouring in sewage from the city above. As Theren and Penny investigates the bloody trail, and examines that the bodies were thrown into the waters here, a giant crocodile suddenly lunges from beneath the water, only Willowbark noticing it in the last second, but being unable to warn the others. It goes straight for Penny, and bites her in the foot, dragging her into the water, before rolling around, tearing Pennys foot clean off. 

In a panic, and a state of shock, the rest of the party snaps out of it, and rushes to Pennys aid. She is unconscious, and Willowbark drags her ashore, attempting to heal her. Penny awakens to excruciating pain in her leg, and looks down finding it missing from the knee down. She crawls as far away from the crocodile as she can, with Granny firing a couple of shots at it, while positioning herself between Penny and the croc. The rest of the party attempts to take it down, but its focus is entirely on Penny. Even a wildshaped Willowcroc isn’t enough to stop it’s onslaught at the tiefling, with Granny almost being hit by it’s tail as she is blocking its prey. Pissed off, hurting, and probably afraid, she summons her form of dread, and limp forwards, inflicing the crocodile with terrible pain, causing it to perish beneath the waters. Her foot floating back up to the surface. 

They quickly grab her foot, healing her some more, and find their way out of the sewers as quick as they can. Penny and WIllowcroc have a conversation, with Willowbark being surprised that she can understand her in croc form. She asks if it’s a gift from her patron, which she confirms. Granny carries Penny in her arms. Willowcroc gets a scolding from some city guards and pop out of wildshape when they reach the streets. The closest temple they can find is a temple of Mova, but they are unable to reattach her foot, which Kal has gently reposed to preserve it. They spend a while looking around for something to help her walk, and Claira Aloro has an old prosthetic limb lying around, that Penny gladly purchases. Kal purchases the closest thing she can find to a pirate hat, a purple tricorn, and gives it to Penny. Tired, traumatized, spent for the day, the party thinks it’s best that they get some rest, which Kirrus offered to put on the city watch’s tab, so they go wherever they can find some sleep…

The Prodigal Half-Elf Returns

As the party returns to the tavern to get a good days sleep, with Elmroot going to a fountain to clean herself up, they can see that sitting there, waiting for them, is Demetrius! Finally returned after a week away, on assignment from his mentor. He tells them about what he experienced, but not everything. Importantly, he found three more of the mysterious tarot cards, which he gives to Kal for safekeeping. 

Penny is noticeably angry at Fie, as she now knows that he knew that animals were hostile towards her because of the key. He felt that she needed to discover that herself, so he didn’t share that information. He’s glad that she’s alive though.

Demetrius also tells the group about a woman he saw during his journey. A drow, with a similar looking spider-symbol as the one Nezznar Khalazza carried. He also found a shrine that had a symbol that looked like the key if the key was complete. They spend some time talking, sharing stories about what they have experienced over the last week. Demetrius is shocked that Penny lost a foot, but is glad she is alive. Penny is pretty tired, having lost a lot the last few hours, so she gathers up some food, and goes to her room.

The Bond

As she sits down to remove her makeup, she looks up in the mirror at the decayed, gaunt, colorless face looking back at her. She is frustrated with her patron. She’s tired of having to put on makeup, she is saddened by the fact that animals are afraid of her, and she wishes she could go back to her normal self. The patron speaks directly to her, proposing a more… direct relationship, without a “conduit” as he calls it. If she allows him to be a part of her, then he could improve her situation. She accepts. 

Suddenly, she notices that while talking, she is gripping The Key, and she can feel that some sort of energy leaving the key, transferring over to her body, through her arm and up to her chest. The pain is immense, and Penny collapses on the floor, the key slipping from her grip. The patron then brings her back from the brink of death, telling her “now I can protect you”. 

The others, having noticed that she went down, come rushing into the room, and find her lying on the floor, just barely woken up. They ask her what happened, as she looks… normal? Leg still missing of course, but her skin is back to the normal color, and she looks healthier. She tells them what she thinks happened, that she allowed the patron to make a more direct bond with her. The party is visibly distraught by this, concerned, but there is not much they can do now. They do find that Penny is not as obsessed with not letting the Key out of her grip, even allowing Kal to hold it, but it is clear she wants it back, and at one point snatches it out of Kal’s hands. Penny is tired, hurting, and just wants to sleep, so they take a rest. Willowbark gathers the rest, and says that she is concerned about Penny, so they will have to look out more for her.

Preparing for the Forest

After a good days rest, they meet in the tavern again, with Demetrius already being noticeably drunk, so much that Lily has to cut him off. Seems like something happened in the week that he wants to forget, since he keeps mumbling about someone dying. 

Granny takes Kal to the side, and tells her about her project. She has made an armor for Kal, that will help her be more stealthy. Kal is surprised about this, but very grateful indeed. They go to her room to take the final measurements needed for finalizing the armor. Kal and Willowbark join Granny in the forge to watch and help her finish it, with Willowbark giving guidance. Completed, Granny has embedded a holy symbol for Kal in the armor, so she always has it available. Kal gives Granny a big hug, which she reciprocates. 

Penny spends the next few days with Trixie, sharing her last week's experiences with her, telling her about how she lost her foot and other things. She just wants to spend the time with her friend.

The party remembers that they ordered some clothes from “From Rags to Riches”, and went there to pick them up. Stagz has been waiting with their orders, and Willowbark and Penny’s dresses are each prettier than the other one. They seem to be durable, but not meant for daily use, or fighting. Stagz is horrified at the notion of wearing them in the woods, as Willowbark ponders how well it will fit in there.

They also decide they need some resources for the trip, in case something bad were to happen. They go to Hamil Fatrabbit to buy some healing potions, and manage to haggle a Greater Healing Potion for free as they found a Potion of Spirit in Raam’s lair. He seems to be shocked that they found his merchandise in such a vile place.  Penny also buys some Alchemist’s Fire, in case they need it.

They also head to the magic shops in town to buy as many diamonds as they can, in case not everyone makes it. They manage to buy 900 gold worth of diamonds, which should be enough to use the Hearthstone to get them out swiftly, and revivify someone who goes down. Both Claira Aloro and Arha Perry comment on the purchase, suspecting that they are planning a busy weekend.

Back to the Wilds

The party depart Tempervale early friday morning, and spend the day traveling south-west towards where they’ve been told that the corruption resides. They make camp just outside of the Jaded Wilds, with Willowbark and Penny taking first watch. Willowbark tries to analyze how Penny is doing, and she genuinely looks happier and healthier. It especially shows when a tiny squirrel comes close to the camp, which Penny gives a piece of food, with the squirrel thanking her, before moving back to the forest.

Granny doesn’t notice much on her watch, other than Pip being very busy trying to bother Demetrius, and trying to enter Kal’s tent. Granny tells him off, so he goes to sleep in one of the nearby trees instead.

On Demetrius’ watch, everything seems to be going as normal, but the bells he sets up to warn of intruders suddenly start making sound, so he jumps to his feet, noticing a gopher having approached the camp looking for food. Demetrius lets it live, and eventually wakes the last pair to take their watch.

In the morning, Theren and Kal look over the coming sunlight, and Kal notices a Dragon flying to the distance in the east. A relatively normal sight, and it doesn’t seem like the dragon is heading towards them, so she doesn’t pay it much thought. 

As Willowbark wakes, she pulls out three beasts from the bag of tricks, getting two panthers and one boar, that she hopes can help in case they were to come over some dangers. They spend an hour in the morning preparing the Hearthstone to return them to the edge of the forest if they need to get back quickly. They also tell the horses to stay around, but to run towards Tempervale if anything bad were to try to take them. Pip also stays behind, but Corn goes with the party further into the woods. 

Point of No Return

The party spend a few hours traveling towards where they think the corruption resides, and eventually reach an abandoned campsite. Seems the owners left in a rush or were taken. Demetrius deduces that it has been abandoned for 3-4 days, and they find some rations they take with them. All of them sense the same feeling they had near Thundertree. The air is heavy, and they have a disturbing sense of being watched. They must be getting close.

Eventually, as they keep pushing onwards, they start to become affected by the forest’s magic. Granny is the first one to be affected, becoming paranoid about her companions, seemingly thinking they might attack her at any point. But they still trek on, Granny being extra cautious. 

At one point they see a humanoid shape in front of them, through a clearing that will lead them towards their goal. Some members in the party notices that there is also a horde of them to their right, hiding among the trees. They decide to just attack them head on, surprising the horde. They seem to be dealing with them fine, but after the zombies get their bearings on what is happening they rush the attackers. Two of the beasts from the bag of tricks gets quickly taken down by one of the bigger zombies puking acid all over them. At one point, Granny attacks Demetrius in her paranoia, throwing a battleaxe straight in his thigh. Kal gets close to the center of the zombies, and uses her godly powers to immediately destroy most of the undead. The rest of them are easily dispatched by the party. Not wanting to spend too long in this place, they decide to press on.

A bit further in, the atmosphere get even more bleak, depressing, and it becomes harder and harder to breathe. They reach a field of weird, orange, glowing fruit. Demetrius, Granny and Penny all become hypnotized by the fruit, trying to go straight for it. Theren manages to hold back Demetrius, but Granny and Penny avoid the grips of Willowbark and Kal, and reach the fruit, eating it quickly. They both however manage to withstand the charm of the forest, and regurgitates the fruit before it can take hold. 

Granny becomes more affected by the forest, and starts to hallucinate as well, seeing things that aren’t there, making it more difficult to traverse the corruption. She does however manage to notice a dangerous field of flowers that keep zipping back and fourth, so they decide to take the long way around to avoid the encounter altogether. They pass more fruits, but all manage to resist the lure this time. However, they all notice that the longer they spend in the forest, the more they become affected by its corruption. They realize that they have to leave quickly or succumb to it. Eventually, only Kal has managed to resist the corruption, with the other members being paranoid, scared, having visions and hearing whispers.

As they pass through a thick growth of trees, they seem to be approaching the center of the corruption. The air here is thick, almost like a liquid, making it extremely hard to breathe and focus, with a darkness hanging over the forest from the dark clouds hanging just over the trees. It’s raining, and it seems like the colors have drained from the environment. In the clearing in front of them, on a tiny hillock, lies a big flat rock, with red arcane writing on it. On top of that lies a being. Almost like a dragon, but with wings made of vines and growths of the forest. It seems like a drake of some kind has been corrupted, and is now a part of the forest itself. It looks right at the party, and prepares its wings to fly...

Showdown

As the party stares down the drake that has prepared to defend its lair, Fie moves first and attacks it, noticing immediately that necrotic seems to do absolutely nothing to it. Right after, the lair starts to shake, burst with energy, and fill the air with thick fog, obscuring the view, and knocking the party off their feet.

Granny, Elmroot, Penny and Kal all takes heavy hits from the drakes breath weapon, and slinks away between attacks to hide, before burrowing underground to ambush the party from a different angle. The party quickly moves away from these areas to stay safe, and Kal puts up an Aura of Life to protect against the necrotic damage. Willowbark can see where the drake is hiding and throws a moonbeam at it, burning it several times, but it always moves away. 

At one point, the drake almost kills Kal, but Willowbark uses the rings to keep her on her feet, while Pennys inspiration gives her back some blush in her cheeks. The drake also attacks Theren, almost managing to take him down completely. It pushes the partys buttons, making them lose concentration on several effects, but luckily the rings helps the party stay upright. 

Unfortunately, the corruption forces the party to turn on and attack each other, as well as the drake, which drags the battle out, almost giving the drake the upper hand. It however moves closer as it takes more damage, forcing the party to be hurt by its necrotic wounds. Demetrius keeps a barrage of arrows at the drake, and Granny hurls her javelins at it, doing as much damage as they can.

The party moves closer to the stone in the center of the lair, hoping that destroying it might end the conflict, but before they have a chance to do anything about it, theren fly over the fog, and take the drake down with his scorching rays…

A Familiar Voice

As the drake falls to the ground, it immediately starts to fall apart, with the vines and growths surrounding it beginning to wilter away. Penny approaches it, and notices a glowing energy coming from inside. She reaches in, managing to take out its heart, still thumping, glowing with green and gold, and oozing a black liquid. 

At the same time, Granny notices that a small orb has appeared around Willowbark. It’s floating around, observing the party, looking at each of them, before seemingly looking toward the heart Penny is carrying. Theren deduces that someone is scrying on the party. 

Penny places the heart on the stone, and using what’s left of her fiery breath potion, sets fire to it. It immediately catches fire, rising to the air, with the party moving away from it, before it explodes in a contained fireball that implodes in on itself, before nothing but ash remains. The bloodied writing on the stone fades away into the stone, and the party can sense that the corruption is losing its hold. 

Willowbark suddenly feels someone poking around inside her mind, and can see flashes of her family. Going back and forth, memories from her time with them, going through everyone of them, stopping with a memory of Wren. She suddenly hears a familiar voice in her head, as the party can see the color disappear from her face.

You just had to meddle. You couldn't just leave us to have our fun… oh well, you take one of ours, we'll take one of yours. Come and claim them, if you dare…

The party now can sense movement from outside of the lair, as many different creatures are trying to move their way through the treeline to get to the party…

Escape From the Cursed Woods

As the ashes from the cursed heart settles on the ground, the party scurries around to do what they can before they leave. Penny grabs the Hearthstone and a few diamonds from Kal, and sits down to do the ritual that gets them out of the woods. She can feel the presence of her patron, helping her do the necessary incantations the stone needs. In the meantime, Kal summons a lightning storm in order to ignite what she can of the woods, while the rest wait for the ritual to be complete. Elmroot is still in shock, and Granny can see that the orb is still floating around. As the undead horde manages to break through the treeline that is not set on fire, the whole party has their vision turn white, before it slowly goes back to normal. They are back in the outskirts of the Jaded Wilds, where they first began.

The Assassins

The sun is lying below the horizon, so visibility is quite limited, but they can see that the horses are gone. They immediately run over to where they placed them to see what happened. Granny and Willowbark examine the tracks, and it seems like the horses ran away, but they can also see three humanoid footprints among the horse tracks. As Granny tells this to the group, an assassin suddenly appears, throws a spell at Penny, who in a whirlwind of dust and leaves, is teleported away from the group. Another assassin appears behind Theren, armed with a pink crystal knife, and stabs him in the lower back. The wound glows pink as the dust of the knife remains in the cut. She whispers to him, in a familiar voice he has heard before. 

“She told me your secret. Your services are no longer required. You have failed.”

As he falls backwards, he gets a quick glimpse of the assassin's face. A face he has seen before, but he has never spoken to her directly. Arara Iathrana. A higher up in his organization. His vision goes dark. She stabs him again, to make sure he doesn’t get back up.

They notice the connection to Theren through the rings disappearing, and run over to him to help him. But what is staring back at them is a white, featureless face. Theren is dead. Kal casts Gentle Repose on him to make sure they can revivify him later.

A third assassin also appears, and attacks Granny, but Willowbark moves close to attack them by erupting the earth around her. This luckily causes both the “lesser” assassins to get knocked down, but they are still a danger. Arara stabs Kal twice with the glowing pink dagger, causing it to apparently expend its charges, and moves towards Penny. Arara can teleport around, causing her to also be resistant to damage, making her the most dangerous foe for the moment.

Penny, as she tries to run towards her friends, hears her patronsay to her “Guard the Key with their lives…”. She activates her form of dread, and moves closer to extract vengeance towards their assailants. 

The arcane assassin tries to make Penny give him the Key by charming her, but either her will or her patron is stronger than the magic, so she resists the urge. Willowbark turns into a black bear, and attacks Arara in the neck, wounding her. 

Penny focuses her magic and uses Inflict Wounds on one of the assassins, instantly killing him by causing him to shrivel up in necrotic energy. The arcane assassin sees this, sees that they have vastly underestimated the group, and runs away. Arara shouts “COWARD!” after him. She takes out a poison coated knife from her sheath, and stabs Penny with it, hoping to end her. She is still standing.

As the rest of the party now stares down Arara, she turns, and says she will see them again, and that if Theren makes it, recommends he stays away from Tempervale for a while. She then Dimension Doors away.

“Are you… you?”

The party rushes over to where Theren is lying dead on the ground. They can all see the white face staring back at them now. Demetrius immediately recognizes this feature as that of a changeling, and Kal has heard stories about these creatures. Penny doesn’t trust Theren at all, and wants to tie him up, but Willowbark shoos her away. 

Pip suddenly appears from a nearby tree, and goes straight to Granny. Penny translates that the horses were “violently attacked” by the scary people and they ran away, and left Pip alone. 

Willowbark is sitting on the ground next to Theren, and cleans out his wound with the pink dust in it, managing to get it all out. She also helps Kal, by taking out the dust from her wounds, managing to hurt Kal in the process, as she is distraught. It seems like Willowbark thinks he has been cursed since he isn’t looking like himself, and frantically talks about how to dispel it. Kal calms her down, and just tells her to bring him back.

Theren, floating in a black void, can see a veil around him, with an unknown woman floating towards him, holding her hand out to him, but he can suddenly see that it is Willowbark, looking distraught at him, while holding her hand on his chest. He has been brought back. He looks around, sees everyone staring, and then looks at his white hand. “Ah, shit”, he mutters.

Kal asks him if he is Theren, and the person replies that he is also known as that. They ask if he has always been like this, and the changeling assures them that they haven’t replaced anyone. They have always been the Theren they knew. They ask what their name really is, and the changeling replies “Fie”. 

While this is happening, Demetrius is searching the assassin that Penny killed, finding a Cloak of Elvenkind, and a Blinkback Belt, a much better upgrade to his sheath of returning. 

Willowbark is having trouble with the whole situation. Distraught about Wren being in danger, she wants to move to help her tribe immediately, but the rest of the party convinces her that she needs rest, they need their horses, and they still have business in Tempervale. She reluctantly agrees to this, and Granny goes to find a safe place to hide for the night. The evening and rest goes without hitch, and Granny can see a huge dragon flying over The Shimmering Hills, heading east. 

Making Travel Arrangements

Kal sends a Sending to Thundertree, telling them to return to where they were. Surprisingly, she gets a response, and it seems very eager to please, so they will return to where they were to pick them up. She can really hear the low intelligence emanating through the reply.

As they start walking back towards Tempervale, they discuss how they can reach the forest the quickest way possible. There are several ways, Fie suggests planar travel, but they don’t know anyone that has that spell (that they know of), and they also need a key attuned to the plane they want to travel to. Druids also have the ability to Transport via Plants or Wind Walk, both of which would allow them to travel vast distances in a short time. The only person they can think of that might be able to help them would be Reidoth, the druid from Thundertree. Halfway to the city, they meet the horses that have come to retrieve them, and they continue the path back to tempervale.

Kal decides to send Reidoth a message, asking him if he’s able to help, that they’re in Tempervale, and lives are at stake. She gets a response, telling her that he is in Cinderberry Woods, observing a flock of Owlbears, but he can be in Tempervale in three days or so. Willowbark thinks that is too long to wait, so she will be looking for anyone else that can help them faster. In the meantime, Kal has picked up her Earring of Message that Lone Candle enchanted for her, and the horses have been stabled for the night.

As they enter the city, they can see that Fie has taken the form of an elderly scholar that calls themselves Lander. They can also see that there is a wanted poster for Theren Amblecrown, the charge of Murder, with a 3000 gold reward. Theren recognizes this as a tactic that his organization uses to burn assets.

Penny goes to talk to Trixie, and tells her about what happened in the woods, and that they are going to deal with the hags. Trixie is worried, and hopes that Penny will return safely.

Theren and Kal discuss Raam, and the potential of him returning to seek out vengeance towards them, and it can take days, weeks, months or even years before they see him again. But as he is a devil, he is a strict believer in firm rules, and deathly afraid of being demoted to a lower rank. This might make him more dangerous.

As the party settles in for the night, they all have vivid dreams about their experiences, hopes and fears, and wake up the next day, more powerful than the night before.

Starting off with a Bang

As Kal returns to Tempervale, the rest of the party (and city for that matter) wakes up after hearing the lightning strike hit the ground. Penny notices that Kal is no longer in her bed, but her armor is left behind, with the window closed. She soon returns however, walking in with brand new white tunics and pants. Kal simply hand waves it away, blaming Udall.

Fie and Demetrius, having shared a room again, joins the rest of the party, as well as Elmroot and Granny, all also woken up by the thunder. They spend some time preparing for what they can, waiting for Reidoth to arrive. Demetrius is approached by a human rogue, Mira, with a letter from Horza Gyula, asking him to return to him, as he might have a clue to his mothers murder. But he understands that he needs to help Willowbark first. Mira is introduced to the rest of the group, promising to help out. As the days go by, they eventually meet him in Minotaur Park, where he tells the party that he can help them get near Faunus Forest, but it will require a trek to the woods to find a big enough tree to transport through.They set out in the evening and arrive late at night, traveling to a small grove outside of Maplemere.

Into the Heart of Darkness

Having spent a night resting in the tavern or out in the grassy fields surrounding Maplemere, the party set out, looking for The Coven, and Wren. The group enters through the woods, with Willowbark wildshaping into a Giant Eagle, hoping to scout out the location. Reidoth turns into an eagle, promising to watch for the party, but makes it clear that he cannot intervene, as he has made a vow of non-interference. 

As soon as Willowbark crosses the threshold of the woods, she is overcome with a horrible sensation of dread, as her vision turns bleak, and she is drawn towards a watchful eye, staring back at her. This causes her to fall out of beast form, and tumble down between the trees to the forest below. She decides it's best to just stay on the ground for now, but as midnight hits, she is again overcome with the pain, causing the party to grow concerned. In the morning, after getting their sleep, Fie examines her, and can tell that she is cursed. Willowbark realizes that they did something to her when the hags confronted her in the woods, all those weeks ago. Luckily, Kal manages to lift the curse, and Willowbark feels better.

The group spends the next week or so treading through the forest, in search of the hags location. Luckily, Willowbark could tell where the Eye that caused her to fall came from, so they head towards that direction. They quickly notice when they are heading in the right direction. By helping each other, sniffing out the path and asking a local squirrel where the hags might be, they are led to an old tree trunk that has a veil of sorts running over the entrance. As they pass through, the hallway twists, and on the other side they reach a swamp, with purple sky beyond the wooden dome trapping them within. In the middle of the swamp, is a small hut, and on top of that hut, strung out between two poles, is Wren.

The Coven

Shortly after Penny approaches the hut to try to message Wren to see if he is alive, the coven leader makes herself known. She appears before the group, mocking both Willowbark and Granny, with the other two laughing by her side. They claim that it was Clementine that started all this, by insulting the coven, asking them to leave her tribe alone. Having nothing of interest to offer in return, they took a particular interest in torturing that particular tribe. Most surprisingly of all, is that they next set their sight towards Granny. Saying it’s nice to finally have a face to the name. Apparently they were the ones that killed Nema.

Enraged, insulted, and ready to be done with it, both Willowbark and Demetrius go on the offensive, and the hags spring into action. It quickly becomes apparent that the hags taints the magic of the group, which forces them to be more careful in casting spells, as they backfire, causing them to take damage, without being able to hurt them back. The group is forced to use unusual tactics for them, avoiding using spells and making sure that the leader cannot corrupt their magic. The problem is that the lair itself causes members of the party to be either flung around, or downright being sent to a separate demi-plane, out of harm's way. There are also Will-o-Wisps floating around, charming the party.

The weakest member of the coven, a green hag with what appears to be stitches over her chest, falls first. She asks her sisters for help, but they get no response. Mira finishes her off with an arrow through her eye. With one member down, they are severely weakened, as a coven needs three members to be most effective. The Night Hag, Hala, waves a kind farewell to Granny, and vanishes. As the group sees this, they notice that the Wisps no longer float in place, but head straight towards Wren. Two of them manage to reach him, but before they manage to end him, Granny takes out the final hag remaining by decapitating her, before Willowbarks moonbeam melts her body away. She dies with a smile on her face, and the party fears that this is not over. Hala tells the party to enjoy what they have, because they will see eachother again.

The two Wisps next to Wren, manage to suck his soul out, creating a new Wisp. Desperate to help her friend, Willowbark calls down lightning, damaging the Wisps, with Fie finishing off the newborn Wisp, causing Wren to return to the living. The group finishes off the final wisps, hopefully freeing whatever souls they were made from, and what is left is just the hut. Willowbark helps Wren get down, and they embrace, long lost friends reunited. He doesn’t know how he got there, as he was kidnapped trying to reach a playful crow. Next thing he knows, he is looking at Willowbark, or Thana as he knows her.

A Gruesome Hoard

The group decides to examine the hag lair, and finds an untidy mess, with trinkets, bottles, and remains of dead creatures littering the place. Among the trash, they find a Crystal Ball, a wooden staff, a painting, a jar with an eye, a perfect sphere, a tarot card, and most gruesome, a cloak made of the faces of several humanoids, mostly firbolgs. Theren and Penny decide that it is best to burn the cloak, hiding it from Willowbark. 

As Granny enters the hut, she immediately notices some rocks on a shelf, and feels drawn to one of them. She tries to break it, and is immediately confronted with Nema, or at least her soul, trapped in this soul shard, ever since she was lost. They embrace, a tearful goodbye at last, as Nema moves on, and hopes that Granny can find peace in her life.

As the group takes the stuff outside, Fie gives Willowbark the staff they found, but Willowbark and Wren both are drawn towards two other soul shards, containing the lost souls of Clementine and Galen. Willowbark breaks both of them, getting to chat with Galen first, who is happy to see her again, thanking her for releasing him from his prison, before moving on. He remarks that he is glad to see him carrying his staff, which they found in the hut. Clementine seems to be more reserved, almost shameful, having failed the tribe by angering the hags. She wants Willowbark to tell Sage something, but she moves on before she can finish the sentence.

As they destroy the rest of the soul shards, most are random humanoids, one Firbolg, that simply thanks them, before moving quickly on. But one shard contains a darkness. A figure, without discerning form or any way of identifying it, simply stares back at Willowbark, before moving on without saying anything. Willowbark is understandably fearful of what she might have released.

As  Fie identifies the objects, they realize that the crystal ball can be used for scrying. They do however burn the cloak as they said, sparing Willowbark and Wren from the sight. Reidoth appears before Demetrius, asking if they would like to abandon this dreadful place, which they do, after Willowbark, Penny and Kal has done their funeral rites for the fallen, buried under the mounds in the swamp. As they exit, Reidoth transports them back to Maplemere, before helping Demetrius and Mira get close to Cantalos. Demetrius bids his quick farewell, promising the group that they will see each other again some time, before disappearing through the portal. The rest of the group walk towards Maplemere and the forest, with Wren hoping to get back as soon as possible, being uncomfortable with the outside world, but fascinated by Willowbarks stories about what she has learned. 

As they reach the forest, Granny suggests that the party goes after the rest of the corruption, finishing off the hag danger once and for all, while she helps Wren return to his tribe. Penny seems to be taking it the hardest, giving Granny a tearful goodbye, with Granny leaving a note behind for Penny and the rest of the group. It’s a short goodbye letter, with good words for the group. Willowbark tries scrying on her tribe, and gets a hint of their general location. Wren and Granny sets off into the night, to find the tribe and explain the situation for Sage, in the hopes that Willowbark can be redeemed and accepted into the group again.

Epilogue

As the party rests in the tavern, they go to one of their rooms, Where Penny finally gets to scry on her lost mentor. Her vision is drawn deep underground, and she can see the shape of an Aetheris male, petrified, with a sword piercing his chest, and a look of absolute horror on his face. Now they know why he never responded. Before she can get a good look around, she is shunted out of the scrying, as a presence behind her suddenly throws her out of it.

Before they go to bed, Kal, having gotten a new outlook after her meeting with Udall, finally reveals her secret, and bamfs out her wings, frightening Penny, revealing herself as an Aasimar. Penny, after coming to her senses, asks if she is Morgan Lowblade's sister, as he has told her that all Aasimars are children of Mova and “some other dude”. She says this can’t be true, as her parents are human. They spend some time reflecting over the last weeks events, with an uncertain conflict waiting for them, back in the Jaded Wilds…

Let's Get Down To Business

As the party sit in their room, waiting to go to bed, they discuss the scrying Penny did of Morgan Lowblade, where she describes the chamber he was trapped in. It’s unclear where it is located, but it is clearly underground. Penny is eager to find him, but the group realizes that the clear and present danger is the hags. They should fight them before they get a chance to regroup. Before going to bed, Elmroot and Kal go outside to look for Reidoth, to ask if he can help them travel to the Ruins of Thundertree quickly. They find him being harassed by a local, and they manage to save him from this vile villain. He says that should not be a problem, and to meet him outside in the morning, and he will take them to the closest place he can get.

The next morning, after eating breakfast and buying some healing potions and a scroll of Greater Restoration from The Feylocker, they get their horses, and travel west, back towards the tree that took them here from the coven. After passing through, they are faced with a familiar sight; the ruins of Thundertree in the distance. They lead their horses to the edge of the affected area, tell them to stay put, and leave a note with them, in case they need to find their own way back to Rivergrounds. The horses are uneasy with being so near the corrupted town, but promise to do their best.

Reidoth, not taking any risks, wildshapes into a seagull to watch over the party from above. The party enters through the woods, and notices a bunch of various zombies roaming the forest surrounding Thundertree, and inwards. About two hours into their journey, they are suddenly confronted by three infected forest beings. They seem to use hearing and echolocation to find their prey, and seem to try to infect both Penny and Willowbark with some sort of sickness, but luckily, Kal, being a cleric of a THUNDER god, makes the foes regret attacking the group. It seems they are particularly susceptible to loud noises, and go down after a short battle. Not wanting to be overrun, as they did have to make a lot of noise, the group quietly leaves the area, traveling further inward towards the center of the corruption. With Willowbark in front leading the search, they find it without wasting too much time.

The Tree of Death

As the party breach the thick growth covering the center, they can see three trees in the area, two dead ones, and one twisted and dark. Penny uses her detect thoughts, moving closer, and senses two minds in the center tree. The party debates burning down the trees, which makes the Blackroot Treant attack. It tries to cast a spell on Penny, but Fie counterspells it. Penny casts hex on it, but realizes that necrotic does nothing against this foe.

Willowbark has already taken out three of her friends from the Bag of Tricks, a giant rat, a weasel, and a dire wolf, and sends them all charging towards the treant, but the weasel instantly vanishes as it gets closer. It seems the treant is radiating some sort of necrotic energy, damaging anyone in range. Fie tries to blast it, and confirms that fire is particularly effective against it, causing both Willowbark, Fie and Penny to use whatever they have that deals fire damage. Willowbarks forest critters are sadly quickly taken out of the battle, as the treant awakens the two other trees in the area, which attacks the party. One of the trees quickly burns out however. The treant moves as close as it can between Penny and Kal, with Willowbark, invisible, being right next to it. Fie, now flying, can see that all moisture in the area surrounding it is completely drained, and it deals a massive amount of necrotic damage, making Willowbark lose concentration on her new spider-friends. All the fire being used has caused the treant to be quickly weakened. Willowbark, facing down the treant right in front of her, blasts it with a final fireball from her new staff, and manages to finish it off.

Beaten, broken, and burning, the treant slumps over, with its chest forced open. Inside, the party can see the half-resurrected remains of Morana, the green hag that Granny decapitated at the coven. With only one usable arm and half a face, she begs the party to let her live, and she will tell them everything they know. Willowbark says that she will not let her live no matter what. Morana responds “then you are already doomed”. Willowbark lights a torch, forcing it into the heart, making it catch fire, finally ending the second sister of the coven.

“And for my next trick…”

Knowing that they have to escape the area as quickly as possible, the party flags down the seagull Reidoth, asking him to help them get out of there. He casts a spell, turning the party into giant eagles, and they take off from there, heading east towards the final corruption area, hoping to take down Hala before she can return to full power. After traveling for about 5 hours, they set down in a clearing, being too tired to move on. They spend some time gathering firewood by using a stick that Penny animates, foraging, cooking dinner, and talking about their plans going forward, and what they have been through. They also send the horses a message telling them that Reidoth will come to them to lead them to Rivergrounds while the party finishes the mission, as they might be gone for a few weeks, after asking him to help them with this as well. That night, they don’t bother keeping watch, as Penny's Tiny Hut keeps them all safe. Fie even sleeps out in the open, although he requests to use as many sleeping bags as possible, as he has gotten used to the comfortable interior of the ring.

In the morning, they awake with a “pop” from the Tiny Hut disappearing, eat some breakfast, and prepare for the final journey east. As a final plea, they beg Reidoth for any help to travel quickly to face the final hag as well as giving 40 gold to pay for the horses to be boarded, and a note to give to the stableowner. He begrudgingly agrees to give them one last assistance, and casts Wind Walk, reducing the final trek from three days to just over two hours.

As Reidoth departs, heading west, the party heads east, trying to spot the corruption. They find what they have been told, a massive area of the forest is corrupted here as well. They search the area for a good place to land, close to the center, and turn back into their regular shapes. Willowbark and Kal takes out two weasels and a dire wolf from the bag of tricks, and they push through the final barrier.

As they enter the heart of the corruption, they can see a big flat grassy area, with a giant stone pillar in the center, with the same symbol they have seen on the other areas. Next to this pillar, a huge plant creature lies, dead, with its chest broken open. Heart missing. A familiar figure comes out from behind the stone pillar; Hala.

“That was faster than expected” she says to the party, smiling.

The Wicked Hag of the East

As the party faces down Hala at the final location of the corruption, she comments on how fast they were getting here. The group tries to convince her that she is under the curse of love, but it's a tactic that does not work so well. Willowbark is not pleased at all, and wants to see Hala's demise. The hag tries to make a deal: Return what they stole, the crystal ball, as it is no use to them, and they can all go their separate ways, "no harm done". Willowbark and Penny is not having it. Penny moves up next to Willowbark, and gives Hala a gift. The wizard dunce cap they found in the goblin cave. Hala tries to avoid it, but Penny is too fast, and the hat instantly attunes to her, causing her to be less intelligent. Hala is not pleased by this, and turns invisible. The party manages to get a few hits in before Hala manages to remove the curse of the cap, tossing it aside, smouldering. 

Fie takes to the skies, to attack from above, while Kal summons a thunderstorm. Willowbark and her pets attack as best as they can, and Penny inspires the party while attacking from a flank. In the beginning, it seems like this will be an easy fight, but Hala soon shows her true vindictiveness, causing Penny to be severely nerfed. As Fie is flying, he is mostly out of Hala's reach, but he takes a few nasty hits, before ascending above the cloud cover. Hala tells Willowbark "Today is the day you watch your friends die.", and goes all out on Kal, opening two rifts below Kal, trying to make her fall in. Kal luckily manages to just avoid entering the rifts, much to Hala's annoyance. She uses every attack she has to get Kal to perish, but Willowbark and Penny both comes from each side, attacking the hag. Fie has been awfully quiet, so the party suspects he is escaping, but as soon as Kal goes down, the cloud cover dissipates, and they can see a floating, lifeless half-orc form in the sky. Fie is very close to perishing himself. 

Penny comes up from the rear, terrified of the many crabs that are coming out of the forest to attack her (that nobody else can see), and gravely wounds Hala. Willowbark, being face to face with her enemy uses the powers of her new staff to drain Hala of what little vitality she has left, to give to herself. Hala, mortally wounded, falls to the ground. Willowbark immediately helps Kal awaken, and the crabs disappear from Penny's view. Hala's body lies on the ground, and Willowbark sets Wolfsleigh on her, trying to reach the heart so they can destroy it. It manages to tear off a chunk, with Penny opening the rest. She takes an Alchemist's Fire flask, shoves it into Hala's now open chest, and strikes it, igniting the heart. Immediately, the ground shakes, and green, yellow and blue sickly energy creates a beam that surrounds the obelisk and shoots upwards to the sky. The obelisk starts to show cracks, and the red runes that are etched into it starts bleeding, and the party realizes that it will soon explode. Kal runs to the woods, as does Willowbark after jumping on Wolflee's back. Penny sends her animated sword to go help Fie escape, before running herself. Amazingly, Fie manages to wake up, maybe sensing the danger, and flees away, just in time. The obelisk detonates in a massive explosion, sending shrapnel and dark energy hurtling outwards, pushing our heroes into the growths, with a giant mushroom cloud now looming over the forest.

The Journey Home

The party, now having defeated the final hag that plagued the forests, are escaping through the thick growths surrounding the lair. Willowbark says her goodbyes to Wolfslee, hoping she will see him again, before he sets off through the woods, past the various undeads who are now shambling and dragging their way towards the party. Spending a minute, they turn themselves back into clouds, and starts to move their way west, back towards civilization. After travelling for the rest of the day, they reach the river that leads towards Rivergrounds. After the spell expires, the party descends to the ground, and tries to set up camp for the night, with Penny setting up the Tiny Hut. That evening, she takes first watch, and can hear laughing coming from the river, floating downstream. She tries to see if she can tell what is making the noise, but it is too dark, and the laughing soon disappears. She tries to tell the others about it, but they do not take her seriously it seems. Next watch, Willowbark tries to listen for the laughing, but hears nothing. On Kal's watch however, she can see the Mysterious Figure that have been seen observing them before. She tries to wake the Willowbark, but she can't see it, as it's too dark. Kal tries to approach it, but as soon as she exits the bubble, almost as if something compels her to, she blinks, and the figure disappears. She returns to the bubble, and soon hears a big shambling figure approaching. An owlbear has decided to sleep next to the bubble. She again wakes up Willowbark and Penny, and they manage to convince it that they are friendly, and if it could kindly go sleep a little further away. It complies, going to sleep next to a treestump. 

The next morning, they give the owlbear some food, with Fie waking up early to make breakfast, even though Kal already made some on her watch. They ask the Owlbear about the laughing, and it describes it as "water people", which it doesn't like, as they are annoying. Fie and Penny thinks these are probably some sort of water nymphs. As they set out to continue their journey, Penny makes a raft out of nothing, and the party floats down river, allowing them to travel further in a day than they normally would be able to, managing to cut down the journey to two days. On the way, they can see that the river splits, which is highly abnormal, but the group decides to continue down the main river, to civilization. During the journey, Kal casts sending to Right Handed in Woods, updating them on the hag situation, and explaining that they have neutralized the threat. Right Handed in Woods thanks for the update, and says to tell Granny that she can talk to them about permanent membership if she likes. Reaching Rivergrounds at the end of the last day, they immediately goes to the stable to look up their horses, who are very happy to see their owners again. Margerie Heiser is still a bit miffed at the party, having lost her stablehand to their nosing around, and is happy to keep the 40 gold they paid to hold their horses. Speed, Diamond, Thunder and Wildfire have all been treated well, and is looking forward to heading out in the morning. The party heads to the inn where they first met all those months ago, to get some well deserved rest in some normal beds. Tim Brownrigg is very happy to see Kal, hoping that she is finally staying for good this time, but she sadly has to disappoint him. He tries to bribe her by giving her the best room for free, as well as free lodgings for her friends, but she cannot be convinced. She is on a quest from Udall after all. He understands, but is visibly disappointed. 

Time for some Answers

That night, after having entertained the guests, eaten some food, and gone to their rooms, the party sits down to talk about their experiences and thoughts on the current situation. Willowbark wants to sleep on the floor, having been "forced" to sleep inside, but Kal insists that she at least sleeps on the soft rug. Willowbark doesn't understand why when the floor is perfectly comfortable already. Penny, in the meantime, seems frustrated at her patron. She asks him what he wants from her, and want answers on why he wants her to do the things he asks before doing it. Vuthul reminds Penny that they made an agreement. If he helped her find Morgan Lowblade she promised to release him from his bonds. He is now even a bigger part of her than he was in the beginning, and he could at any point just force her to do what he says, but he doesn't want to do that. He wants Penny to do this willingly, as she promised. The rest of the party can hear Penny's side of the conversation, and asks what his plans are, and if he is going to kill all the gods, as he has already killed Roshan, whom he describes as simply being "in the way". He tells Penny that he doesn't want anyone to die, he simply wants equality. At one point, he even takes control of Penny, forcing her to walk out the door, but Kal manages to stop her. He tells Penny that it was merely a demonstration of his "kindness" that he doesn't do that normally, but Penny is acting like a brat, so she needs to be put in her place. Seems like they have gotten as much out of him for now as they can, but they remember that Sildar Hallwinter told them to head towards Ravenforge to meet Hamil Fatrabbit, as he might have some answers to what The Key's true purpose is. Willowbark points out that they all, except for her, have voices in their heads that tells them what to do. Ranesh asks Fie if he thinks that he is controlling, to which Fie responds that certainly not, they have a good understanding. A thunder can be heard, looming in the distance, as Udall also wants to be a part of the conversation, feeling left out. 

Before going to bed, Willowbark tells the party that as she has now, seemingly, fixed what was wrong with her forest, it is time for a new name. Willowbark was a way of showing that she is out to heal a sickness, and with that sickness now being cured, she now needs a new name. Having thought a lot about it, she has settled on a new name. One that represents the fact that she now follows where the path takes her, flowing with the wind, helping wherever she can... Elmroot.

The party immediately have much feedback on this name, being who they are, but they in the end accept the new name, but makes it clear that they will need a nickname. They can't decide on Dani or Dandy. Dandelion doesn't understand why Dandelion is so difficult.

The next morning, they go down to eat breakfast, with Tim trying one more time to convince Kal to stay for a bit longer, but she again says that it will not be possible. After having eaten breakfast, they go to their room before heading out. Dandelion takes out The Crystal Ball to scry on her family. Before she enters the vision, she can feel something happening, but can't focus on what. As her consciousness gets dragged into the crystal ball, she appears in the forest yet again. She can see Sage sitting with Bear and one other member of the tribe. In the background she can see Aster walking around. It seems like the tribe is relatively calm, having stayed in the same location for a while now. Eventually, Droop walks up to the campfire where Sage is sitting, and takes some food. He asks Sage if they are moving on soon, with Sage responding not for a few more days. It seems like Granny and Wren have not returned yet. As she comes out of the vision, she tells the party what she saw, but also that she felt something go "wrong" when trying to scry. Fie immediately holds his pearl to Dandelion's forehead. He can tell that she has been cursed, and is now one step closer to death (having permanently failed a death saving throw). Fie deduces that repeat use of the Crystal Ball curses the user, and each use further takes the user closer to death.  The party decides to not use the Crystal Ball anymore, although Fie and Kal both can use it once before being cursed themselves. Kal tries to remove the curse, but it does not stick. They now know they have to find some way to remove it, so they have to find someone more powerful.

Heading West

After gathering their things and saying goodbye to the innkeeper, they gather their horses and set out west towards Chasten Crossing along with a small group heading that way. After about three days travel, they reach the small town, split in two by a river, connected by a bridge. As soon as they enter the town, they notice that it is very out of the main road, having no shops or establishments, other than a small inn called Pearl's. Dandelion however notices on the bounty board a missing poster. For Tim. They immediately sets out to find whoever put up the poster, a woman named Vicky Sheldon. Penny just starts shouting the name Vicky, stopping a few townsfolks who point her in the right direction. They head over the bridge, to the house that the man pointed out. A nicer looking house, definitely newer than most of the village. They knock on the door, and is met by a young woman, Vicky. She explains that she put up the poster as Tim, a local boy went missing over half a year ago. When the party tells her that they saw someone who fit their description near Ruins of Phandalin and Rivergrounds, she can hardly believe it, as he doesn't seem like the person to run away. He was a very smart young man who helped his parents out in the fields. When the party asks to talk to the parents, she regretfully informs that they both were found in the river, seemingly having drowned a few months back. It seemed like an accident, as they had no wounds or injuries, other than having drowned. Kal tells Vicky that as a cleric, she can talk to the corpses to get answers. Vicky says that is a splendid idea, but sadly, the crypts where they are laid to rest have been overtaken by steeders, a form of spider-like monstrosity from the Underdark. The party gives a sigh, and asks where the crypts are, as they can surely take care of it. She points them south of the village, and gives the party the key to enter the crypt. 

Exterminating the Vermin

The party leaves their horses in the local "stable" if one can call it that, and heads south to the crypts. They find an ancient stone-structure with large metal doors. They realize that this crypt have probably been her far longer than the village have existed, probably from an earlier civilization, being claimed by the local villagers for use as a burial crypt. Fie unlocks the door, and opens it with Penny's help. They quietly descends into the darkness to clear out whatever might remain. As soon as they reach the bottom of the surprisingly long stairs, they can see a few spider-like entities, orange skin, with a yellow sticky substance emanating from their legs. It seems to not be that much of a challenge, as in few numbers they are easily squished. As they descend deeper however, they actually get attacked by a few who manages to get close enough, and they do a surprising amount of damage. Moving south they do take out two female steeders that have set up a lair in the crypts. Seems like the smaller ones are males. Having cleared out the south side of the crypt, they open the double door at the end, finding a long hallway where most of the villagers are buried. Seems like the steeders did not manage to enter that area, so the corpses should be untouched. 

Kal, having activated her Spiritual Guardians lead the party north to the rest of the crypt, finding a hulking "queen" of the steeders, surrounded by male suitors. Dandelion uses her moonbeam to burn her, and Kal runs to the centre of as many male steeders as she can to burn most of them away. After almost having overwhelmed Penny, taking her down, Kal, Fie and Dandelion finishes off the rest, before helping Penny get back on her feet. They take a quick look around the crypt, and Fie finds where they came in. Behind a cracked door, he can see a hole in the wall, with a tunnel leading down deeper into the ground. He examines the hole, and removes a few rocks, causing the tunnel to collapse, closing off the immediate danger. 

Everyone apart from Fie is sweaty, tired, and full of insect guts and parts. They head back up the stairs, and closes the door behind them. As they return to Pearl's, everyone stops to look at them. Kal exclaims to Vicky "we have purified your crypt". Everyone in the bar cheers, and Vicky sends a few workers down to seal off the wall where they came in. The party sits down for the night, getting free drinks as they helped the town, with Penny putting on a performance for the villagers. Penny creates an extremely expensive bottle of wine, that even Dandelion can drink as it tastes so delicious. Fie is impressed by the taste. After traveling for the whole day, and now fighing off a horde of spider-like beings, the party gets some free accommodation by the townsfolks, and go to sleep.

That night, Kal dreams about her journey to come, and can see a distinctive tree that looks burned out, shaped like a lower case "r". Her vision gets dragged to the south from that tree, up a mountain chain, through a pass, leading to a pillar with the symbol of udall on it. The lightning strikes it, as her dream ends.

Well, well, well…

As the party wakes the next morning, having rested in whatever beds they were given by the kindness of the inhabitants of Chasten Crossing, they meet at Pearl’s. After having a simple breakfast, they decide to go check out the farmstead first, looking for clues of what might have happened. Passing by Vicky Sheldons house, they overhear the workers, who spent the night plugging up the tunnel where the creatures entered the crypt, speak about the wailings of a ghost that haunts the crypts. They don’t appear to know that ghosts are real, and would be very happy if the party manages to exorcise it. 

Getting closer to the farm, they can tell that it has been left in disarray. Overgrown grass, a run down barn, generally just abandoned. Seems like the rest of the town has tended to the fields, as they still need the food. Penny approaches a couple of cats sitting outside, but they haven’t seen anyone enter the abandoned home. They decide to enter and see what they can find inside.

Elmroot, using her skills of perception, deduces that the place looks untouched for the entire period since they died. Remains of their breakfast still on the plates, molded and dusty. It also seems like the beds were still being used up until their disappearance. Curiously though, they find what seems to be the bucket from the well inside. They go to check it out.

Fie casts Spider-climb on Dandelion, and she lowers herself to the bottom of the well. As she gets to the bottom, near the water, she can tell that something is in the water. It seems to be a layer of something over it, and using whatever light she has, she can see what appears to be a figure below. Poking a hole in the layer on the water, the stench overtakes her, and she ascends to the top again. Penny animates a rope that Fie and Kal finds in the run down barn, and uses it to drag the corpse's head out. Kal puts it on top of the bucket, and uses Speak with Dead to ask it about who they are. Seems like they found Tim. The head tells Kal that he was beaten to death by his three “friends” whose skin turned gray and their eyes hollow and white. Seems like there are more doppelgangers abound.

Fie uses one of the bedsheets and they order the rope to get the rest of the body from the bottom of the well. As it reaches the top, it needs a final pull, because of a large rock that seemingly held Tim down. The party, and the rope does their best to clean the bones of the decayed, bloated flesh that has been decomposing for half a year, and bury the remains in the field, bringing the bones back to town, hoping to lay it to rest in the crypt.

Grave News

As they return, they talk about what the motivations for the doppelgangers must be, considering they seem to have a poor sense of coordination, all imitating the same person. Kal theorizes that these might be a group of less intelligent or just lazy doppelgangers. 

Returning to Vicky, they give her the bad news, and ask if she can think of anyone else who might know something, as well as who to give the bones to. She tells them to talk to Conrad Huxley, a dapper young man, whom Vicky describes as “handsome”. The bones could be given to John, the local handyman who also takes care of the crypt. 

The party comes over to John, an old, hunchbacked man, bad of hearing. They have a hard time getting through to him, so Kal uses lesser restoration to cure his deafness. Suddenly, communication becomes a lot easier. He takes the bones, and tells the group to meet him at the crypt, while they go talk to Conrad.

Spotting the sheriff is not a difficult task, with such a distinctive mustache. He tells them that they searched for the young boy for about a week, before the father called it off. The mother was inconsolable, but Conrad didn’t see her after the search was cancelled. He also doesn’t give the party a very good impression, as he seems brash, condescending and down right rude at times. He tells them that he has much more important business to take care off, and leaves the party.

The Tragedy of A Lost Child

John has just about reached the crypt when the group catches up to him. They descend together, and they can see that the locals have already started to clean the mess after the disturbing creatures. They are led to the south of the crypt, and enter the double doors where the people are buried. They don’t have to go far before they reach the parents, laying peacefully side by side in a side passage. John Damp starts putting together the skeleton as best as he can, while Kal speaks to the father, Davin, first. It becomes clear that he killed himself, and the mother apparently, as Tim returned, but he could sense that something had taken over the body of his son. He wanted to spare his wife Miri from the truth. 

John is quite shook by the whole ordeal, having managed to correctly place the limbs, with the torso remaining. He gladly takes the groups suggestion of just going back outside, and scuttles through the crypts, shouting back that he will be waiting in the tavern. They give him a few coppers. Kal finishes off the remaining bones for Tim, managing to lay him to rest next to his parents. While this is happening however, they can hear the wailing of the supposed “ghost”. They debate talking to the mother now, but decide to check out the undead first.

The Haunting of Chasten Crypt

Trying to follow exactly where the wailing is coming from is not easy, and they descend deeper into the crypt. It seems like it could go on forever, with countless graves. Seems like this had been used for quite some time by a large population. They suspect it must be from before the betrayal. Eventually, after they have gone down a few levels, both Dandelion and Penny can sense the area where the wailing is coming from. As they get closer they can hear words. “GET ME OUT OF HERE” in an ancient common dialect. It is coming from inside one of the tombs. Seems to have been sealed for 2000 years or so. 

They won’t let out the entity inside at first, fearing it might be a trick. The voice wants to be let out, and when asked how they got stuck in there, they say it’s embarrassing, but it will tell them when they let it out. Kal decides to use her lightbringer to smash open it, being helped by Penny and Dandelion. The door shatters, with stone flying everywhere. Inside they can see a very, VERY bald head, with the entity tumbling out; A skeleton.

It introduces itself as Hesti, but they can call him Chester if they would like. He gives Kal a great hug, thanking her for releasing him, but screaming in horror as he can see his body now in the light. It seems he wasn’t expecting to be a skeleton himself. He tells the party that he was a citizen of “Hazdit”, and old city that fell during the betrayal. He was a follower of Roshan, and is very sad to hear of her passing. At one point, he found an old lamp, with a genie inside. He got one wish, and wished to be immortal, which the genie granted, but it didn’t stop his aging. Some time after he had been alive for 200 years, he fell asleep. The rest of his friends must have though he finally had died, and buried him, and he woke up in the tomb. He also talks about magic storms which used to be common in his time, but seems to be less common now. He has no idea about anything that happened after his “problem”. 

The party discusses what to do with Chester, as he can’t just walk around, considering necromancy is highly frowned upon, and even though he might just be cursed, people might not understand. They give him some clothes, and offer him to live in the bag of holding until they can find something more permanent. They talk about maybe showing him to Bertram Honeypot, when they reach Ravenforge. Chester gets to look at the maps, and notes that some areas look quite different, barren, when it used to be lush. He does remember Tempervale though, as it was around in his time as well. In either case, he jumps into the bag of holding, waiting for the party to finish doing their business.

As the group returns to the parents of Tim, they speak with Miri, Tim’s mother. It seems she either was in denial or couldn’t tell that Tim wasn’t Tim. She did however note that Tim spoke about seeing the world after he returned. They deduce that there might have been an attempt by the doppelgangers to set up a situation where people would not look for Tim anymore, but something went wrong when the father saw through them.

A Name Revealed

As they exit the crypt, they talk about Penny’s creation powers. Penny tries to make a book about their journey so far. It seems to be a retelling of the journey from her perspective. Dandelion quickly skims through the book, trying to find something. After looking for a bit, she found it; Penny’s point of view when she read what was on The Key. She reads the name; Vuthul. The name of the Forgotten One. She shows this to the rest of the group. Vuthul doesn’t seem angry at Penny, but disappointed that they ruined the surprise, and warns Penny that the party is now in more danger than they were before. He does not elaborate. They decide to give the book to Chester, so he has something to read.

As they return to the town, Fie takes charge to tell the town what they deduce happened to Tim. They decide to leave out the doppelgangers, but give a plausible explanation of the events, and tell them that the “ghost” have been taken care of. It being early in the day, and having done what they stopped to do, they decide to take their leave, after helping cure most of the villagers' plagues and disabilities with lesser restoration.. As they exit the town to the north, they can see Conrad leaving the house of Vicky and her husband. 

Traveling On

The next day, they decide to cast Detect Evil and Good, to see what Chester actually is. He doesn’t register as an Undead, confirming at least parts of his story. Penny gives him her old cloak, to help hide him better. Chester also found out that he can remove parts of himself, without ill effects, and put them back later. Kal suggests that Chester removes his head so that he can pose as a magic item, letting him see the world that has long since forgotten him.

Three and a half days after leaving Chasten Crossing, they reach Bridgevault. A quiet little walled city, next to the big river leading into the ocean, not much to be seen really. Penny goes to the local Shrine of Death, promising to find Morgan, and leaves a gold piece in the offering plate, being blessed for doing this. She also spends some time focusing on the key again, this time telling her to go north-east. 

Three days out of Bridgevault, Kal notices the tree from her dream, leading south towards The Golden Ridge. She tells the party that she has to take a detour, as Udall led her this way. They leave their horses in a local hamlet, and venture south into the pass. 

A Quick Detour

After about a day’s travel, they sneak through, and notice four voices talking about ambushing them. Kal, misreading the sizes of the assailants, walks straight out and proclaims that they are a bunch of idiots. She soon realizes that it was two ettins, each with two heads, discussing their plans. They quickly attack the party, being shocked by their sudden appearance. Kal bamfs out her wings, frightening the pair (pairs?), but they pack a mean punch, managing to knock Kal unconscious more than once, thanks to the Rings of the True Companions. They try to steal her away, but the party manages to hold them off, before Kal wakes and casts down an ice storm on them, bashing in all their heads with giant hails, killing them off. Going through their stuff, they find the remains and belongings of several wanderers who were unlucky enough to meet the ettins. Dandelion casts detect magic, and finds an Amulet of Wits, a one use item, which they pocket. They also find a ring and some silver cups, which they bring with them.

A bit later, after they have set camp in a rocky area, Fie, having first watch, notices movement in the stones. He tells this to Dandelion, who can hear the sound of “liquid” stone moving outside of their hut. She panics, trying to wake Fie again, who can’t hear her. She fears that this might be Earth Elementals, and they might be in their turf. On Penny’s watch, she can’t see anything, but she notices something moving her foot. Looking down, she sees nothing. Kal also can’t see anything, but Penny’s mad rambling about earth things doesn’t really help. As daylight dawns, they did not seem to be attacked, but they can sense the presence of these elementals, watching them. They quickly eat their breakfast and take their leave, with the elementals watching carefully. Seems like they weren’t hostile at least.

Reaching the Peak

The rest of the journey to the peak goes surprisingly smoothly, with Dandelion becoming an eagle to scout the path ahead, and the rest of the party flying past the difficult obstacles, they quickly reach the base of the peak, where they can see a storm circling the summit. At night, Fie notices blue and green energy shifting in the storm, which he points out to the rest. They also notice a weak hum, vibration, in the ground. Kal can see that lightning is striking the top, but is blocked by something. Seems like Udall has difficulties penetrating the area. 

The next morning, they use whatever magic they have to avoid the perilous climb, flying to the top. As they land, they can see the shrine of Udall, with a big obelisk in the center, bursting with energy, but being contained by magical green chains. They also the the symbol of the Forgotten One, Vuthul, carved over Udall’s symbol. A large woman, turns around to meet the party, being surrounded by cultists wearing robes. “Ah, more people to join our cause?”

Showdown on Golden Ridge Peak

As the group stares down the cultist, the main lady repeats her question, whether the group is here to join their cause, or they are free to leave. The group makes it clear that they cannot simply leave, with Kal clarifying that she is on a mission, and the cultists are in their way. Behind the leader, they can see the massive obelisk, with the symbol of Udall, covered in arcane chains, with the symbol of Vuthul carved in over it, glowing green. The other rocks seem to be spouting out some sort of necrotic energy. Weirdly, at this point, Penny is not seeing her patron in her peripheral. He is suddenly standing clearly in front of her, observing the cultists. When talking about the Forgotten One, the leader notices that this makes Penny uncomfortable, so she asks her if Penny is “marked”. She dodges the question.

Kal, being tired of not getting anywhere with the leader, tells them that they have one more chance to leave, and she tries to be as kind as she can be, but the lady won’t budge. Kal responds by calling a lightning bolt on her. Udall had difficulties reaching the area, but with Kal present it seems he finally has a way in. 

The battle seems to be fairly balanced at first, with the cultist having the party covered due to sheer numbers, but the party being slightly more powerful, managing to take down most of the followers before moving onto the biggest threat. Literally. As the lady suddenly increases back into her regular size. Kal recognized her as an Oni, this just confirms it. The lesser cultists are simply frightened young adults who seem to have bitten of a bit more than they can chew, while the two “lieutenants'' seem to be more hardened, but they are also more powerful, managing to pull Elmroot and Fie closer to the battle, as well as hexing Kal and Penny. A quick fireball from Fie however manages to take them out of concentration, while Kal pummels them with lightning strikes and her spiritual weapon. Penny focuses more on support, and on finishing off the lesser cultists.

After most of the cultists are taken down, the leader turns to guerilla tactics, turning invisible and striking down Kal several times. Dandelion is the only one perceptive enough to know where she is hiding, and so tries to attack her, showing the others where she is. Kal, in the meantime, having been healed by Penny, starts hammering away at the chains surrounding the shrine, but this only angers the leader, who comes out of hiding, straight for Kal, striking her down once more. Kal, however, fueled by the fury of Udall, throws back her wrath at her, severely wounding her, and pushing her back. The leader desperately tries to escape, and turns invisible, but before she has a chance to fly away, Fie swoops down, noticing the blood dripping from the invisible creature, and shoots his Eldritch Blasts at her, striking her in the chest, as she falls to the ground. Penny finishes her off with a few blasts of her own.

Breaking the Chain

As Kal comes to, being healed by the rest of the party, she and Dandelion resumes trying to break the chains that surround the obelisk. Curiously however, is that when Vuthul speaks to Penny, it appears that everyone can hear him, not just her. He is surprised by this, and decides to keep quiet. It seems he doesn’t feel comfortable with everyone hearing his conversations. Penny and Fie go to loot the tents and bodies, finding some magical treasures, a new book of sorcery, some magical rings, and a few potions. They also find what Fie identifies as an Adean Stone of Religious Knowledge. Handy!

As Dandelion and Kal keep attacking the chain, Kal finally manages to break the shackles that contain the energy, causing it to flow out in an upwards direction. This also causes both Dandelion and Kal to be thrown backwards from the surge, and a massive boom rings out of the pillar, as the trapped energy in the surrounding rocks flows back into it. The clouds that were blocked from entering the area also flows into it again, causing a flash that momentarily causes everyone to be discombobulated.

When they come to, they see the obelisk and surrounding stone glowing in it’s regular glory, and the symbol of the Forgotten God is suddenly being erased. Over the obelisk, they can see a massive hulking figure, made of clouds and starry skies, with thunder and lightning surrounding it, flowing out of its eyes. Udall stands before them. He simply stares at the party, not saying anything. Fie gives a respectful bow, with Penny copying him. Kal gives a respectful salute to her god, with Dandelion just gawks in awe. After a moment, he puts forth his arm, and lightning shoots from it, striking each of the party members in the chest, throwing them back yet again. As they come to, Udall has vanished. Yet they can all feel the gift he has imprinted on them; his blessing, for purifying the shrine. The rest of the party can no longer hear Vuthul after this.

The Descent

After coming down from the combat  high, and standing face to face with one of the gods (which is a first for most of the group), they decide to take a short rest, with some music, coffee, and a light snack, before setting out to descend the mountain. Dandelion has spent some time gathering up the bodies on the southern shelf of the peak, doing her regular ritual of respecting the deceased. As she asks herself if they did the right thing, a wind blows one of the pebbles from the chest of one of the cultists, and it tumbles down the side of the mountain. Dandelion interprets this as the gods wanting her to go south, maybe return to her forest, but the party says they have more important things to do. They have to get to Ravenforge, both for Chesterssake, and for Penny.

Descending is done mostly the same way as the ascent; flying. Fie activates his flying abilities, while Dandelion turns into an eagle and ferries both Kal and Penny down the mountain on her back. As they reach the base, she scouts ahead, noticing several dangers that the party might face, so they take the other path, avoiding any more encounters. The journey back takes three days in total, and Dandelion scouts out the best path ahead, making the journey back an uneventful trip. They can see when resting for the night that the peak is back to its normal function, with the blue glow shining brightly through the clouds. Kal can also notice the faith resonating through the ground, returning to the peak.

Fie picks up one of the rings they found on one of the cultists, a ring of Mind Shielding. The soul of the cultist who wore it has been transferred to it, so Fie puts it on to have a chat. He manages to convince the cultist to tell them why they corrupted the shrine, and he is told that they were “paving the way” for the Forgotten One. He is either unwilling or unable to elaborate. He does however give the name of their leader after Fie confirms that they killed her; Tamasi. As the cultist has lost everything, he just starts shouting at Fie, who calls him immature, and takes the ring off. A bit later, Penny asks if she can try on the ring, but changes her mind when Kal asks if it’s a good idea to introduce a god and its disciple who appear to have evil intentions.

The Road to Elvenroth

As they reach the bottom of the mountains, they approach the homestead to retrieve the horses. It seems the horses have been treated nicely, fed and watered, but they have been pretty bored. Seems like going on adventures have caused the horses to be a bit spoiled when it comes to mental stimuli. Dandelion thinks that they should get some balls that the horses can play with when the party are doing stuff that are too dangerous for the horses. On the road heading west she asks several of the travelers if they have balls for sale, but it turns into some innuendo that Dandelion was not prepared for. The rest of the party convinces her to wait until they get to Elvenroth, they might find a shop there that sells toys for the horses.

On the road, Kal remembers that they found a sending stone among Nezznar’s belongings. She asks for it, ponders her decision for a moment, before asking whoever is holding the other sending stone “hello? Anyone there?”

A moment passes, before she gets a response:

“Who is this? Are you the one who killed him?”

As these stones are once-a-day use, the next day, the voice, which Kal describes as “nondescript, female, elegant”, asks again “who killed him?”. Kal simply responds “not me, and the person who did isn’t with us anymore.” She gets no more messages.

After talking about the afterlife, concerning the spirit residing in the ring they found and what plane it would go to, Penny asks her patron what plane he resides in. He is unsure exactly what plane he is currently in, and that is partly why he needs Penny. To help him be free. Fie repeats what he said when they first found The Key, that it is probably literally a key to a lock. They will have to find out where it leads somehow. Penny says that the key is leading her east, towards one of the two ruins on the map, so they have to go there someday as well.

The Crossroad City

As the party crosses the ridge, they can see Elvenroth before them. A big, walled city, with a river running through it from east to west. Each corner of the city has a road going out of it, leading to the rest of Moroxia. A true crossroads of all walks of life. In the skies, the party can see drakes flying around, and at first they think they might be under attack, but as they get closer, they can see that they are being ridden by what appears to be city guards, clad in royal blue and gold. The party waves to them, and they wave back. Fie tells the party that the city guards of Elvenroth don’t ride horses, but fly around protecting the city.

When they reach the city gates, it is a very busy affair. The city guards walk around collecting tolls for entering the city, 1gp each, and Fie is unfortunate enough to be taken to the side, as a random security check. A middle aged man is sitting in an office, with a notepad. He asks Fie when he enters about his name, race, occupation, reason for visit and duration of stay. Fie (with Chester, whose head Fie is carrying around as Lander) answers the questions as fits his current persona, but the clerk is none the wiser. He gets out of there without any suspicion. When he exits, the rest of the group is waiting for him, and decide to first of all board their horses on the far side of the city, as they will at one point travel towards Ravenforge. Having placed them in a stable, and paid the stable owner 1,5gp each horse to keep them spoiled (and asking about Tim, who does not work there), they return to the city, to figure out what to do next.

Getting Down to Business

It is pretty apparent that each member of the party has something they want to take care of, so they decide to split up for the day. Kal wants to find the Generous Queen Inn to talk to “Enhana” that Sister Garaele told her about, while Fie, Penny and Dandelion head to the Emerald District to see if they can find a magic shop and maybe something for the horses. 

Kal

After asking a bit around, Kal is pointed to the Generous Queen Inn. A fabulous tavern and inn, located near the southwestern gate of the city. As soon as she enters, she meets a halfling named Fargas Tosscobble, who asks her if she requires a room. She tells him that she is looking for Enhana. He suddenly goes pale, big eyes, and tells her “aah yes, a room for one, right this way miss” and leads her to the back into a waiting room. He then berates her for just throwing that name around willy nilly, but she just tells him that she was told to ask for her. He tells her to wait in the room, and he will go ask for Enhana. Shortly after, Kal can hear quick footsteps approaching, and sees another halfling lady, stern-looking and taller than average.

The lady quickly asks her who she heard the name Enhana, and Kal tells her about sister Garaele who approached her in Ruins of Phandalin and told her to seek her out. Enhana, whose real name is Alexis Gellfarer, tells her they lost contact with Garaele a while back, most likely due to the undead that now plague Phandalin. Someone will have to deal with it soon, as the dwarves have too much trouble already. Alexis tells Kal that they are a shadow organization who wants to keep hidden and dangerous knowledge from the world, and that they work from the shadows. When Kal tells her that she is a cleric of Udall, Alexis scoffs, saying that Udall doesn’t have clerics, and asks her to prove it. She slices her own hand, and asks Kal to heal it using something only a cleric could do, so Kal says a word, causing her wound to heal. Seems like she believes her. 

Alexis offers Kal a quest, to bring a parcel from Elvenroth to her contact in Ravenforge, if she wants to prove that she can be one of The Veiled Protectors. Kal is hesitant, but accepts, being told not to look into the package. When Alexis asks Kal how much she actually knows about what’s going on, she gets shocked when Kal namedrop The Forgotten God, and asks her to definitely bring her package to her contact, as they might have something to talk about. She reveals who she is to deliver the package to: Bertram Honeypot, the man they were already going to meet. 

 Eventually, Alexis admits that she knows a bit more about her and her party than she originally led on, having observed their doings over the past months. When asked why Garaele approached Kal, she says that it was because of everyone in the group, a tortle, a pink tiefling, two suspicious half-elves and a green forest being, she was the most anonymous. Ironic. She tells Kal that Garaele was in Phanadlin, looking for Nezznar Khalazza, but they have lost track of him. They heard about the supposed demise of Nezznar in the Temple of Dumathoin, but when they searched the caves they found no drow body, just bugbears and undeads. Kal clarifies that he is a drider, but Alexis says they found no half-spider, half-drow body either. Kal confirms that they did kill him, even destroying parts of the body to make sure, but he still disappeared. Curious. 

Alexis asks Kal if they are traveling by road or teleporting, and tells her that she may be able to arrange for them to use the teleport system, if they wish, but it would take a few days to set up. Kal tells her that she is going to talk to her group about this to see what they think. Alexis will wait for her response before moving. She gives Kal the parcel she is to deliver to Honeypot, and she leaves.

Penny, Dandelion and Fie

The trio venture to the other side of the city, in search for both balls and magical items. After looking around for a bit, they come upon a magic shop next to a park called The Sky’s Eye. Dandelion decides to go check out the greenery while the other two enter the shop. 

Inside, Penny and Fie are met with various customers, but most noticeably, five kobolds who are walking around assisting shoppers or looking after the store. They greet them as they enter, and ask if they need help, in that case they can ask their “dad” if he can help. One of the female kobolds goes to a back room, and after a short while, a massive loxodon emerges. He talks a bit slowly, but is happy to help. Penny tells him she is looking for some armor, and he tells her that he has many different armors or charms of protection, but it seems all of them are a bit outside of her price range. She eventually settles on a mariner's studded leather armor, giving her a bit more protection, and which will help her if she ever goes unconscious underwater. After reserving it, she goes to the cheap pile to see if she can find some interesting magic trinkets.

Fie on the other hand is looking for a specific rod that might help with his Warlock abilities, but Vrendol sadly doesn’t have it. He does however carry an Immovable Rod, which Fie picks up, as it might come in handy.
Penny, going through the trinkets, comes across a single old tarot card, identical to the rest of the cards they have found. It’s priced at 1gp, so she barely manages to afford it.

In the meantime, Dandelion is sitting in the park, talking to the plants and grass, getting glances and looks from people passing by. It seems the flowers are treated fairly nicely, but winter is soon coming. Luckily, the man with the big nose helps protect the plant during the cold. Dandelion wonders what kind of nose the man has. 

After the discussion with the flowers, she gathers some rocks and sticks, and sits down in the middle of the park, meditating like a true druid. She doesn't get to focus too long before she feels a tap on her shoulder. A city guard is standing over her, with his drake companion in the background, wondering what she is doing. She simply explains that she’s meditating, and he apologizes for disturbing her, he just had to make sure she wasn’t casting any dangerous spells, as it is not allowed in the city. She assures him that she means no harm, and he is glad to hear it. The guard introduces himself as Ilanis, and they talk a bit about where she’s from, before he welcomes her to the city. He also allows her to meet his drake companion, Phaldrex. Dandelion can’t speak to it, but she can understand some of the things it’s trying to convey. They eventually talk about Phandalin, and how sad it is that Khuzunzan can’t do anything about it due to their own problems. She asks him what problems he’s talking about, and he tells her about the dragon plaguing the travellers to and from the city. First she’s heard of it. But before she can ask any more questions or converse with him, he has to depart, and take off to the skies. Dandelion watches him for a bit, noticing that most of the drakes come to and from the north of the city, before heading to the shop.

As Dandelion enters the Sky’s Eye, meeting Fie heading out, she is overwhelmed by the size, and finally comes face to face with Vrendol, commenting on his nose, asking why it’s so big. They banter a bit, before asking if she needs help finding anything. She tells him that she has a hard time sleeping, and she can’t see that well at night. He can luckily help with both, showing her some EarPlugs of Silence™, and Goggles of Night. She wants them both, and Penny haggles them down to 325gp. As they leave the store to meet up with Kal, Dandelion realizes they forgot to look for balls for the horses. They will have to look some more. 

In the meantime, Fie has been wandering around the city, looking at the different temples, before reaching the Temple of Adea, in the Amber district. He notices that the core of the city has way more guards, and not as many people. It seems that the poorest are being kept away from reaching it, but luckily, Fie has the look of a scholar, so he gets to pass. Chester is just loving every sight, taking it all in, but can’t remember this particular city. Fie does not know enough about the history of Elvenroth to give Chester an idea of what was here before, if anything. He pays his respects to the goddess of knowledge and magic, before returning to the group. 

After meeting up with Kal, she tells the rest about the possibility of having a faster way of traveling. They will have to think about if they want to teleport, which will be expensive, or if they want to take the long way. In either case, they return to the Generous Queen Inn, taking two double rooms, paying 2gp per person per night, and retire for the evening, waking the next morning, stronger than they were before.

Waking Up in the Morning

During the night, the party has various dreams about the past, present and future. Fie however wakes up, to find the room empty. It’s apparently night outside, with no Penny in her bed. He checks the neighbouring room, and finds Kal and Elmroot missing as well. Curious, he ventures to the ground floor, and finds that the whole tavern is abandoned. Food still on the plates, lukewarm. Looks like everything has been left behind in the middle of breakfast. He ventures into the streets, and finds it also abandoned. Carts having crashed into the side of the road, with items being dropped as if people disappeared suddenly. He ventures northeast to the centre of the city when he notices it. The sun. It’s there, but… missing. Like it’s been carved out of the sky, with just a void remaining. As he sees this, the earth starts shaking, and the city crumbles around him, eventually burying him. And then he wakes up.

The party talk about their dreams, and meet in the dining area to talk about their plans for the day. Dandelion wants to eat quickly in order to go out to do her business for the day. Before she manages to go, Alexis approaches Kal to ask about their plans for traveling to Ravenforge. She gives them a proposition, as Halander Honeypot has specifically requested the party for a task, and if they are successful, they will have unlimited access to the teleportation circle in Elvenroth, and be able to travel to wherever they need to in the future. Kal shares this with the party, and they agree to meet with Honeypot in the afternoon. 

Making Deals and Asking Gods

Fie and Kal go to the temple of Azuna. They approach the head priestess, and tell her about The Monk that they met, but she has no knowledge about her. Fie asks specifically for guidance, and for a small offering, he will be allowed to meet with an oracle. After paying the price, Fie is led down to the lower floors of the temple, into a massive dome of a chamber. In the middle sits a nude young woman, with her eyes blindfolded. The head priestess tells him that he has three questions. She seals the room, and observes, after assuring her that they both are vowed to silence. He asks his questions, and the woman floats into the middle of the chamber, flowing without support, and her voice bellows throughout the chamber as if coming from the divine creator herself.

• Should we continue our current path with The Key and it’s inhabitant? Yes 

• Is Delphine of the watchers connected with their cult? Unclear

• Does he have more influence than he has currently shown? Yes

In the meantime, up top, with Chester, Kal is asking for guidance on how to be a cleric, but there is not much to tell, as clerics do as their patron demands of them. She is however allowed to purchase a wealth of material components for her cleric spells. As Fie emerges from the depths below, they leave, to meet with the rest of the party near the Crown Athenaeum. 

Penny is wandering around looking for a place to buy a ball for the horses, and eventually wanders into the Onyx district, and notices that it is the slums of the city. As she walks around, she comes across an old and creepy looking shop called Fate & Mystics. She meets an old lady, who tells her that she can make whatever she needs, but everything has a price. She makes Penny a magical ball that can shrink or expand based on what the user needs, and the price is fairy cheap. She merely asks for a favour. At a later time. At her discretion. Penny agrees, and the lady pokes Penny's finger, drawing some blood from it. Penny gets her ball, and leaves happily, going back to the Generous Queen Inn. 

Dandelion in the meantime is looking for a particular rock, an agate, as well as some diamond dust. Vrendol is unable to help with the rock, but points to a shop two doors down from his that should have what she needs. Inside she meets an earth genasi named Heward. He luckily has everything she is looking for, being an earth genasi and all. Dandelion asks about why he is walking out topless, and he complains about his nipples chafing. She can empathize, feeling that clothes can be too restrictive at times. Having gathered her componentes, she returns to the Inn, and sits down in her room, trying to cast a greater restoration on herself, to hopefully be rid of her curse. The spell works, but it appears the curse persists. At that moment, Penny returns, and finds the door locked. Dandelion lets her in, and explains what she was doing. Penny exclaims that she did manage to find a ball, and shows how it works. Dandelion is impressed, and wants to know what it costs. Penny is embarrassed to say that she didn’t pay in coin, which prompts Dandelion to drag Penny back to the shop to get it reversed.

Back in the Onyx district, Dandelion is perturbed by the state of the district, feeling bad for the locals, handing out copper coins left and right to anyone she meets, hoping to help somehow. As they enter the shop again, the lady greets them, spooking Dandelion who had activated her detect magic, suddenly appearing in front of her. Dandelion demands that the woman takes payment in coin, but the woman explains that the transaction is already complete, and cannot be undone. She offers Dandelion help, as she knows her name, and that she is cursed, offering to remove the curse, if she is willing to make a trade. Dandelion is not having it however, and drags Penny out of there. They head towards the Amethyst District to the north, to meet up with their friends.

The Library

As they reach the square where the Crown Athenaeum is located, they are both immediately drawn towards the smell to the north of the square. A small bakery, filled with people buying pastries. The smell overwhelms Dandelion and Penny, who beeline towards it like moths to a flame. Inside, Fie and Kal are waiting for them. Penny purchases a box of various pastries, and they head towards the library.

As they enter, they are awed by the scale of the place. It is clearly much bigger on the inside, with it reaching 30-40 meters into the air, and even 100 meters below, front he ground floor. They approach the desk, and are led to an office to the side, where a small old halfling man is sitting. Halander Honeypot, Bertram Honeypot brother. He explains that he and his colleagues are looking for a mythical item, rumored to be hidden in the depths of the library, but has not been found yet. In exchange for finding the item, and returning it to him, they will have free access to the teleportation hub in Elvenroth, and be given access to the return circle, allowing them to return whenever they need. The party agrees, and Honeypot tells the party that he will have the library shut the next day, giving them free access to the depths without being disturbed. He tells the party that people disappear from time to time in the library, due to its size, but they are mostly found. One person however vanished without a trace about 200 years ago. He also, interestingly, tells the party that he only knows about one cleric of Udall, but that was before the betrayal. He doesn’t seem convinced that Kal is one, but that is neither here nor there.

Firbolgs for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

They return to the inn, and the girls tell about their encounters with what they think has to be a Hag. Fie eventually leaves to go to a side room, and is drawn into the ring by his patron. Inside he shows Fie two circles, one leading to his temple to the Great South, and the other leads to the teleportation circle in the tower of the Institute of Edhellond.

Before going to bed, as the day draws to its end, Penny, Kal and Dandelion head towards a “pet shop” that Fie and Kal spotted when traveling through the Amber district. When they approach, Kal and Penny explain that these are pets, not wild animals, and Dandelion promises to behave. As they enter, they can see a few various animals and birds, and to the back, two magnificent owls, one brown owl and one snow owl, perching on a stick. She can’t decide on just one, which was her intention, and buys both of them. As they leave, she manages to convince them to stick around. She is frightened as both of them fly out of sight, but return shortly after, having just stretched their wings. 

In the morning, Dandelion leaves the window open for them to leave and come as they please, and tells them she hopes they are still around when they get back, as she looks forward to getting to know them. She names them Argus and Ira.

Beneath the Library

When the party reaches the library, there is a crowd of people standing outside, hoping to be let in. A group of city guards are holding them back, explaining that the library is closed, with their drakes perched on the top of the building looking over the crowd. The party gently forces their way through the crowd, much to the murmuring of the gathered people, and are let inside after showing the guards that they have permission. When they enter, they immediately head to the bottom layer, and work their way down, into the maze that is the bottom layer of the library.

Spending about four hours, going back and forth, meeting dead ends, and seeing endless books on any topic they can think of, they eventually reach a side passage that curves slightly. As they follow it, they find a nondescript door, with an inscription on it in primordial. A riddle. Someone says the correct password, “a map”, and the door opens, leading to a staircase into the darkness. 

As they reach the bottom, they are faced with a winding corridor, with sword emblems on the floor, with no way around it. They try to follow where the sword points, but can see that at the end they have to go a different direction. They deduce that this is probably part puzzle, part trap, so it’s gonna hurt no matter what. The question is just how much? In either case, they manage to cross, being slightly wounded by swords that magically come swinging from the walls. Before the next part, there is another door with a riddle that the party manages to solve, before reaching another sword hallway, and another door. This repeats one more time, before they reach a bigger chamber with a mural of the material plane under the sun. In a throne in front of them lies a skeleton, which looks placed there. Kal casts speak with dead, and learns that the skeleton is named Efferil the Mage, but he doesn’t give any useful hints, probably knowing that this whole chamber is a test. The path forward is a set of colored tiles that the party has to cross. They manage to deduce that the correct path follows the layers of the material plane, earth, water, air, fire. 

Next, the party faces three chambers, each with statues of lions that have open mouths. The doors have a riddle on it, with glyphs underneath it. They realize that the glyphs correspond to the common alphabet, and try to press them to enter the password. They mistakenly just randomly presses some buttons, which causes the door behind them to lock, and the chamber fills with poison gas. They do manage to solve it, and head to the next chamber, which has a similar riddle, but easier. The last chamber however stumps the party, and after having tried several different passwords, they finally manage to emerge on the other side, having barely survived the gas. 

They use the coffee pot to try to take a quick rest, and realize that they only get this one chance, as the walls begin to close in on them, as if to consume them, before they start moving again. Seems like the chamber is designed not to let people rest for too long. 

As the party solves the sundial puzzle, they are faced with a room of energy fields that correspond to the different elements. With a twist, this time they have to follow the path, and then the rest of the path is revealed for them. Luckily Penny being impatient, happens to run in the correct path, with the rest of the party following her lead. Kal remarks how the people who built this place likes to punish those that are not as smart as them.

They all get hurt in the next areas as the puzzles punishes them in various ways, but they manage to get through it. Reaching the final chamber, they come across a large circular room, surrounded by massive statues looking down upon a throne. The throne is on top of a circular stair, and hovering above it is a small shard of something, glowing bright blue. Fie activates his flying, reaches out to the shard, but his hand phases right through it. Confused, or reflecting, he instinctively floats down to the throne and sits down in it, thinking about what to do next. He doesn’t have time to do much thinking however, as he is suddenly overcome by necrotic energy as the shard lowers itself to his hand, and he goes unconscious. 

When the party brings him back, he seems to be speaking in a much more advanced vocabulary, and he tells them that this is called “Shard of the Seeker”, one ofthe divine shards. The Divine Shards. Kal casts legend lore on it, and they are remnants of when the gods made Iozaria. There are a total of six shards, Warrior, Deceiver, Defender, Thief, Seeker, Observant, which can be combined to be “The Shard of the Divine”. It is said no one can hold all at the same time, and that these are powerful artifacts that are just rumored to exist. They figure that this shard probably came from Adea.

Having gotten what they came for, they make their way back, and find that getting in was easier than getting out, as the traps at the beginning are still in effect. They do manage to cross the boundaries, with a bit of luck, and emerge from the temple, victoriously. As they exit the door they came in through, it vanishes, along with the shrine, its existence no longer necessary.

The Reward

Having reached the ground floor of the library again, having spent a couple of hours emerging from the depths, the party finds Halander waiting for them near the desks in the center. He is impressed by their ability to find the artifact, and thanks them for their help. He gives the party 10 platinum for material components, as Kal casts Greater Restoration to remove the shards attunement to Fie. It drops to the ground, and Halander picks it up, managing to resist its attempted attunement of him, and puts it safely away in a box.

They talk a bit about the path forward, and they talk about their common adversary, the cult of the Forgotten God. Penny is holding out the Key, which Halander sees, but gently makes her put it away, telling her to not show that to anyone. It is clear that they have a common enemy, and they will be looking for the party and the key. He tells them to be careful. Halander is also not convinced that Kal is a cleric of Udall, but he convinces him when she tells Udall to show a sign, making the skies outside rumble from thunder. Halander is thoroughly impressed. As he puts the box with the shard away, he returns and brings them to the Teleportation Hub. On the way, they overhear a town crier talking about increased cult activity, and the order of arrest of anyone making pacts with otherworldly beings. 

At the hub, they can see that there are nine circles in total: the home circle, Ravenforge, Неизвестно, Port Emerald, Khuzunzan, Arcan City, Неизвестно, and two more that are restricted, leading to Edhellond and Whitewall. Each is guarded by a pair of Royal Incinerators, looming over, observing the party. He writes down their description and given names, to send out to each location, and gives them each a pin, symbolizing their access to the hub whenever they require. Before they leave, Kal asks Honeypot about Genie wishes, and immortality, and how someone can reverse it if it went wrong. He tells her they need to find some way to get a wish, or Wanda can help. Neither option seems viable at the moment.

Nightfall

Fie, after returning to the Generous Queen Inn, takes a short walk around the neighborhood, returning as a different persona, and asks to talk to Alexis. After giving her codename, she takes him to the back room, and asks what she can do for him. He tells her that he has asked for guidance from Azuna, and has been told to continue the path they are set on. Alexis tells him again that they should talk to Bertram Honeypot in Ravenforge. She fears that the cult has infiltrated all parts of the ruling class at this point, so she is unsure of who to trust. She does however seem to have a good feeling about Fie, who she correctly deduces to be a shifter. She tells him that a way to identify members of the cult, at least those they have found so far, have all either had a shrine to the forgotten god, or carried a symbol or tattoo of his mark, well hidden. She bids him good luck, and says she is glad they were put in contact by Kal. In the end she signs his book, with him convincing her that it is merely a powerful magical item, allowing him to send her messages when needed, and she tells him to notify her when they arrive in Ravenforge. After this, Fie retreats to his bedchamber along with the rest of the group, ready to head out in the morning.

Leaving Elvenroth

As the group wakes in the morning, the day after traversing the library and having a hard time with mysteroius shards and murderous sword-hallways, they quickly decide that they want to head onwards to Ravenforge, finally. They talk a bit about checking out one of the stables to see if they can find more Tims lurking around, but decide that the cultists of the forgotten one and the key are more pressing matters for now. 

As the party head to the teleportation chamber, they overhear some town crier talking about a mysterious hooded figure traversing the rooftop in the night, and if anyone has any information they should contact the head of the City Guard, Keyleth Liadon. Still not enough to keep them around Elvenroth.

As they reach the chamber, the Royal Incinerators scan their badges, allowing them passage. Horses and Owls in tow, Penny goes first, her body disintegrating in a whirlwind of dust, causing Kal and Elmroot to be taken aback. Fie have seen this before, so he just walks straight through, not giving it a second thought. Arriving on the other side, they reach a much larger than expected chamber, and they figure that this was probably a temple at some point, now being refurbished to house the teleportation chamber for the city. Several Royal Incincerators surround the circle, but they scan the arrivals, doing them no harm. 

Exiting the chamber, they are greeted by a young half elven man who gives them directions to lodgings, the castle, and the stables. Having put the horses away on the outside of the city walls (no Tim here), they return to the recommended inn: The Lucky Duck.

Playing Dress Up

As they enter the establishment, they are taken aback at the bustling scene before them. In the middle of the breakfast/brunch rush, the inn is filled to the brim with guests and diners, with food flying out of the kitchen at a steady pace. They go to check in to the front desk, and are greeted by Sanira Greengood, the owner of the place. She recognizes Penny, as does several patrons in the bar, agreeing to let her stay for free for the night if she provides entertainment. The rest of the party have to pay, and they end up with two double rooms on the same floor. A halfling bellhop takes their belongings, and leads them to a back hallway, into a small room, and closes the doors. The whole room shakes, as the halfling operates some mechanics on the wall, and when the doors open, they are in a different place. Most of the party is astounded by the experience, and wonder about how these… elevators(?) work? No matter, the party decides that they are called Levitators now, as they bring people up and down. They get no protests from the halfling.

As they enter their rooms to put their things away, Penny tries out the beds. It is the most soft, comfortable, wonderful bed she has ever experienced. And they even Fie must admit that it is pretty close to the best he has had as well. Dandelion talks to the owls, and asks them to come back to the rooms at night, but they can travel as they please through the city. 

Since the party is going to the royal castle, Fie hints that they probably should dress a bit nicer, particularly looking towards Dandelion and Kal. They decide to use the clothes they bought from the goblin back in Tempervale. Dandelion does not find the clothes comfortable at all, but goes along with it. Both she and Kal bring their shields, just in case. Fie points out that they are in one of the safest places in the world at the moment, and they don’t need their shields. As the words leave his mouth, a town crier can be heard outside saying “people keep disappearing in the night, city guard is not doing anything about it!”. At least it’s daytime now says Fie.

The Woman

On the way through the Cloud Ward, Dandelion spots a most beautiful looking woman on a side street. She even had a halo on her head. Penny quickly asks where she saw her, and runs after her. The rest of the gang follow Penny, asking who she is. Penny says she knows where Morgan is. They follow her through the streets, and she enters a smoking den. They are stopped by a big half-orc bouncer at the entrance, but Penny manages to deceive him by saying they are with the woman they are following. 

In the smoke filled den, Penny sees the woman entering a private booth. Penny tries to sneak up, but as she stands outside the curtains, the woman quickly tosses them open, having noticed being followed, but when she sees Penny’s face, her eyes widen and her skin turns pale, as she tosses the curtains shut, and tries to escape. Penny takes after her, as does Dandelion, while Kal and Fie run to the side, hoping to cut her off. Dandelion and Penny tries to use their spells to stop them, but Kal manages to grab onto her, holding her back. She manages to convince her that they mean her no harm, they just want to talk. The chase have brought some attention to them, and the half-orc bouncer comes lumbering over, and tells them to leave immediately, and scuttles them all through the front entrance, telling them to not come back. 

They are taken to a side street, and the woman tells Penny that she is not allowed to talk to her, as she is not supposed to interfere, Mother's orders. Penny asks if she means Mova, and Dandelion exclaims that Kal never told them about her sister. Kal denies she has one, she only has two brothers. 

The woman, who introduces herself as Alina Brightstar, tells them she has been waiting for Morgan to return, but he hasn’t made himself known, meaning he has either failed or someone has succeeded in his place, which would be much worse. Penny tells her she scryed on him, and that he is petrified with a sword running through his chest. Alina is distraught by the news, and doesn’t know where Morgan is, as she only was in Centahelm to tell Morgan to listen to Mothers requests. The party inquires if Kal can’t talk to Mother because she now follows Udall, and Alina explains she isn’t allowed to talk about that. She begs the party to leave her be, as she is not allowed to interfere or influence, and that they should not seek her out, but she is convinced to give them a heads up if she finds out where Morgan is. She puts on her hood, and leaves the alley, not to be seen again. 

Bertram Honeypot

Walking through the Cloud Ward, they reach the castle gates, and are stopped by a few guards holding them back. It appears that several people try to enter to talk to Bertram, Thervan and even the king, and no matter what the party tries to do, the guards won’t let them enter. The head guard grows tired, and sends a runner to ask Bertram if he knows anything about this. The runner returns after a short while, whispers something to the head guard, and he tells the party to follow him. He leads them into the entrance hall, to a side passage that leads to an octagonal waiting room, with couches and chairs, and tells them to wait. 

After sitting around being patient for about 10 minutes, a halfling man, with a strong family resemblance to Halander Honeypot appears, introduces himself as Bertram Honeypot, and asks the party to follow him to his office. They are led down a long hallway with many doors leading to several offices, and walks past a tanned wizard who greets Bertram. When they enter Bertram’s office, they get a glimpse into the opposite office, that has a big glowing fireball suspended in the air, providing light and heat. 

Betram asks the party to sit, summoning a few chairs, and asks them what their business is in Ravenforge. Kal first takes out the box that Enhana entrusted her with, and he opens it, says “good!” and puts it in one of the drawers in his desk. 

Next, they tell him that they were told to go to him by Sildar Hallwinter, and Betram recognizes the name, saying it must be important if he told them to go here. Penny takes out the Key, and places it on the desk. Betram’s eyes go wide, he starts sweating, and starts shouting for Thervan and Raven. Two people enter the room, a blonde youngish elf, and an auburn haired human woman. They both stare at The Key, and the elf asks if anyone touched it. Everyone looks towards Penny. The woman casts a spell at Penny, which fails, so she brings out a few chains, and Penny allows herself to be restrained by her. She goes limp in her chair, unable to move. 

Thervan, the elf, uses mage hand to lift up the Key, examining it closely. He says it is obviously missing parts, and asks them what date they found it. Fie tells them it was the 24th of Ilus. Betram, Thervan and the woman all lock eyes. They tell the party that on that day, the whole plane shook, as a massive earthquake was released. It didn’t do much damage, it just made its presence known. It seems that picking up the key was a catalyst for something, but the party points out that they didn’t notice any earthquakes, but they did hear some talk about it days after they left Wave Echo Cave. Kal tells them that they have already faced a cult that seemed to follow him, and Penny tells them she sees him in the corner of her eyes at all times, and he talks to her. The woman and Thervan seem distraught by this, telling her that they have no way as far as they know that can exercise him from her, as he most likely is now tethered to her very soul.

They tell the party that the earthquake opened up a few locations, lost to time, and that they have sent people out to examine the shrines, with some returning, some not. Penny tells them that she has felt a pull to a certain location when she focused on the Key, and Bertrams brings out a few maps, for Penny to point out where she feels it is. It leads to a location near the coast. Bertram makes a few notes about this. 

As they have no way of exercising him, Raven leaves the office and returns swiftly with a silver necklace, slipping it on Penny. She tells her that this will help her resist his influence, and release her from her shackles. They realize that they haven’t had the time to make proper introductions. The elf introduces himself as Thervan Avalast, head wizard in Ravenforge. The woman is introduced as Raven Stormbringer, a paladin of Udall, much to Kal’s surprise. Lander introduces himself as Fie, with Thervan and Bertram picking up on his full name, with Raven seeming confused. Dandelion introduces herself as being from Faunus’ Forest, with Bertram actually having heard of it, and even met Clementine at some point. He has studied the local deities, seeming to believe in them. Kal introduces herself as a cleric of Udall, and has to make him do a rumble outside to prove her point. Raven seems utterly taken aback by this. Penny sits in her chair, quietly observing the interactions, not saying too much. 

Bertram points out that the journey must have been difficult, and fraught with dangers, as it took them so long to get here. The party admits that they took a few detours, visiting the Steps of Aranon, and meeting a monk there that gave them directions. They also tell them about the coven of hags that plagued Faunus' Forest and the Jaded Wilds. They concede that this seemed to be important, so they understand the time it took.

Bertram asks Thervan to give them a short rundown on the history of the forgotten one, since it seems that the group is in the middle of something important, so they should know what they are up against.

The History of The Forgotten One

Thervan tells the party about what led to the Betrayal, that they have heard referenced a few times now. Seems that when the Drow emerged for the first time, they lived in relative peace with the rest of the races, but at one point, they attempted to take over the dwarven kingdom of Krunbar. The dwarves were driven from their home, and fled to find a new place. But the Drow was still not satisfied with not being equal, so they did a ritual to ascend one of their own to godhood. The being now known as the Forgotten One. He was accepted into the pantheon, to hopefully finally bring peace, but he betrayed the other gods, killing Roshan, the sun goddess, plunging the world into a 10 year darkness, in which the Drow seemed to almost take over the world. But they were somehow driven back, and Ilene, the goddes of the moon, took over her sisters mantle, to become the goddess of the sun and the moon, restoring light to the world. The Forgotten One was imprisoned, his holy symbol turned into a key, locking him away, before the key was divided and spread across the plane. Worship of the Forgotten One was made forbidden, and the Veiled Protectors now work to keep it that way, but it seems that someone is working actively against them on this. A group Thervan refers to as the Children of Vuthul This also caused most of the gods to retreat into the other planes, separating them from the material plane, some of them for good. This caused the drow to be nearly exterminated and forced into hiding.

Going Forward

Thervan asks if they can be allowed to study the Key for a few days, hoping to learn something new about their foe. Penny wishes to allow this, but her patron has other plans. He manages to take control of her, and “she” snatches the Key and tries to leave. Raven, Kal and Dandelion tries to hold her back, with several spells being cast, all being opposed by Penny and her patron. In a desparate attempt, Raven manages to wrangle the Key from Penny, and tosses it to the side. Thervan picks it up, and Bertram grabs a chest to put it in, getting it out of sight. The Forgotten One lets go of his hold on Penny, and she relaxes. She can hear his muttering of frustration. They promise to return it to them in a few days, as they most likely will need it if they are to find the other pieces. They do seem a bit concerned with the fact that Penny has made a pact with him. Raven and Thervan takes the box with the Key with them, with Raven saying she would like to have a chat with Kal about her unique situation. 

As they are left alone, Kal goes to the next order of business, and brings Chester out of the bag of holding. Bertram seems fascinated by this being, and asks about where they are from. He tells Chester that he would be honored to have him as a guest, as he researches his “condition”, to maybe find a way to help him. In the meantime, he gives Chester a hat of disguise, to help him blend in. Chester turns himself into what he apparently looked like when he was normal. A pale redheaded man with freckles. Nude at first, and then with clothes. He goes back to the waiting room, hoping to find a purpose in life once more.

Betram gives the party a writ of passage, giving them access to the castle if they need to talk to him, making it easier to enter next time. Kal and Fie asks Bertram for a private meeting, without Dandelion and Penny. 

As the duo leaves the room to snoop around the other offices, they ask about the box that was delivered by Kal. Bertram shows them that it was a springlocked device, to check if it had been opened. Seems it was a test to see if they could be trusted. They passed. Fie lets Enhana know that they have made contact with Bertram in Ravenforge, and she replies that they should do whatever he says if they want to help out. They talk a bit about the Veiled Protectors, and Bertram hope that they will become obsolete at some point. It is imperative that the Forgotten One ends, as if he returns, the world will be plunged into darkness once more. They suspect that his followers have a spell in place that tracks anyone who says his name, which is why he was so tense when Tervan told them the name of the cult. He also talks about a setback that the cult had a while back, a book that was stolen from the cult. Bertram asks Fie and Kal to keep the Key out of the wrong hands, as it might lead to the fall of the gods, and even fall of magic itself. Kal asks for access to the teleportation circle in Ravenforge. Bertram gives them four pins, one for each person in the group. Seems that the pins are of the city crest, showing where they have access. Kal tells Bertram that they will be staying in the Lucky Duck, and Bertram tells them that he will arrange for the crown to cover their stay for the duration.

In the meantime, Penny and Dandelion have been snooping around the offices, after being told to find their own way out. They open all the doors that they can find, with most of the offices being devoid of people, but most have familiars telling them to leave and get out. At one point they meet the wizard they saw in the hallway earlier, he asks them to be left alone, as he is working on something. Eventually, their snooping around leads them to the throne room of the king. Penny tries her best to explain Dandelion about thrones and that a king is above tribal leaders, something Dandelion finds preposterous. A guard suddenly appears behind them, giving them a short cough, asking them what they are doing, before leading them out the proper way. 

Awakenings

As they exit the castle, and return to the Cloud Ward, Dandelion tells the group that she needs to return to the inn so that she can finally awaken Argus properly. Kal makes sure that she reaches the right place, before joining Penny, to look for a fancy shop or something. Dandelion figures she should eat before attempting an awakening, as the spell takes a full eight hours to cast, so she orders a salad from the front. It seems the lunch-rush is finished, so the cook brings out her food personally. A big muscular half-orc, with lots of tattoos, telling her he hopes she enjoys her meal. Dandelion finds the food quite delicious, even reminding her of how Kal prepares her food. She thinks nothing more of it, before retiring to her room, changing into more comfortable clothing, and sits down with Argus preparing to cast the spell.

Fie has other plans. He tries to find out if there have been any instances of arson, and it doesn’t take long before he overhears a town crier yelling about four arsons that have happened in as many nights. He asks around and a guard tells him that it has been happening near the Cotton Wharf. As he reaches the area he can see the latest incident, with a couple, probably the owners, crying over their burned down establishment, a crowd surrounding the area looking at the burned down remains. Fie casts detect magic, looks at the crowd, and can see a woman just bursting with evocation magic. She seems to stand a bit out, with flowing red clothing, and an appearance that points to her being from the south. As the crowd disperses, he tries to follow her, and she doesn’t appear to spot him. As evening approaches, local lantern-keepers can be seen lighting the street lamps. The woman turns down a side street, and Fie can see that she approaches one of the street lamps, and enters it, before traveling through the fires down the road. He tries to follow her, but loses track of her fairly quickly, being unable to find where she was heading. He returns to the street, and is approached by a group of guards, telling him that it is not safe at night, due to the influx of disappearances in the area. He si led to a more populated street, and returns to the Lucky Duck. He does however note that the streets near the Cotton Wharf seem to be overrun by rats, more so than the rest of the city…

Penny and Kal are looking for the weirdest shop that they can find, and eventually come across Emma's Sugary Emporium. They spend quite a while there, with Penny tasting most of everything, eventually leaving with a tummy ache, and 5 gp lighter. Kal, after telling Penny she shouldn’t eat so much in one sitting approaches a local bounty board. She immediately takes note of Theren’s bounty poster, telling her that he is wanted, with a 10,000gp reward for his capture. There also seems to be a bounty for rats, with the city guard offering a 1cp reward for each killed rat. One thing that seem to stick out is a note from someone asking for help from “smart people”. They say they can’t pay much, but promise that it would be worth it for the story. Penny really wants to meet them to see what the fuss is about.

They head to the outside of the city, in the Sunset Grove on the western side. The address leads to a small house, with the lights on. The doormat is covered in mud, and when they knock on the door, a small dwarven man greets them. This is Elfred, a local gravedigger in this part of the city. He tells them that for the last 10 days he has buried the same man 10 times in a row. Each time the body comes to him with different causes of death. After the third time he checked to see if the man was truly dead, and it appeared that he was. Kal finds the whole situation very enticing, and asks to see the graveyard where he works. He leads them to the outskirts of the city, and he points out the graves. Elfred suspects that he might be brought back to life, but the graves seem undisturbed. All ten of them. They agree to help him discover the truth, and he tells them he will switch shifts with the bloke who usually takes the night shift so they can remain undisturbed, and they will meet him the following evening at the morgue, to examine the body. They take their leave and head back to the inn.

Back at the Lucky Duck 

As the party eventually returns to the inn, Dandelion is finally finished with the awakening of Argus. He seems a bit taken aback from the experience, but it seems the spell worked. He thanks her for awakening him, and she tells him how he should behave to avoid too much attention. Mostly, don’t speak to others at random, only the group, and tells him about who the others are. He asks Dandelion if she is going to awaken Ira as well. Dandelion sees that Ira looks at them from the window, seemingly left out as he can’t understand them completely, and she promises she will, but she needs gold to get another stone to use as material components. She leaves them both in the room, and goes down as she can hear that Penny have started playing. She promises to be back shortly.

When she gets down to the dining area, Dandelion joins Fie and Kal. As Penny finishes with her set, she joins the group as well, and gives Dandelion some chocolate that she bought from the Sugary Emporium. This is much more tasty than the other dark chocolate that she tried. 

Eventually, Raven arrives, having finished with the research for the day. They talk a bit about Kal’s supposed cleric powers, and Kal tells her she just had a dream and woke up as a cleric, and that Udall have been pestering her to go on an adventure ever since. She told him she didn’t want to, but he persisted. Raven struggles to believe Kal, as the last cleric of Udall was 2500 years ago at least, when he needed someone to do his bidding, as he couldn’t do it himself. It might be a similar situation now, and Raven is just glad that it is a woman that has been tasked with this. Dandelion points out that Kal used to call Udall “annoying bastard”, much to Raven’s shock, but Kal says she’s accepted that she has to do this task she is set on before she can go back to her normal life. He’s told her that there is evil in this world that needs to be dealt with before other people get hurt. Raven gives a glance at Penny. 

Kal writes down a name on a note, and gives it to Raven, asking if she knows anything about where this person might be. She tells her that she knows he is retired, bu still active. Last spotted at a party at Anton Galvani’s manor. He might know more. If you can think of a bad person, they were probably at that party. Galvani might be able to give her the information if she knows anything about a half-elf that stole something from the party. He doesn't have a good description of the half-elf, only that they were slick, spoke highly unusually and had a punchable face. Wonder who it could be.

Kal and Penny tell Raven about the gravekeeper, and she responds that people have been disappearing for a time. Randomly, without any particular pattern, as it happened all over the  city. It died down a little over a month ago, but it has started happening again, but now mostly in Cotton Wharf, and now much less frequent. It used to be several a day, but now it’s at most one every two days or so. Fie points out that rats started appearing more frequently about a month ago. It might be connected. Raven tells them about a man who claimed he saw his wife the day after she disappeared, in the streets at night, but she thinks he must be mistaken. 

Raven also asks about the report form Wave Echo Cave, where the party killed Nezznar Khalazza, but they never found his corpse. Kal says she did do a gentle repose on him, to stop him from turning undead, but the Veiled Protectors were there not three days after they left, and there was no trace of him. Seems to be something shady afoot. Dandelion and Kal look around the room to see if anyone is listening in on them and Dandelion spots a man in the window. As soon as they lock eyes, he runs away. Seems they are being watched. Raven tells them to be careful, and not go around alone, before taking her leave, and going back to the castle.

Dandelion asks why Kal and Fie threw out her and Penny when they were talking about Bertram. They say it was to protect them, that someone in the party is always listening in, and Dandelion can sometimes be an open book, so they wanted to keep it on the down low. While this is happening, the Forgotten One is whispering into Penny’s ear, telling her that they don’t care about her, that she should just leave them, and that if she doesn’t, they will eventually betray and kill her. She tries her best to ignore him.

Retiring for the Night

As the party goes back up to their rooms, Dandelion wants to introduce them to Argus, but first they go to the other room, to avoid telling Argus something that he shouldn’t hear. Fie tells the rest of the party that there have been a few instances of arson around town. As he says this, Ranesh exits the ring, suspecting this is about him. Fie transforms into the lady that he saw, and tells the party that this is Ranesh’s daughter, and that he has tasked Fie with capturing her, as she has escaped. Dandelion scolds Ranesh for his bad parenting, as the woman is walking around setting fire to things, but Ranesh is mostly just flattered by Dandelion calling him a god. To prove a point, Ranesh turns Dandelion and Penny into children. He tells the party that by doing this for him, there might be a boon in it for them, Dandelion asks if he can cure her of her curse, which he cannot. He tells the party that he cares little for what his daughter does, but knows that people frown upon arsonists, and fears for her safety. He doesn’t want to help them with telling them what to do, as otherwise they would not learn anything from the experience. As he retreats to the ring, Fie knows that the spell Magic Circle might help by trapping her, as the woman is considered an elemental. They will have to think a bit more about what to do, and they go to the other room to meet the newest member of the party. 

When they open the door, they can see that Argus and Ira have caught a badger, and are sitting on the floor, eating it. He greets the party by giving them a bow, which they return. Argus feels guilty from eating the badger, as he now is more intelligent. Kal responds by giving him some jerky, which he gladly accepts. Ira seems noticeably left out, but Dandelion gives him cuddles, promising again to awaken him as well. Penny gives him a gold coin, and he returns it to Dandelion, implying that she now only needs 999 more to awaken him. Kal tells them about the bounty on rats, but Dandelion is uncomfortable with the idea of killing creatures to awaken him. Ira goes out of the window, and returns with a live rat, so the party may interrogate it to find out what is happening in Cotton Wharf. Fie has had enough of this and goes to bed. 

When they try to interrogate the rat, it seems it doesn’t have any information to give, and the party realizes it most likely is because this rat is not from the same area. It tries to bite Dandelion, so she takes it outside and releases it. Dandelion and Kal discuss animals, the circle of life, and how all things kill other things in some way. Penny has had enough and retires to her room, with Dandelion and Kal going to sleep as well, wondering about what tomorrow will bring.

Reunion

When the party wakes in the morning they all go downstairs to get some breakfast. Elmroot takes the vegetarian option, while the rest scoff down the duck sausages with duck eggs that is on the breakfast menu. Penny considers getting a dessert, but Fie talks her out of it. As the food is being brought out, Kal gets a quick glimpse into the kitchen, and spots a cornucopia of what looks like gold plated pots and pans, and a surprisingly clean and well organized kitchen. She also spots a man with green skin and loads of tattoos, but is too absent to think anything about it. 

As they kill some time in the morning, waiting for the messenger Elfred was going to send, Dandelion and Penny play Dragon’s Gambit, with Dandelion winning easily. A patron in the inn challenges Penny, and he also beats her, making Penny lose a hefty amount of gold. While she plays, Fie quietly slips away to do some business in the city.

Kal walks over to the counter where Sanira is doing the books for the day, to compliment the food. She thanks her for her feedback, and they talk a bit about Saniras background. She is from way down south in Asimaria, beyond the Eternal Malestrum. She moved to Rexendell for a woman, but she passed. She allows Kal to get a tour of the kitchen, where she is told that they have appliances and tools from all around the plane, to make whatever their guests would request (as long as it has duck in it). In the middle of the tour, a half-orc comes wandering through a door. Throk. He immediately freezes when he sees Kal, and goes over to give her a hug. They do a explanatino to Sanira, before walking into the dining area to meet Kal’s companions. He tells them he was in the army with Kal, and Kal tells them that he is the one who taught her to cook. They agree to catch up over some drinks when they both have the time.

In the meantime, Fie has been scouting around the area around the Cotton Wharf, to try to find hints about where Ranesh’s daughter might be hiding, and he finds that there have been a string of minor arsons around the Long Shade District. For anyone else it just looks like kids being kids, setting things on fire, but Fie knows better. On his way back to the Lucky Duck, he acquires a map of the city, giving him an overview of the most important landmarks and temples. 

Waiting

The trio remaining in the Lucky Duck head out after dividing up some of the party fund, as Dandelion can afford another agate, to awaken Ira as well. They leave one of the sending stones in Sanira’s care, and asks her to let them know if a messenger arrives for them.

Heading out looking for some place to buy an agate, Dandelion and Penny have a hard time, and can’t find a shop that might have one. Luckily, Kal is with them, and points out they are standing in front of a place called “The Sparkling Jewellers”. They head inside, and meet the gnome shopkeeper Nelimia Ombrello. She helps Dandelion find what she is looking for, while Kal looks around for any useful items that she might carry. They discover that she is in possession of a Headband of Intellect that will make the wearer more intelligent. Seeing the usefulness of this when doing research, they want to buy it, and they manage to haggle down the price from 750gp to 450gp.

As they exit the store, they get a message from Sanira telling them that there is a gentleman looking for them.

Autopsy

When the trio return, Fie returns at about the same time. The messenger tells them the message from Elfred. “He’s back, come meet me at [insert address here].” before running off, with more messages to deliver. They decide to head there immediately, but first, Fie asks if Dandelion and Penny would be willing to sign their name in his book, so that he can keep in touch with them whenever he needs to. Dandelion signs her name, which is surprisingly pretty written, with Penny giving her signature, barely legible. But they both seem to function properly, as Fie can send a message to both of them through the book.

When they reach the address they were given, it appears to be a shrine to Mova. Being the goddess of death and all. They meet Elfred inside, who reiterates that “he” is back. He leads them into a chamber below ground, where the dead are being prepared for their final rites. A couple of clerics can be seen preparing a body, while Elfred leads them to the back of the room, where a body lies on a slab. 

On first examination, it looks like a Infernis, with purple skin and horns, but there is no tail. They deduce that this might be a devil-kin of sorts. They know devils can come back if they die on a different plane than their native one, but not this fast. Fie examines the body, being assisted by the various ways the party can assist. Definitely deceased, eyes burned out completely, probably the cause of death. Pale in color, they thought at first that this was because he was dead, but it seems that he is regularly this pale. He also discovers a piece of parchment in his hand: a ripped part of a spell scroll. He seems to be dressed inconspicuously, no identifying items or labels on the clothes. They ask Elfred what eye color he usually has, and he replies that they are red.

Kal attempts to cast a spell to speak with the deceased, but as she casts it, it has no effect. She knows that there are some reasons for this to fail, one of them being if someone has cast the same spell within the last week. Fie casts detect magic, but other than the room being latently magical, and the coins on the corpse's eyes being magic, the body itself seems to be mundane. Kal attempts to detect Evil and Good, and the corpse is not undead, but a fiend. She also notices that the room is consecrated. Fie tries to identify the body, but it is not under the effect of any spells. They ask Elfred where the body is found, and it seems that it is a random place every time. This body was found in a back alley next to Gnome Depot.

As the clerics in the room prepare the corpse of the devil-kin, Kal observes, asking questions about the process in the hopes of learning herself. They do a prayer to Mova as part of the ritual, with Kal wanting to point out that it probably won’t work as he is a devil, but decides against it. The body is put on a trolley, and Elfred takes the body outside and outside of the city towards the cemetery, followed by the party. 

When they walk to the cemetery, Fie remembers that he is looking for a spell scroll of unseen servant, as it might come in handy. 

Exhumation

Reaching the cemetery, the rest of the party can see the fresh graves that Elfred has dug for the same man, ten times before. They agree to dig up the bodies, to see if it truly is the same man risen again, or if it is a clone or something. They spend some time digging up the first grave, and find an identical corpse, down to the clothing, of the same purple fiend-kin. In his hand he also carries a piece of a scroll, a different piece than the one they found before. Dandelion wonders if he killed himself, as the stab wound is on his neck, but as it looks to be twisted after the stab, she decides that it was probably someone else.

They spend some time digging up the rest of the corpses, with Penny animating a shovel to help out. They are all of the same man, all of them with a piece of a spell scroll in their hands. When the final corpse has been dug up, a white spectral horse appears out of nowhere, and gallops towards them. Elfred runs away in fear, with Penny standing firm, trying to stop the horse, but it just runs straight through her as if she wasn’t there. It runs into the woods next to the cemetery, and disappears. 

Fie tries to put together the pieces of the scroll, and manages to discover what spell it is, but before he can say anything, eight entities suddenly appear. Eight women, with pale skin, and sharp fangs. Penny recognizes them as vampires.

Ambush

The eight vampires immediately spring into action, trying to stop the party. They seem to be saying something in abyssal, but the party doesn’t understand what they are chanting. On their chests, they seem to be branded by a symbol that nobody in the party recognizes. The vampires seem to be quite dangerous when they get their bites in the party, draining them of life force, and even manages to take down Dandelion at one point, but Kal uses the rings of the true companions to keep her standing. Penny turns into a T-Rex, with Dandelion casting Moon Beam, and Kal activating Spiritual Guardians, as Fie circles from above, casting eldritch blast at whomever he can see. One by one they are taken down, as the radiant damage from the moon beam and spiritual guardians seem to be highly effective, but one vampire manages to get away after being thrown into an open grave by Kal. When the last remaining vampire crumbles to dust, they check on Elfred, who seems to be quite taken aback by the ordeal, having soiled his pants. Dandelion asks Argus to take a sweep around the area to see if the vampire who escaped is lurking around, but he finds nothing. They manage to convince Elfred that Argus didn’t really talk and that he is in shock. Penny summons a chair for him, and he sits down.

Rejuvenation

While this happens, Fie walks over to one of the corpses with the tattered spell scroll in hand, wonders for a bit, before casting the spell that was etched on the torn spell scroll: Remove Curse. As Fie casts the spell, all the corpses react, turning into a ball of white light and energy, converging in the middle of the cemetery, and explodes in a bright flash of sunlight. When the light fades, the man stands there, alive and well. 

The man introduces himself as Lord Reverence. The party asks him what or who he is, and what has happened to him. He tells them that he has been stuck in an endless cycle of death, being forced for years to be killed over and over again. He was attempting to use a scroll of Remove Curse, but every time he managed to get a hold of it, he was killed yet again, only retaining a small piece of it. He sniffs around, and notices that he is on the material plane, managing to pinpoint about the correct area as well. He doesn’t seem to like it here. They ask him why he was put in an endless cycle of death in a pocket dimension, with him explaining that he pissed off the wrong god: Emos, the evil god of despair and delirium. Seems the vampires that attacked the group were his followers, as it was his symbol that was branded on their chests. His dead bodies have been appearing in random locations all around the planes, and for the moment seemed to be concentrated near Ravenforge. 

Realizing that this is a devil, they ask if he knows a devil called Raam, that the group killed earlier. He joyfully responds that he knows the devil, but hasn't spoken to him in quite some time, but points out that he is a very vindictive fellow. They ask if they can put in a good word for them, considering that they saved his life, and considering they did kill Raam and messed up his operation. He promises that he will try to talk to him, but makes it clear that he can’t make any promises. He whistles with his thumb and pointer, causing the white spectral horse to appear. Seems that this is his mount, that he uses to travel between dimensions. He tells the party that he has to depart, as his companions is trapped in a different dimension, and he has been unable to reach them for a few years, so he now has to go and help them. He waves the party goodbye, and disappears in a flash as the horse gallops off into nothing. Elfred is sitting in his chair, even more in shock than before.

They decide to search the bodies of the vampires, at least whatever remains they find. Seems that they all had the same brand of Emos, but other than that they had no possessions on them. Fie however does find an old key with the symbol of Mova on it, which he shows the party before pocketing. Kal wishes she had calm emotions right now as Elfred could surely use it, but they decide to help him home, with Fie using prestidigitation to clean everyone up as best as he can. When they reach Elfreds home, they take him inside and make a big jug of tea to calm his nerves, before sending him to bed, and going back to the Lucky Duck for some well deserved r&r.

Awakenings (again)

When they wake the following afternoon, as they did return to the tavern at about 5 in the morning, Dandelion tells the party that she is going to spend the day awakening Ira, as she finally has the component required. She locks herself in their room, and starts the ritual. The rest of the party heads out to do various errands in the meantime.

Fie heads to the castle to talk to Bertram Honeypot. He is led inside without issue, now having the written declaration of access, and is granted an audience. He asks Bertram about Emos and vampires, but he hasn’t heard of any connections between the two before. The only experience Bertram has with vampires is the one that Ansgar and his companions took down a while back. He asks Fie if the vampires they encountered seemed to be spawns or regular ones. Fie noticed that they all seemed to be of fairly equal strength, and since they lived to tell the tale, then they weren’t full fledged vampires, which means that a more powerful Vampire most likely resides in the area. Would explain the increased population of rats around the Cotton Wharf. He asks if Fie can look into it, before telling Fie what he knows about their weaknesses and strengths: They are resistant to most damage, but are vulnerable to magical weapons and wooden weapons. Most of them don’t cast a reflection, and some, but not all, are weak to sunlight. He recommends that they bring holy water, but that radiant damage might not always be effective. Fully grown vampires lose some powers and weaknesses, but gain others. The most important thing is that they are highly dangerous if encountered in their lairs. 

Fie asks Bertram if he knows of any good places to acquire spell scrolls, and is told about the magic shop called Scry Me a River on the waterfront of the Dusk Docks. It’s the only reputable magic shop in town according to Bertram. If there are any particular spells he is looking for, then Thervan Avalast or Ansgar Cain might be able to help him out. They head over to Ansgar’s office, and lo and behold, he does have the spell he was looking for, and allows him to copy it. Ansgar gives Fie a slap on the shoulder, and tells him he hopes it comes in handy for him.

Interrogation

Penny has been walking around town, just perusing, waiting for something to happen or to find something fun. After a while, she spots a cat, shiny white, with pink streaks running through its fur. She can’t resist, and tries to follow it. Through the crowd, and down the street, Penny tries to reach it, before it heads to a side alley and takes a turn, before jumping over a fence, disappearing from Penny. As she turns around, she can see that she has been followed by three people. A blonde, blue eyed elven woman, and two male mooks at her sides. The woman remarks that that was way easier than she expected. The mooks grab Penny, holding her against the wall, before searching her. Finding nothing, they ask her where it is. Penny tells her she doesn’t know what she is talking about. She casts Zone of Truth while she is being pinned to the wall, eventually failing her saving throw, leaving her unable to lie. The lady asks again where it is, with Penny technically being truthful in telling her she doesn’t know. One of the mooks punches Penny hard in the stomach, and Penny tries to retaliate, but the lady counters her spell. They ask where it is, and who took it, but Penny gives them no useful information. She tries to attack one of the mooks with a spell, managing to severely wound him. This causes the woman to slap a collar on her neck, and Penny feels that the magic is being suppressed. Her patron whispers in her ear that she should just tell them what she knows. She doesn’t listen to him. The lady asks who has the key one last time, or at least who was with her when it was taken, but Penny only tells her the names of her companions. One of the mooks holds a dagger to Penny’s throat, and asks if they should just kill her or take her with them, with the lady declining, telling him that it would just lead to the rest of the party coming looking. The mooks beat Penny to a pulp, grievously wounding her, and leaving her unconscious in the alley.

Kal wanders around looking for a golden reliquary to use as a spell component. After wandering around various temples which are unwilling to sell to her, she comes across an antique shop that has one worth 600gp, but it is a reliquary to Nuesis, the god of travel and entertainment. Kal wants a blank one or something dedicated to Udall. She heads outside to the waterfront, sits down on a bench, and does a commune. He tells Kal that he has no reliquaries in Ravenforge or Elvenroth, and that the one for Nuesis will do fine for her purposes. She reluctantly heads back to the antique shop to purchase it.

Rescue

As she exits the antique shop, she can sense a weak whisper from her ring. Something she has felt before when one of the party members goes down. Fie and Dandelion also notice this, with Fie sending a message via his book to both Dandelion and Kal, asking if they felt it. He tries to contact Penny, but gets no response. Dandelion replies that she is busy, and they have to handle it, since she will lose the spell and stone if she stops the casting.

Kal and Fie meet up, with Kal using the crystal ball as a focus to scry on Penny. She can tell that she is lying in an alley, badly beaten, unconscious. Using the clues of the area, she can tell that she is around the trade district. They take Argus with them and head over to the area. They send Argus to the skies to scout for her, but he is unable to find her. They ask a city guard for help, and he mobilizes the local troops to put out a search party, helping Kal and Fie in the search for Penny. 

After spending a while looking, Fie eventually stumbles across her in a back alley. He cleans her up, and uses the rings to heal her, waking her up. She immediately checks her belongings. Seems they didn’t find her coin purses as she hid them too well. 

When Fie and the city guard lead Penny into the square near where she was found, Fie spots Delphine on the other side. She gives a shooting gesture at him, before disappearing in the crowd. They can hear a town crier in the distance announcing that Elvenbridge is sending troops to deal with the undead horde in Ruins of Phandalin. Penny gives a description of her assailants to the city guard, with Fie recognizing the description of the woman as Delphine. He thinks that the two henchmen are either eyes or nerves, but doesn’t say anything. The city guard takes down the information, and seems a bit disturbed by what he hears, but promises to bring it further.

Introductions

Kal and Fie ask Penny if she has learned anything from the ordeal, and she reluctantly admits that she shouldn’t follow random cats, and definitely shouldn’t wander around alone. They head back towards the Lucky Duck for the night, as evening begins to approach. 

At the same time, Dandelion finally completes the spell, and Ira awakens at last. He seems to be a bit easily distracted by random things, and seems to be a bit more needy and attached to Dandelion. After telling him about how he should act to survive, they head out to find the rest of the party, but they don’t have to wander far, because as soon as she steps out of the inn, she can see them approaching. Penny looks beaten up, but alive. They head inside the inn to get a drink to wind down. After making sure Penny is fine and finishing their beverages, they head up to their rooms for some privacy. Penny tells Fie that the lady told her a message as she drifted into unconsciousness: “stay away from our business”. Fie tells the group that the lady is dangerous, and that he thinks they want information. Penny tells the group what they asked her about, but that she managed to dodge around the truth, even though she cast Zone of Truth on her. 

Fie tells the party about the organization that he was a part of: The Watchers. They deal mostly in state secrets, and that the party is not the goal, but this clearly has something to do with the Key. Vuthul tells Penny that he would be willing to let her be free of him if she gives the key to them. She again tries to ignore him. Fie thinks that the Watchers might be looking to use the Key somehow. But to summarize, The Watchers and Delphine is dangerous, and should not be taken lightly.

Kal, looking thoughtful about the information she has just learned, tells the party that she promised Throk to catch up, and heads downstairs to meet him before it gets too late in the evening.

Catching Up WIth Old Friends

As the party finishes talking about the watchers, and the rest of the party winds down to go to sleep, Kal heads downstairs to see if Throk is available for a chat. As she reaches the tavern, Sanira is still dealing with the books, and shortly after Throk emerges from the kitchen, hands full of trash. He sees Kal, heads out back to throw it out and returns to her, bringing along a bottle of wine, as they head to a private booth for a chat.

The air is tense as Throk is uncomfortable with the whole situation, feeling awkward about catching up with someone from his past. Kal expresses her gratitude for teaching her how to be a good chef, and they talk a bit about what Kal have been up to. She tells him she spent some time in Jasperset, before heading west, and eventually meeting up with the rest of The Flock. She asks Throk about his faith, after telling him about her own… issues with Udall. He tells her he’s a follower of Yondalla, and Kal mentions that Granny followed the same god. On the subject, she asks if he knows anything about Shehemis, and he knows little more than what they already know, that he is a trickster god who likes to have fun with people, mostly harmless. They spend a few hours talking, before Kal heads to bed, finding Elmroot fast asleep with drool pooling on the floor next to her.

Gathering Intel

The next morning, after having breakfast, they split up to do different errands. Penny wants to spend her money, being fearful that she might lose all of her gold if she ever is cornered like she was last night again, with Kal coming along for the ride. Dandelion wants to research more about the cleric that Udall had 2500+ years ago, but first wants to talk to Honeypot about her curse, while Fie recons a bit more on the location of the daughter of Ranesh..

Penny and Kal head to Scry Me a River, the only reputable magic shop in town, and she wants to find an instrument of the bards, and also a weapon of sorts that might be useful. They are led to a side-chamber, full of various instruments, both magical and non-magical. She is immediately drawn towards a lyre, but it proves too expensive, but Vontara suggests that she can hold it for a while, considering it is basically just collecting dust at the moment, and Penny tells her she will be back when she has the money. She also suggests, if Penny is looking for protection, to talk to Deacon Ember in Elvenroth. Penny takes it into consideration. 

In the meantime, Fie is doing more recon in the Cotton Wharf, and finds that there have been another attempted arson, but this time the city was prepared, and the damages were not as severe. There is no sign of the woman among the onlookers however. He spends some time when he is there to examine the concentration of rats, to see if there is any particular area that is more or less affected, but it seems that it is rather evenly distributed. Discouraged, he heads to the magic shop Scry Me a River, just missing Penny and Kal as they leave.

The Castle

Dandelion heads to the castle, and provides her writ of passage, allowing her to enter to talk to Bertram and Thervan. She asks if there is anything that she can do about her curse, and Thervan thinks the description matches the “curse of the dying breath”. Basically, they have taken her last breath from her. When it comes to fixing it, it would either be to return The Crystal Ball to where they took it from, or have someone else steal it to transfer the curse to them. Dandelion doesn’t think either of these solutions are fitting, considering the hags are dead, and she doesn’t want anyone else to be cursed. Another solution would be to find a hag that could remove the curse for her, but that usually comes with a cost. She mentions Wanda in Elvenroth, whom both Thervan and Bertram has had dealings with. She has to consider what to do. She then asks about research and how to go about it, to which both of them mention that the Royal Athenaeum in Elvenroth is the best place to do that, but it is costly, about 50gp per week spent researching. Next, she mentions the attack on Penny, and they seem to know who is behind it, without mentioning a name. Bertram mentions that he got a message about Penny being attacked, but didn’t think any of it as it was very limited information. They promise to send someone to look over them when they are in Ravenforge, to try to keep them safe. They also mention that their research into The Key is nearly complete, but they need another day to make sure, and that they will call on them. When Dandelion starts talking about not being able to afford it and that she only has “useless copper coins that nobody wants”, Thervan quickly excuses himself, with Bertram politely leading her out, telling her that her friends can probably help her. When she heads out of the castle, she sends Ira and Argus to look for Penny and Kal.

Fie heads to the magic shop, and asks about how one would go about capturing an elemental, specifically an Efreeti. Vontara mentions that the best way would be to use an Efreeti bottle, and that she can acquire one for the small price of 45000 gp. A bit too steep for Fie. If anyone can help, it’s probably the court wizard. Fie thanks for her help, and departs. As he leaves, he overhears a town crier mentioning that the owner of the Transcendence Theater in Tempervale has passed away in a freak accident.

Cleaning Up the Shrine

Penny and Kal are walking in the streets, when they suddenly are “ambushed” by a snow owl, who lands on Penny’s horn, looks down on her, and says “found you”, before flying off. Soon after Dandelion meets them, with Argus landing on her arm, saying “I couldn’t- … FOUND THEM!”. 

Dandelion tells them that she wants to research the cleric of Udall from way back when, but is unsure if it is any point to it, or if it would lead to anything useful. Kal realizes that she can just ask, and they try to find a fitting place, a shrine of Udall for instance, where they can do a commune. After asking around, they are led to the park in The Knot, and all the way to the back, near the outer wall of the city, they find an old, unkempt, shrine of Udall, overgrown with vines and thorns. Penny leaves a silver coin in the offering tray, with Udall booming in the distance. Kal tells her it means he says thanks. They spend some time cleaning it up, with Dandelion summoning 8 ponies to eat whatever they can of the weeds, and Penny summoning a giant shear that she animates to help, and Kal finishes it off by taking water from the nearby lake to clean it as well as she can. When they are done, Kal sits down to do her ritual, with Penny and Dandelion watching from nearby. As she sits down, she can feel that by cleaning the shrine she has been given a boon, and can ask four questions instead of the usual three. 

Will researching your last cleric lead to anything? Yes.

Is Elvenroth the best place to do so? Yes.

Is Faunus an alias of one of the twelve gods? No.

Is Faunus an actual god by themselves? Yes.

Dandelion almost scoffs at this, because of course he is real! Kal and Penny however seem surprised, but seem to like the idea. They head back to the Lucky Duck to meet up with Fie.

As they return, they head to one of the private booths that are available, to talk about what they have learned throughout the day. It seems in Fie’s eyes, he’s the only one who have done anything useful, but they talk a bit about Faunus and the implications of him being real and an actual god. They compare it to wines and magic, and talk about what they are going to do the next day, either go after the daughter of Ranesh, or the vampire they have heard about. Dandelion wants to make a shrine for Faunus in Ravenforge, and shows the rest of the party her portable shrine that she always carries with her. They suddenly remember that they found a key with the symbol of Mova on it, so they might find a lead if they go talk to one of her priests. After a while, and a few drinks, they head back to their rooms for a good nights rest.

The Key(s)

The next morning, when they head downstairs for breakfast, Sanira mentions that someone left a note for them in the morning, a messenger. They open it, and find it’s from Thervan, asking them to return to the castle when they are able to. But first, breakfast.

When the party reaches the castle gates, the guards recognize them, and just let them pass. Thervan is waiting for them at the entrance, and leads them into his office. The flaming ball floating under the ceiling illuminates and warms the room, which is filled with books on one side. The Key is floating on his desk. He tells the party that after much research, they are unable to detect any presence in the Key. It seems that whatever was in it has now latched onto Penny, and it now acts more as a conduit. They were also unable to sense any direction when they tried to focus on it, so they suggest that they head to where Penny has been drawn towards. He also tells the party that they can leave immediately, and that he will teleport them as close as he can, to throw off any prying eyes that are probably watching their every move in the city. The party tells him that they first have some business to deal with, both a vampire, but also an efreet that is wreaking havoc. They have a way of containing the efreet, and have a lead on the vampire, but the cost of the spell to contain it is a gemstone worth 1000gp. After a bit of convincing, Thervan agrees that since they are doing it for the city, he will provide them with a gemstone that will suit their purpose. He gives them a glowing red ruby, and tells them to let him know when they are ready to depart.

The party decides to first go check out the temple of Mova, to see if anyone recognizes the key they found. As they enter, they are greeted by a cheerful priest named Carlos, who tells them that the key won’t be from this temple as they “changed providers” a few years back, but that it might fit in the old temple of Mova in Cotton Wharf. They also ask if he knows anything about vampires, and he basically tells them that it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what a vampire's mortal weakness might be, but basically try different methods when they have weakened it to “see what sticks”. He also sells them holy water, which might help. And also tells them to try to use religious signs to scare it.

Beneath the City

As they head towards Cotton Wharf, they hatch a plan to avoid any minions' eyes that might be watching the place. Penny will turn herself and Kal invisible, with Dandelion wildshaping into a rat, and Fie will disguise himself as a rebellious teenager who acts like he has been “dared” to explore the temple. Surely nothing can go wrong. 

When they head into the rundown temple, Dandelion can feel that she is a bit out of place, but scurries on nonetheless. Fie taking the lead, finds a door in the basement of the temple. A locked door. He tries the key, and several locks open one by one, with the door creaking open. Inside he sees a long hallway leading down into the darkness. They follow it.

After traversing the hallway stealthily for a few hundred feet, they can tell that they must be far underground now, most likely below sea level. Around a corner, Dandelion can hear gnawing of bones, and tells Penny about this, who tells the group. Fie sneaks around the bend, and can see several shapes of ghouls and ghasts. He tries to make quick work of them with a well placed fireball that engulfs the room, incinerating a few, but the rest spring into action. They seem to not be an issue for the most part, but they manage to get a few good hits in on Kal, and when the ghasts die, they explode in a barrage of entrails and blood, covering Dandelion, causing her to feel infected by something. With the undead slain at their feet, their focus is led towards the door to their right, leading into a sunken tomb…

To The Depths

As the party finish off the final ghast, Elmroot is once again covered with guts and blood. They look to the right of where they come in and see the obviously unlocked door waiting for them, with water flowing out from behind it. They have come this far, no point in turning back now. As they open the door, they are met with a big room filled with water, and a door leading to the north. They examine the room, but realize it contains nothing of worth, so they press on. 

The next door leads to a narrow hallway that is completely submerged by murky water, impossible to see through. The push on through, with Dandelion feeling a grate of sorts on the right wall of the hallway. With a little help from Kal, they manage to open it, and they push through one by one, with Penny holding the grate open, waiting for their return. Inside they find a flooded room, but the water seems to be clearer here, with various debris, but also a locked chest. Fie manages to easily unlock the chest, and inside they find an Adean Stone, as well as 11 gems of various rarities. They return back to the narrow hallway, and venture forth.

The next room is also flooded, and contains a large statue of a naked skeleton with gemstones embedded in its eyes. Dandelion immediately tells Penny not to touch, and they move on to the next door, listening to see if they can hear any dangers. Dandelion can hear a few creatures on the other side.

The Mage

As Dandelion tries to covertly open the door quietly, she can see three shapes on the other side, one undead robed man of some kind, and two more ghasts. They seem to be rummaging through the crates that are in this room. She turns around to quietly convey this using sign language, but is having difficulty, so Fie just attacks him with his eldritch blast, just as the mage turns around to look at the disturbance. He seems to counterspell Penny’s spell, but they manage to quickly take him down, as well as the ghasts, leaving Dandelion once again to remain covered with blood and guts. The mage kept nothing of value other than an ornate ring, and the crates they were rummaging through seemed to contain various religious items and depictions of Mova. They carry on.

Return of an Old Enemy

In the next room, Penny decides to take charge. It is another hallway, but wider. The Water reaches to their chests, and is once again difficult to see through. Fie uses his flying ability to float over it, with Penny stepping out in front, and shoots a few eldritch blasts through the water to see if there is anything there. It doesn’t seem to hit anything, so she decides it’s probably safe enough. As she takes a step too far, she is suddenly attacked by a giant crocodile that was lurking beneath the waters. Penny manages to dodge away from its bite, but it spins around and causes her to be slammed underwater by its tail. 

Dandelion steps up to it and tries to calm it down, but it just replies that it “must protect the mistress”. It leaves them no choice, so they try to take it down. The giant crocodile manages to take a bite out of Penny, and does another death roll, the same kind that made Penny lose her foot last time, but luckily, no body parts are ripped off this time. Fie flies up, and manages to take it down, with Dandelion hearing it’s dying words being “I have failed you mistress…” before floating up to the surface, parts of its face missing from Penny inflicting grievous wounds on it. 

Further Into the Depths

As they push past the crocodile, they reach the next room, which appear to be almost identical to the first room, but half of it is flooded, with yellow spores growing on the flooded pillars. Dandelion recognizes these as a dangerous fungus that spreads poison in the air if it’s disturbed. They take a quick look around the room, but other than the doorway to the right, there is nothing of value in here. They press on.

Immediately when they open the next door they see a small run down room, with a shrine on the opposite wall. They immediately recognize the symbol as that of Emos, the god of Despair and Delirium. It is made of blackened metal, which doesn’t look natural. Among the debris in the room there is a few wooden planks, which they use to make stakes, before they move on to the next room. As they walk past the shrine, they can hear whispers coming from it. They don’t let it affect them.

In the next hallway, before they go through the next doors, Dandelion figures it’s a good idea to listen to see if she can hear anything. On the other side, she can hear movement, whispers, but it soon stops. When they finally open the door, they are greeted with a mostly empty room, a few broken chairs and tables scattered across it, with a large tapestry depicting Mova dominates the opposite wall. It looks well kept and cared for. As they enter, the look around, and can’t find any source of the whispers, before suddenly two vampires emerge from the ceiling, dropping down and attacking Fie. They take a few bites into him, before the rest of the party comes out of their surprise and fights back. Kal summons her spirit guardians to help, which hurts them a lot. They seem to be using some sort of ancient magic, causing them to hurt themselves to feed the other one, but in turn the one that is fed attacks with even more ferocity than before. They can tell that the fight isn’t going their way, and as one burns away from the spirit guardians, the other one tries to escape, but Penny’s animated object and Kal’s mace manages to stop her dead in her tracks (pun very much intended).

With the vampires dead, Dandelion takes a closer look at the tapestry, moving it aside to look behind it, and finds a strong door, that doesn’t appear to be locked. After checking for traps, she opens it. Inside she finds various artworks and statues, definitely worth something, and a fairly big chest, that seems to be unlocked. Penny uses her mage hand to open it, and inside they find a vast amount of platinum pieces. Taken aback at their luck, they quickly scoop the platinum into their bag of holding, taking a short rest before moving on, fearful of what might face them in the next room.

The Vampire

When they open the next door, they come across a fairly big room, a few tables and chairs are scattered around. On the opposite side, a big hooded statue of a skeleton with the symbol of Mova is towering over the room, with a throne beneath it. On the throne sits a lone figure. A pale, dark haired woman, who looks straight at the party. She tells them not to be shy, and to please come in, all of them. The woman introduces herself as Lucretia, and applauds the party for getting this far, while also lamenting that they have interrupted and disrupted their “holy mission” that have been given to her from Emos. She is genuinely impressed by how moronic a few of the party acts, with also being impressed about how much they know. When asked about why she is terrorizing the city, and why she is just lurking beneath it, she tells the party that she is waiting for something to happen, something that will change the world for the better for “her kind”. But it has not yet come to pass, so here she is. Penny asks her patron what she is talking about, but he is not very forthcoming in his answers, but he thinks he recognizes a part of Lucretia somehow. She offers the party a deal, if they allow her to drink their blood, she will leave the city for good. The party is unwilling to accept this offer, and so she realizes that the negotiations have ceased, and asks the party if they are ready. They reply that they are.

End of Negotiations

Immediately, Lucratia jumps into action, and beelines towards Dandelion, jumping into her body, possessing her. The party doesn’t know exactly what to do, and Penny tries to cast a spell on her, hoping to target the vampire, but it just hurts Dandelion instead. Kal first tries to cast protection from evil and good on Dandelion, and is met with resistance, but manages to cast it on her. Dandelion tries to force Lucretia out, but is unsuccessful. Kal then tries to turn undead, which finally manages to push her out. Penny backs up into a corner, hoping to get away, but Lucretia jumps towards her, attacking her. After taking a bit out of her, drinking her blood, Penny goes unconscious, with Lucretia looking at the rest of the party asking who’s next. Dandelion casts a moon beam, damaging the vampire, and Kal summons a celestial spirit to attack Lucretia, who looks genuinely horrified by this. They can tell that radiant damage doesn’t hurt her more then normal, but it seems to hinder her healing ability. 

Knowing how damaging the celestial spirit is to her, she destroys it, before attacking Kal. As she drinks her blood, she looks intrigued by the taste, this is not a mere human. “What are you?” she asks, before Kal blasts her backwards, summoning the celestial once more. Penny, having managed to force herself back into consciousness, polymorphs herself into a dinosaur, as her regular form is too fragile for this battle, and Lucretia seems to see that the party might be too much for her to handle, and looks toward the exit, hoping to make an escape. Before she does that, she takes a bite out of Dandelion, killing her, before trying to run away. But as she turns to leave, Pennosaurus Rex chomps down on her, causing her to be stuck in the mouth of the dinosaur. Kal runs over to Dandelion’s corpse, and resurrects her. She manages to get a glimpse at the dinosaur looming over her, with a vampire sticking out of its mouth, before it rips the vampire apart, causing blood and guts to spew everywhere, before it turns to smoke, disappearing into the wall to the right.

Killing Blow

Fie and Dandelion noticed the hidden door when they first entered the room, and Fie walks over to try to open it, but is unable to find the correct way to do so. Penny walks over, now back in her Infernis form, and casually and confidently flicks a switch. Which turns out to be just a loose rock. Dandelion manages to spot three stones in the wall that are a different shade than the rest, and touches them, causing the door to open. When they enter the extremely narrow hallway, they can see a coffin in the distance, and as they reach it, Lucretia has just reformed her body. They first try to stab her through the chest with the stakes, but it seems to just paralyze her. Penny takes Carlos’ suggestion and rips out the hart, spits on it, before staking it to her head. The vampire smolders to dust, and is dead. In the chest lies a rolled up cloak. It seems to be magical. Fie takes it, and returns to the room with the tapestry, summoning an unseen servant to take it down for him, while he spends some time identifying the items they found. The cloak is a Cloak of the Bat, while the stone is an Adean Stone of Protection. He pockets the stone and cloak, and returns to the others with the tapestry now neatly folded up. 

Kal, having taken a potion of spirit to regain some spells, is exhausted by this, and dreads the return journey out of the temple. Penny and Dandelion is carried out by the Celestial Spirit that still remains, with Kal and Fie uses dimension door to quickly get out and back to the surface.

Returning a Lost Heirloom

When they reach the top, Dandelion and Penny comes out after a short while, still carried by the spirit. They ask if the spirit could carry the tapestry to the nearby temple of Mova, which it would happily do. Walking through the city, they get a few looks from people passing by, especially the city guard, but they assure that he’s just there for protection, and everything is fine. When they reach the temple, the spirit fades away, with Kal thanking them for helping them, and that they hope to see them again. 

Carlos, the priest, greets them, and is impressed by how fast they were able to dispatch the vampire, as they spoke of it just a few hours ago. He happily takes the tapestry as an offering, telling them to just leave it on the floor and someone will take care of it. Dandelion tells him that she died in there, with him immediately going up to her face, asking her what she saw. She recalls that she saw a green and lush forest, with a veil running through it, but it was just a glimpse, as it happened so quickly. Kal notices that he is quite obviously high on something, but they don’t pay him too much attention, and depart, going back to the castle to give their report to Thervan Avalast. Noticing that the walk is way too long for them to take at their current state, Fie hails a carriage to take them to the castle. On the way there, they overhear a town crier yelling that “disgraced forgeblades member Iarno Albrek is to be executed on the first of next month”.

Debriefing

When they reach the castle gates, the guards just let them pass, looking at them in shock, as they seem literally beaten up. Entering the waiting room, Fie tells a guard that they would like to speak to Thervan, who quickly comes out to meet them. He takes them to his office and lets them sit down, being absolutely taken aback at the speed they have found and dispatched of the vampire. When they go through their experience, Thervan starts writing down everything they’re saying, with several onlookers listening in from the doorway, Ansgar Cain being one of them. He shoos them away when they’re done talking, asking if they found any treasure in the temple, assuring them that he will leave it out of the report, with a wink. He tells them that Bertram gave the last associates they sent out to dispatch a vampire a much larger cut of the treasure they found than he was supposed to, but Thervan thinks they deserved it this time. Dandelion tells Thervan that she died, and Kal resurrected her. He tells the party that they should be careful who they tell that to, as some people see resurrection as an abomination that goes against nature. Raven being one of them. Thervan however is not opposed to it at all, implying that he has already gone through it himself. 

With the report finished, and the sun hanging low in the sky, Thervan asks if they would like to join him and his colleagues for dinner, taking them to a grand dining room further in the castle. They are given a full fledged heroes feast, with Bertram, Ansgar and other colleagues joining them. Spending the rest of the night socializing, they eventually head back to the Lucky Duck for some well deserved rest.

Early Morning

When Penny wakes in the morning, she rushes over to Kal and Elmroot room, banging on the door and rushing in, hoping to wake up Kal. What greets her is Dandelion getting a nightly report from Ira and Argus. Seems that Kal had already awoken, so Penny jolts downstairs to the common area to find her. As she reaches the ground floor, she glimpses within the kitchen that Kal is making the morning candy, with Throk looking on. Penny tells her that she wants to go out shopping immediately, but Kal reminds her that it is too soon. When the bells ring nine times, then they can go out, as that's when the shops open.

Eventually, Dandelion and Fie joins the duo downstairs for breakfast, with Throk bringing out the duck bacon and duck eggs, with a salad for Dandelion. They talk a bit about how to capture the daughter, several spells might work, but most likely magic circle, planar binding or even geas, if they get the opportunity. As soon as breakfast is taken in, Fie quickly makes his departure, looking for the black market. The rest of the party head to Scry Me a River, to get Penny’s instrument.

The shopping trip goes by fairly simply, Penny gets her items from Vontara, and Kal helps Dandelion find an animated shield that will protect her, even when she is in wild shape form. Afterwards they find a bench so that Penny can attune to and tune her instrument, and finds that it is always perfectly tuned.

Black Market

In the meantime, Fie, trying to remember his contacts in the city, wanders around for a few hours to find a hint at some safehouse or contact point to get information. In the end, he notices that a cobbler has the symbol of his organization embedded in his sign. He enters the store as a nondescript human, and shows his tattoo. The cobbler points him towards a tailor called “The Lodestone”, owned by a man named Lothor, and tells Fie to ask for “a fine silver robe for a midnight meeting”. Fie thanks for the help, and departs, but not before the man tells him that Delphine is in town, looking for two of Fie’s forms, Lander and Theren. The man obviously doesn’t know that these are forms of Fie, luckily.

As this happens, when the feminine trio has done their shopping, they head towards Elvenroth. In the midst of a heavy autumn rainfall, the party beelines towards the Crown Athenaeum. Dandelion attunes to the Circlet of Intelligence, and has Kal help her do research, while Penny, being watched by the owls, wanders around looking for books to help her get better at math. They spend the rest of the day there, researching and looking around.

Fie, having now headed towards the western part of the city, finds the shop the cobbler was talking about, the Lodestone, and enters, meeting an elderly man, who seems to be working on some light sowing. Fie tells him the secret phrase, and the man eventually leads Fie towards the back, after closing up shop. He opens up a secret passageway that leads downwards, and tells Fie to enter, and that his master is waiting below. 

Fie walks downstairs and finds an antechamber with a bench, in front of a massive double door. He can hear a bell inside ringing, and light footsteps approach the door, before he is greeted by a pale, bald, pointy eared man, with golden orbs for eyes, greeting him. He leads Fie inside, and he is greeted by a cornucopia of various artifacts, mostly sinister looking, some that he has seen before, others seems to be rather distinctive. Fie tells the man, who introduces himself as Moldark, that he is looking for a Rod of the Pact Keeper. Moldark tells him that is not an item he has on hand for the moment, but for the right price, he can have it procured rather fast. Fie pays him for the desired staff, and he gets a red feather in return, and tells him to wait in his room at midnight, when the courier will arrive. He leads Fie out, and he heads back towards the eastern part of the city.

Before the rest of the party returns, Fie disguises himself as an elderly scholar, carrying the crystal ball and some books, and heads towards the Market Town through the Longshade District, hoping to get someone to try to steal the orb. It doesn’t take long before someone bites, as a young, nervous looking man approaches him and grabs his books. Fie plays along and tries to get the book back, and notices that someone else swoops in and grabs the ball. Mission accomplished. He carries on, and turns into one of his personas, and tries to find the daughter. He sadly doesn’t find her hiding spot, but he’s closing in, having narrowed it down to a certain area within the Longshade District now. 

Hellish Delivery

In the evening, the party gathers for supper. Fie tells them that The Crystal Ball has been "stolen", and hopefully this will lift the curse. Dandelion objects to this, as she doesn't want to cause someone else to be cursed, but what's done is done. When midnight approaches, Fie suggests to Penny that she should play something on her new instrument. Penny is happy to oblige, and takes the stage, with Fie sneaking away to his room. Dandelion notices this, but doesn’t follow him. 

When he gets to the room, he hears the bells ring for midnight in the distance. At first, nothing happens, but he suddenly can see a light from behind him. Outside the window, a fiery, hellish portal opens up. He opens the window, and is greeted by a horned devil, staring ominously back at him. The devil holds out his hand, Fie gives him the feather, and the devil hands him a purple looking rod with twirling patterns of black, ending in a macabre design of a bony hand holding an orb. As the devil departs, Fie can hear a man on the street shout “DEVIL! DEVIL IN THE CITY!”. Fie quickly leaves the room, and the rest of the party suddenly finds a small group of city guards rushing in and up the stairs. Dandelion and Kal follow, and the city guards get an employee to open the door, as they head in, searching for the devil. When they don’t find anything, they take the man on the street into custody for making a false report. Dandelion questions Fie about it, but he is reluctant to give any tangible information about what happened, but hints that he conducted business.  

The next morning, the ladies head back towards Elvenroth to do more research, but Penny stays in Ravenforge to look for a tutor that can teach her math. Or “basic arithmetics”, as Fie helpfully told her to say. She heads to the temple of Adea, the goddess of knowledge and magic, and is told that to teach her everything she needs to know will take about 10 workweeks. Penny is not satisfied with this, and tells her that she needs it done within a week. The tutor tells her that is impossible, but they can give her a crash course for twice the price, that will help her on the way. She accepts, and begins her tutoring. 

The Return of the Drow

As evening approaches, Fie heads towards the Longshade District to look for the daughter again, while the rest of the party head towards the town square where Glasstaffis set to be executed. When they get there, a platform is set up for the execution, and near it, they can see Sildar waiting for the arrival, with a heavy set executioner standing next to the platform, waiting. There is also a platform towards the back of the square, set up with a couple of fancy looking chairs, surrounded by city guards, who also litter the area and rooftops surrounding the square. A very regal looking carriage arrives, and out steps King Triston Bouchard, and his daughter, Princess Satine Bouchard. Satine seems quite uncomfortable with the situation, but the king seems fine. He heads to his throne, and is cheered by the crowd, who seems to be mostly fond of the king. He gestures the people thanks, and takes a seat with his daughter. Kal sends a message to Sildar that they are in the square, and ready to help if anything happens, and he scans the area before spotting the trio, and smiles at them, giving his approval.

Shortly after, a prison carriage arrives, and Sildar steps down to assist. Out, in heavy shackles, steps Glasstaff. Sildar takes him by the shoulder, and leads him to the execution block, followed by the executioner. The trio has a bad feeling about this, as they suddenly notice that one of the guards on the rooftop next to them is no longer visible. When Glasstaff is put on his knees, and pushed towards the block, the executioner raises his axe, ready to separate Glasstaff’s head from his body, but before he can bring it down, two arrows suddenly shoots into him from the rooftops, and he tumbles over.

Sildar, holding Glasstaff down, shouts to the guards to protect the king, and takes out his sword. The party notices that the rooftop guards have been replaced by assassins, so Dandelion sends up a beast to help them out, summoning a saber-tooth tiger. The tiger doesn’t last long, as a couple of arrows fired at her causes her to break her concentration. Penny summons a wind wall to protect the king from her new lyre. The guards surrounding the king quickly goes to protect him, and the surrounding assassins focus mostly on the fleeing townsfolk, killing people indiscriminately. After a few seconds, a massive fireball suddenly erupts in the middle of the square, killing several fleeing citizens, to the horror of the party. Kal sends a message to Fie about what is happening, and he quickly takes flight to reach them. She also summons Highwing to finish off Glasstaff and protect Sildar, who is being pummelled by assassin arrows, and has gone unconscious. Highwing does his best, but can’t finish Glasstaff off in time. Penny attacks one of the assassins who is wreaking havoc, and tries to knock him out so they can interrogate them, but he just falls over, dead. She quickly notices a ring they have seen before. Seems the assassins didn’t want to be captured alive. Dandelion, having now taken the shape of a giant owl to fly over to find whatever cast the fireball, senses a presence below her, walking up to the platform. Suddenly, several drow emerge, who helps out in the massacre. The presence that Dandelion felt is revealed to be a drow woman, who approaches Glasstaff. She whispers something to him, and Dandelion, who can read lips, sees that she says “My family keeps what we promise”. She grabs Glasstaff, looks at each of the party members, even winking at Peny, and teleports herself and Glasstaff out of the area. Mission accomplished, the assassins turn themselves invisible to escape, but the party manages to kill a couple of them, with Dandelion managing to actually grab one of them. 

Aftermath

With the chaos winding down, and the rest of the assassins managing to flee, Fie finally arrives and can see the massacre that has taken place. Dandelion drops the assassin she is holding on to into the prison carriage, with city guards disarming them so they can’t kill themselves. What remains in the square is maybe a hundred people dead or dying, with city guards and healers trying to save as many as they can. Kal, Penny and Dandelion walks around, helping as many as they can, before meeting up with Sildar to talk. 

He tells them that he knows not exactly who the woman who escaped with Glasstaff was, but he theorizes that it might be Malice, a highborn drow who has been involved with some shady business recently. They will have to talk to Thervan if they want to know more. The party remembers the name, as Demetrius encountered her during his time away from the party a few weeks back. The party realizes they now have a clear and present enemy.

The rest of the week is spent tutoring, researching and attempting to find the daughter. In the end, Penny gets some progress, Fie manages to discover exactly the house that the daughter is hiding in, and Dandelion, with Kal’s help, manages to find enough information about the last cleric of Udall: Maravin. Her name means “Priest of Storms”, but they are unsure if it’s a title or her real name. She was chosen to prevent or prepare for a great calamity, most likely the Betrayal, and she was granted the legendary weapon Stormseeker by Udall himself. Kal casts legend lore to find out more about Stormseeker…

Rewards

In the morning after the party has woken up, and they have descended down to the lobby of the Lucky Duck to get breakfast, they are interrupted by a group of city guards entering the tavern, looking for them. They approach the party and asks them to accompany them to the castle after they have eaten, as their presence is requested by the king. They finish up their food, and are escorted through the streets, getting looks from bystanders, and are led into the castle proper. Instead of the usual entrance where they go to meet Bertram and Thervan, they are led to the main entrance, and up into the throne room, where the king, his daughter, Thervan and Bertram are waiting for them. As they approach the king, Fie, Kal and Penny bows, shortly followed by Elmroot, who tries her best to copy what the rest are doing. 

The king, whom is a frail old man, tries his best to express his gratitude to the party for saving the life of him and his daughter during Glasstaff’s escape. They have talked about what a proper reward would be, and decided that giving the party land would be a just reward for the deed. They are given a cottage on the outskirts of the city, and it is delivered to them without taxes or charge, free for them to do with as they will. The king waves his hand for them to leave, the conversation having taken a toll on him, and Thervan gestures for them to follow him to his office. 

He seats the party down, and hands them the deed and keys to the property. They ask him who owned it before them, which was a nobleman named Phillip, but he disappeared several months ago, so the house has been reclaimed by the city. 

He also tells the party about their attempted interrogations of the corpses that was brought back after the attack, and the drow’s were unwilling to provide much information, but revealed that they followed “Malice”, and only described her as a “harbinger” or “vanguard” of the Forgotten One’s return. They spoke in an ancient drow dialect so some words have several meanings, but they get the gist. Malice is a clear and present danger to the world as a whole.

Thervan also asks how they are doing with the daughter of Ranesh, to which Fie tells him that they have a location, and are going to attempt to capture her tonight. Thervan promises to try to clear civilians away from the area to the best of his ability, without it being too obvious. They thank him for the help, and depart, to pick up their horses and belongings, to move to their new home. On the way there, Dandelion gets a proper lesson in colors of clothing, taxes, and how cities work versus forest societies. 

A New Home

As the party head southwards out of the city proper, they wander past the local buildings which are situated by the river. Mostly dirt roads, and no bridges crossing the river, it feels quite different from the bustling metropolis inside the walls. After about one and a half kilometer up stream, they reach a cozy cottage at the edge of the city lines, before they reach the hills and forests beyond. A decent sized cottage, with a couple of trees in the garden, which is overgrown. Seems to be at least two floors, with a small stable for the horses to roam in. The group immediately gets started, and enters the home to see what they have to work with. Looking through, there seems to be 5 bedrooms on the top floor, a kitchen, dining area and living quarters on the ground floor, as well as a cellar, with one long room that leads to six smaller side chambers. Fie discovers that one of the rooms appear to be the start of a permanent teleportation circle, but otherwise it seems to be cleared out. 

As Dandelion starts working on the garden, the rest tries to search through the house to look for what secrets it might hold. They discover a tunnel leading from the kitchen to a trap door hidden in the grass just beyond the fence, which would be useful if they need to make a quick escape. In the dungeon, Fie discovers that there are several hidden compartments in the walls of one room, and in one of them he discovers a dagger. It seems to be a peculiar dagger that can be used to heal as well as wound. He names it Caduceus, and takes it for himself. At the same time, he hides the Spider Staff that belonged to Nezznar in one of the compartments, and heads back upstairs. 

Kal, having found stand to keep her armor at night, takes it upstairs, before heading outside, looking for a place to make a shrine for Udall. She discovers a set of natural standing stones beyond the fence, and starts working on it, hoping to make a shrine for everyone in time. Dandelion, having done what she can with the garden, also heads inside to check it out, and hangs up her old shield in the hall in the dungeon, a memento she doesn’t want to lose. Penny, wandering through the house, tries out the beds. Not nearly as comfortable as the ones in the Lucky Duck, but it’s theirs at least. She picks the room that gets the best view and sunlight, so she takes the southwestern room. At the end of the day, they prepare a small patio just outside the kitchen doors where they can have their meals in the evenings. When dusk approaches, they head back to the city to confront the daughter.

Ashes to Ashes

Fie, knowing where she is holed up when she rests, leads the party to the area. Kal, having already prepared by asking Udall what they should do, thinks it’s best to try to capture her where she rests, as attempting to lure her somewhere has too many moving parts that can go wrong. They take heed to alert the fire brigade that they might be needed in the night, so they prepare as best they can. When they reach the house the daughter resides in, the rest of the party hides, with Dandelion turning into a pigeon to look around for the target. She discovers that the house is empty, no lights or people, but she can see a pair of feet sticking out in the bedroom, someone is either sleeping heavily or dead on the ground. She returns and tells the party this through Penny. She then returns to the rooftops, waiting for the daughter to return. 

They don’t have to wait too long, as after a few hours, Dandelion notices the flares that Fie described in the streetlights. A silhouette of a woman can be seen emanating and disappearing, going down the street to a torch outside a building, and the daughter emerges. She tries her best to hide her face, and returns to her home, and the party sees that the light turns on inside. 

The party sneaks up, with Dandelion casting a spell to make them more stealthy. Kal approaches the window, and just as she is about to cast Magic Circle, Fie turns her invisible so she won’t be seen the moment before it is cast, and the spell goes off. A circle emerges in light and disappears, reaching just beyond the door. The daughter, who was resting in the middle of the house, looks up, and tries to find her assailant, just as Kal starts casting the spell to bind her to her service. Penny has started to cast Tiny Hut, so Kal retreats to her, as the daughter opens the door, demanding to know what is happening. Dandelion tries twice to charm her, but she manages to resist both times. Fie, still invisible, changes his voice to sound like Ranesh, telling her that they are her to bring her home. It is clear the daughter doesn’t want to come home, so Fie becomes visible, explaining that she has to, as he works with her father. This angers her, and she attacks Fie with her fire. Dandelion tries one last time to charm her, and this time, thankfully, it works. The daughter, now looking lethargic, begs the party to kill her or release her, because she does not want to go back. She claims she killed the owner of the house she is living in, and that she deserves to die for what she has done. The party is not convinced, even after she tells them that she faces eternal torture if she returns to the fire plane. She explains that she has wreaked havoc in the city to have someone come kill her, as she is unable to end her own life. She is in pain, and she tells Fie that she was like him once, that Ranesh promised her fantastic things, but she was relegated to be his slave. He will do the same to him. Fie assures her that this is not the case, as their contract does not mention this. Noticing that her words are not going to be heeded, she returns to the house, closes the door, as fire erupts through the windows. The fire brigade arrives to contain the fire, as the party waits the hour needed for the spell to be finished. 

When they enter the house, the daughter bound to Kal’s service, she looks defeated, down at the floor. They surround her, with Kal telling her it’s time to come home. She looks at the party, and without a word, she disappears in a flash if fire, returning home to the Elemental Plane of Fire. Ranesh disappears from Fie for a short while.

Waiting for Ranesh to return, they use speak with dead on the man in the bedroom. What remains at least, as the fire has reduced him to a skeleton. He tells the party that he died of a heart attack, and that his last wish is that they look after his cat Kitten, that was with him when he passed. It seems that he doesn’t know about the daughter, and that she didn’t actually kill him.

When Ranesh returns, he thanks the party for their help in bringing back his daughter Saris. He tells the party, when they call him a bad father, that this is a great test for new recruits, hinting that he willingly allowed her to escape to have Fie try to bring her back. Dandelion gives him a stern look, but Ranesh doesn’t mind it. On the contrary. He tells Fie that for accomplishing this task, he will grant him a lesser wish, which can be redeemed in the next 30 days. As he departs, Dandelion calls him a bad god, but Fie hears him relishes in being called a god, so the insult is moot.

The party tells the city guard that the danger should be over, and they in turn tell them that there was a fire on the other side of the city, most likely Saris’ doing, but they have it under control. The party heads back to their home to eat and retire for the night. They spend the rest of the evening discussing Fie’s contract with Ranesh, and what it means to have free will. Dandelion is curious to know about their arrangement, and Fie explains that he provides Ranesh with secrets, and Ranesh teaches Fie magic in return. Noticing the ambiguity in the subject, Ranesh emerges to explain that Fie has nothing to worry about for now, their agreement is sound, and that Saris betrayed him for another genie that is “no longer around”. He departs once more, the matter dealt with.

Before going to bed, Fie checks Dandelion’s curse one more time. It has changed, but is unsure in what way. Kal promises to try to remove the curse tomorrow when she can prepare it. Dandelion asks the owl to watch the house for the first night, with Fie setting up alarms on the doors, and they go to bed, for the first time in their own home.

New Day Dawns

In the morning, the owls happily report that all intruders have been taken care of and killed. Mostly rats and bunnies who tried to enter the garden. Dandelion tells Argus that he has to be careful not to eat too much, and he promises to be better. Ira just cuddles up next ot her, happy to have her around. Penny goes to talk to the horses, and tells them that they have to go away again, but they will return shortly, they just have to take care of something important. 

Kal tries once again to remove the curse laid on Dandelion. As she makes contact and the spell is cast, Dandelion gets a glimpse of Hala trying to claw at her, before she vanishes. Fie checks again for a curse, and finds that it is lifted, but is afraid that the flash might mean that Hala is not truly dead. Dandelion shudders, not wanting to relive the whole ordeal with the hags one more time.

After breakfast and saying goodbye to the horses and owls, they head to the castle, ready to depart for the mysterious temple that Penny is drawn towards. They first talk to Bertram, who arranges for a caretaker to look after their house when they are gone. Since they want someone to look after the horses, it will be more expensive, so they give him 60 gold which should pay for someone for a month. He gets one of their keys and tells them he will take care of it.

Thervan is delighted to hear that the party is finally ready to head out. Kal asks if he has any supplies that can help, so he gives them each a potion of healing, before leading them down in the crypts beneath the castle, away from prying eyes. On the way down, they tell Thervan about the unfinished teleportation circle that was started in their new home, and he promises that he can get them a license to get it completed, and offers to have someone do the casting, but that is expensive, costing upwards of 100000gp and takes about a year. Fie assures him he will take care of it himself. 

In the darkness of the crypts, dimly lit by a lone torch on the wall, they gather around Thervan, who tells them that this might not go perfect, so they brace themselves. They all experience a teleportation mishap, and end up around a day’s march outside of Rivergrounds. Thervan tells them he can try one more time, after that they have to walk the rest of the way, or wait another day for him to recuperate. They gather around once more, and they all are pulled into the void, trying to reach their destination.

The Stone Temple

As they emerge from the teleportation, they immediately can smell the strong sea-smell, and hear the sound of seagulls flying above them. Looking around, they have reached a big cliff by the ocean, and they can see a temple looming not far away. It seems that they have reached the right location. Thervan looks relieved, and wishes the party good luck in their hunt, before preparing a teleportation circle to return home. 

Dandelion wild shapes into a giant owl in order to get a good look at the surrounding area. Looking over the temple, she can see that a chasm has been formed, leading to the depths below the temple. They recall that a series of earthquakes was reported at the same time they first acquired the key, so there most likely is a connection. At the end of the chasm, near the beach, she can see a run down cart in the area. She returns to the party to tell them what she saw, with Penny translating. They decide to check out the temple first, looking around to see if they find anything useful. 

When they approach, the rest of the party gets a better view at the ravine. It’s peculiar, because it appears that the ground just gave away, falling straight down instead of the earth splitting. Above the temple doors, in primordial, the name “The Stone Temple” can be seen engraved. The temple is run down, not being in use for hundreds of years. In the centre of the main room, which used to be the main room, and is now a courtyard of sorts due to the open ceiling, a big looking “well” can be found. Fie looks into it, and can see that the floor below has collapsed to the depths below. Dandelion, who is flying above, only sees darkness, so she descends to get a better view. When they walk around the opening, they can see several statues of people on the parts of the floor that did not collapse with the ravine. He immediately gestures for Kal to look after Penny in case she decides to jump into the opening, and then explaining that they might be where Morgan Lowblade is trapped. Penny assures the party that she’s not going to jump in, but wants to take a look. She can’t see Morgan, but she indeed recognizes the pattern on the floor from her scrying.

Hoping to be better prepared, they decide to take a rest for the rest of the day, so they can prepare in the best way for whatever they will find inside. As Dandelion and Fie flies around the ruins to try to discover what is lurking within, they find references to a monster that was worshiped a long time ago, but they can’t find what was worshiped, as the information is lost to time.

Afterwards, they descend to the entrance of the ravine, and Penny immediately recognizes the cart, and the carvings within. This was hers and Morgan's. Penny curls up into it, and starts crying. They make camp for the night.

The Monster Within

In the morning, Kal casts divination to ask her god what is lurking within the temple. She gets a short reply, that it is Ophelia, the serpent medusae. Medusae petrify their victims when they look at their faces, but their blood can cure victims for a short while. Kal asks Penny to be prepared to create mirrors. Dandelion summons a rat, badger and dire wolf from her bag of tricks, and the party prepare whatever blessings they can have and trek into the depths. They are being careful to avert their eyes as best as they can to avoid being caught in Ophelia’s gaze.

The entrance has collapsed, but the ravine has made a side passage available. They enter it, and eventually reach the massive chamber that collapsed from the temple above. Around them they can see several statues of people who have fallen victim to the medusa’s petrifying gaze. Everyone appears to be looking in different directions. Penny immediately recognizes the room from her scrying. Surprisingly, it’s not completely dark, as sunlight from above bounces around through a few openings, but they can hear some type of movement, like stone scraping against stone. Dandelion casts Pass without Trace again, hoping to cloud their movement, and Fie casts detect magic. He immediately notices a few magical items on a couple of statues, as well as a powerful magic emanating from a rucksack nearby. Dandelion sends her dire wolf to fetch it, and it returns to them, passing by a statue on the way back. Inside they find a violin, as well as Penny’s flute. Penny recognizes the violin as Morgan’s Harany Viol so they look around for him. In the middle of the room,, they see a man, intact, but petrified, a sword protruding from his chest. Beyon the temple boundaries, they can see another opening, which looks like it doesn’t belong. Like it was here long before the temple, and made of a different material. 

As they try to sneak closer to Morgan, they can hear a voice calling out, surrounding them;

“You dare enter my domain… who are you?!”

Two arrows fly out from the centre of the room, where what they first thought was a statue appears to be the medusa, firing at them. They hit Penny and Kal, and she slithers away to the side, trying to hide. Fie immediately tries to fly away, but is held back by a statue that suddenly lunges at him, holding him down. The statue covers him with some sort of sludge, that weakens him. He uses his far step to escape it’s grasp, and manages to clear himself of the sludge. He stays in the air, to be out of their reach. 

More statues enter the fight as the party tries to attack the medusae, and Dandelion sends her beasts to attack the main enemy. The dire wolf tries to attack Ophelia, but she manages to dodge it. In retribution, it forces it to gaze into her eyes, but luckily it manages to resist. Sadly, when Ophelia gets her turn, she bites the dire wolf with all her powers, and the dire wolf sadly disappears.

The medusa spends her time at a distance, but when she sees who is being the most troublesome, she emerges from hiding to attack Kal directly, manging to do a decent amount of damage. This proves to be her folly, as the party is prepared to resist her powers of petrification, and Dandelion manages to finish her off by casting a moonbeam above her, ending her terror.

Reunions

Penny, in the middle of battle, focuses only on Morgan. She sees that the medusa has been slain, and her blood is pooling next to her. She sticks her hand into the blood, and smears it on Morgan’s forehead. As parts of the blood droops down his face it reaches his lips, and Penny can see that his color slowly starts to reappear. The rest of the party finishes off the remaining statues that are present, with a terrible flash of how they died, tormenting the party when they do so.

As the danger recedes, Morgan collapses to the ground. Penny immediately pulls out the sword from her mentor's chest, and tries to heal him. He opens his eyes, and looks up at his dear student, with a smile.

She helps him get back on his feet. The rest of the party, having taken care of the dangerous statues, return to the pair. Kal introduces herself, and Morgan greets his “sister”, even though Kal refuses to accept that they are siblings. Morgan explains that “mother” predicted that they might meet each other, but she got some things wrong. She thought Fie, who introduces himself as the half-orc Keth might look different, and he thought there would be more people. Kal explains that they left the party to go on their own paths. Penny wants to know why Morgan left her. He explains that he was under strict guidelines from Mother and Father that he had to try to get the artifact that resides beneath this temple. He didn’t want to put Penny in danger, but he hoped (correctly) that if he took something valuable from her, she would do what she could to find him again. He is glad that he was right, but is saddened by the fact that it seems that Penny is under the influence of an otherworldly presence. 

He explains to the party that he cannot go on. Mother cannot see what is beyond the doors, so he is not allowed to enter as he has failed. The party has to finish the task. His kind is not permitted beyond the doors. Penny asks why Kal can, and he simply tells them that she has fallen, so she is not bound by the same rules. 

While this is happening, Dandelion has been walking around, trying to wake the other statues that is in the area. Most are broken and missing parts, unable to be awoken again. Luckily, she finds one lone statue that seems intact. She smears the blood on the lips, and slowly but surely, the color returns to the woman’s face, and she reanimates. A short, half-elven woman. She loudly asks where she is, before giving Dandelion a very awkward hug, as thanks for saving her. Apparently she has been trapped for over 110 years. She introduces herself as Arin, and tells the party that she was looking for treasure, but her companions fell to the medusae, and she was petrified trying to escape. She will gladly join the party to return to civilization. 

The party decides to take a short rest, using the coffee pot to shorten the time. Morgan and Penny both help by granting their songs of rest, with Morgan giving each party member bardic inspiration before heading below. Morgan and Arin will try to piece together some of the statues to see if they can save more people.

When they approach the entrance, it seems to be a solid slab of a strange stone, no cuts or discernible markings. Kal suggests that Penny hold up the key, which she does. Nothing happens. Until Penny touches the door with her finger. A crack suddenly appears, and the doors swing open outwards. Inside there is a hallway leading even further below, turning around. It is illuminated by a blue/green light that lights up the whole area, with no visible light source. What they quickly notice however, is that Vuthul is with them. At this point they can all hear him, and sort of see him. They can only make out the shadows he casts on himself, not his whole being. It is disconcerting. The party can hear Vuthul being excited that they are so close to their goal. And since Vuthul has granted Penny her wish of finding her mentor, she has to do what she promised him. To free him. Dandelion in particular does not trust this being, and the party wonders what they will do when they reach their goal.

As they reach the end of the hallway, they are faced with a small room, with a huge triangular door. In the door is an indent in the shape of the Key. Before they manage to do anything, they notice a presence in the room with them. A small voidlike being, almost like a shadow, but more solid, emerges from the corner. Vuthul assures Penny that it cannot harm her, but she doesn’t want it to hurt her friends. Dandelion manages to get in a limited amount of damage, and as the rest of the party tries to attack it, they notice that it is immune to most magical damage. Force seems to work fine, as does regular mundane weapons. They manage to take it out, but Fie, which is what the being focuses on most can tell that it tries to drain both his lifesource and magic. Fie teleports away after being forced into a corner, and manages to finish it off after both Kal and Dandelion (who has wild shaped into a bear) wounds it. Penny slots in the key in the door, and it slowly descends into the floor, revealing the chamber within.

The Black Flame

Inside, a massive pyramid shaped chamber, lit up by the same ever present light, but lesser than before. The walls seem to be made of a dark stone of sorts, and the corners are lined with what appears to be gold. In the middle of the chamber, the only thing of note can be found. A pillar, with a platinum triangle hovering in mid air, surrounded by black flames emanating from the pillar below. When they enter the chamber, they can see Vuthul even more clearly, almost completely, but still transparent. He smiles as he sees the artifact in front of them. 

Kal really doesn’t want Penny to grab the triangle, as they are unsure what Vuthul will do once he gets his hand on it. She tries to grab it herself, with Vuthul standing by, egging her on to try to take it, clearly wanting to see her make the attempt. She senses that the flames stop her from reaching it, and at the same time drains away her life force. She pulls her hand back, thinking a bit about it, before jamming her hand into the fire. 

She feels that she quickly begins to become extremely exhausted, as her life energy is drained away. This does however cause the flames to shrink. Penny joins in, followed by Fie and Dandelion (still in bear shape). As they allow the flames to drink their lives away, the fire slowly but surely drains away at the same time. Eventually, Kal has to back out, as she feels that she will no longer be able to move or even survive if she persists. She pulls her hand away, and Penny, still holding on, can feel that the flames give way as the last life force that was needed is drained from her. Her hand makes contact with the triangle. Before the rest of the party even has time to react, she is compelled to combine the two parts of the key by her patron, who stands by, smiling. The rest of the party however, when this happens, can see the energy flowing from the key, up through Penny’s arms, into a point in the back of her head, which flares beneath her hair, before fading. They look at each other, and without saying anything, Kal touches her hand to Penny’s head, where the energy converged, and tries to cast greater restoration. Vuthul senses what is happening, and apparently tries to reach his hands out to Kal. Dandelion tries to take hold of him, but she passes through him. He’s not corporeal enough to be stopped. Kal focuses her divine powers to try to sever the connection, focusing with all she has left. She feels the spell take hold. Penny, feeling the energy draining from her body, and back into the key, drops it to the floor. Vuthul, mid lunge towards Penny and Kal, vanishes in a puff of smoke. Penny can hear silence for the first time in months.

A Bond Broken

Penny, having taken a lot of damage from the ordeal, is confused at first. She can’t tell where her patron has gone, and has no more voices in her head. She asks for a book, and tries to read it, but understands nothing. Dandelion tries to ask her what happened, but Penny doesn’t understand her. She is finally free, at the cost of her warlock powers.

Fie, being smart, uses mage hand to wrap the key in some wrappings, being careful not to make direct contact with it, and stuffs it into the bag of holding. As he holds the wrapped key in his hands, he can hear voices, which quickly snuffs out when he drops it. The Key is no longer attuned or attached to anyone, they are free of him.

Penny, Kal and Fie hug each other, with Dandelion joining in as a bear, slowly returning to her normal self. They think that Fie should find a persona which is fond of hugging, so he turns into an elven woman, kindly looking. They have to come up with a name for her.

All of them, having had their lives drained by the flames, are too tired to walk all the way back up to the top, so Penny uses her bardic powers to summon a table, which she animates to walk them all up the winding hallways. It goes much faster than they normally would in their condition.

When they reach the top, Morgan and Arin are trying to put people back together, but it proves an impossible task as there are too many parts and impossible to find which ones stick together. They give up, and want to head back to civilization instead. Morgan goes over to give Penny a hug, noticing that something is different about her. She seems happier. She gives him a hug back. Fie starts preparing a teleportation circle, to bring them back to Ravenforge. The rest of the party asks Arin if she would like to help out in their home until she can get back on her feet, to which she gladly accepts, as she realizes she probably has no relatives out there, considering she never had kids. As Fie finishes the teleportation circle, he shapeshifts into Lander as this is the form he is known as where they go. Arin points out that she has to be let in on what is going on with him, as this is the third shape she sees him as. Penny asks Morgan if he can help her regain some of her magic, as her Patron left her hollow. Morgan would be honored.

The Long, Short Way Home

When they return to Ravenforge, the weather is violent, a brutal thunderstorm looming over the city. Kal asks Udall if this means that he is happy, but she doesn’t really need an answer. Being lethargic, they hire a cart to take them to their home. When they reach the cottage, they slump down in whatever chairs they have left, with Arin making a simple stew that they all quickly scoff down. Fie goes to the cellar and hides the key in one of the hidden alcoves, and places an alarm on it, in case someone sneaks in. With NO exceptions for who triggers it. They eventually go to sleep in their respective resting places, waking up to the new day having grown more powerful after their experiences. Penny, having the best sleep she has had in several months.

END OF PART TWO

A New Dawn

As the party lays their weary heads to rest, dreams take them, and they fall into a deep slumber. Dreaming of themselves, and how they have changed over time, dreaming of the echoing shadows that haunt them but is kept at bay, of home and family, but the necessity of doing the right thing, and dreaming of chasing the past. As they awaken in the morning, they arise stronger than they did the night before. 

Elmroot wakes to Argus and Ira looking over her, concerned. They tell her that she moved a lot in the night, as if she was having nightmares, but she assures them that it was a good dream. Pennywakes, feeling calm and rested, with no voice in her head, or a god looming in her sights. She is finally free. She can hear violin music coming from downstairs, so she runs down to join Morganto play with him. Dandelion eventually joins in, after coming inside, but is not nearly as good as the bards.

When Kal wakes, she notices that surrounding her bedframe and the walls, are tiny scorch marks, like lightning have been emanating from her body. She can hear the music from below, but is hesitant to join them. She tries to meditate, to remember her dreams, but it’s difficult. After a while she decides that she wants to make a mural on her wall of a storm.

Fie, waking up after sleeping in his ring decides that he needs more pillows. A lot more. But first, he joins the group downstairs. They play a while, before smelling something burning, so they run up to Kal’s room and see the mural that she has been burning into her wall. Luckily there was no fire. She decides to not put on her armour, but instead wear civilian clothes, before joining the rest for breakfast. Arin helps Dandelion make it, before joining them. 

After breakfast, they decide to head to the castle, to deliver the news about the Key, and decide to bring it along. Fie heads to the basement to retrieve it, and when he opens the hidden compartment in the wall, the Key, which was wrapped tightly, is lying there, having broken free from its bonds. He can hear a slight whispering from it, and it seems to be resonating with some kind of energy. He uses mage hand to carefully wrap it back up, before placing it in the bag of holding. 

Reporting In

Penny makes a carriage for the group, and they take a couple of horses to the castle, as half the group is too exhausted to walk. The owls keep a watch on the way there, noticing that at least 10 people seem to be observing their movements. But there is no ambush, so they arrive at the castle, and enter Bertram’s office. When they enter, there is a bunch of books, notes, tomes and papers, many with various depictions of the key, but also a peculiar drawing of a fancy looking knife, which Penny takes notice of, and picks up. Bertram asks if it’s safe to talk with Penny in the room, and they assure him that they managed to sever the connection to Vuthul, so she is no longer a vessel for him. He appears to be delighted by this development, and shouts into the hallway to Thervan that he can leave the shackles. Thervan shortly appears with a fancy looking contraption in his hands, and is pleased to hear this. Bertram and Theran notice the drawing Penny have picked up, and ask her if she’s seen the knife before. She tells them she saw it in a dream once, when Vuthul first made her his warlock. She uses major image to recreate the scene to the best of her recollection, with Bertram taking notes about what they see, and updates the illustration of the blade. Thervan explains that the blade is, as far as they have been able to translate, known as “Vuthul's Slaughter”. It appears to be an artifact, supposedly one that the Forgotten One used to kill when he was still on this plane. Penny remembers that she dreamt that she, as Vuthul, choked Roshan to death. Thervan theorizes that this is just how her mind made sense of the situation, as it probably wasn’t as literal when it actually happened. 

Thervan goes on to explain that there are several artifacts that are associated with the Forgotten One: The Key, the blade, a tome called Liber Obscurum, which he supposedly wrote. But there are probably many more out there. Over time several places associated with Vuthul have been discovered as well. They tell the party about the Abbey of the Black Prince which they went through some months ago. Inside resided a Vampire, supposedly created by Vuthul himself, as there was a shrine to him inside. Bertram theorizes that if the other party hadn’t stopped him, he most likely would become a much bigger threat. 

Having learned what they can. Thervan offers to take the Key off their hand for a while, for study, and since Penny is no longer bonded to it. Fie is about to put his hands into the bag of holding, but stops himself at the last second, realizing that the Key might be unwrapped again. He instead empties it out, dumping everything inside on the floor. And sure enough, the Key falls to the floor, unimpeded by the cloth. Thervan quickly puts it in the fancy contraption he came in with, and it surrounds the key with intricate metals and a glass front, allowing it for easy transport. Seeing the items from their journey, they mention that they found a sending stone that belonged to Nezznar. Thervan asks if they heard a voice, and if it was a woman, which Kal confirms. They realize that this is most likely Malice. Fie picks up the Ring of Mind Shielding, which contained the soul of one of the cultists they killed. It seems the soul has passed on, so he dons it, to hide his true nature from prying eyes.

Time FOr Relaxation

Seeing as the party has some time for themselves now, Bertram tells them a secret phrase they can use to identify that the ones they send to the house are actually their agents. As they leave, Kal asks if they have any leftover furniture that they can get to decorate their home. Bertram figures they probably have some old stock lying in storage, so he will put together a package and have it delivered in the evening. The party thanks the duo, and departs, going to the city to get some supplies for some DIY and a bathtub. Kal, on the way to the city center sends a message to Trixie, telling her that Morgan is alive, and that she should come to Ravenforge at her earliest convenience. 

Going around the city, they all decide that a nice relaxing bath and massage sounds like the best medicine right now, so they go out to find one. There are several options, some brothels, some regular bathhouses, but they just want to relax, so they go to a normal one. Fie changes themselves into a female high elf, called Falucial. Dandelion is not totally on board, but comes along, as Kal pays for her stay. They all get taken into a wardrobe where they undress, and is taken to their cubicles containing a bathtub filled with lovely hot water and soap. At first, Dandelion is uncomfortable, but settles quickly when she can feel how skilled the masseuse is at her job. The rest just allows the process to happen, taking in whatever pleasure they can get. When they are done, they put their clothes back on, and find them cleaned and refreshed, much to their delight. Before they head home, they commission a carriage with some secret compartments and a bigger layout, as well as whatever supplies they need for the aviary and tub. In the evening, they have a home cooked meal made by Morgan and Arin, and the shipment from Bertram arrives, with decent furniture, some artworks and loads of pillows of various sizes and colors. Fie grabs a bunch and throws them in his room, making it much more comfortable. Dandelion looks at the artworks and is having a hard time understanding the point. Morgan explains to her, after she asks, what a museum is, as Demetrius’ explanation left much to be desired. 

Just before bed, Fie sneaks out to the horses, and takes Wildfire to the side. He touches the horse’s forehead, and asks Ranesh to give him the limited wish he asked for. Wildfire is spooked, trying to get away, but is quickly transformed into a hellbeast, a Nightmare, with flaming mane and tail, crackling skin like lava flows beneath it, and rears its legs, towering over Fie. He returns Wildfire to the other horses, who looks shocked. Kal, having watched the whole transformation, looks at Thunder, and asks her god to intervene to do something similar. Unfortunately, he does not hear her prayers.

10 Weeks Later

As the party settles into their new home, they spend some time learning some new skills and proficiencies, as Penny has to retrain as a bard again, having lost some of her power due to the severance. Dandelion spends some time with a person teaching her to read people, and socially interact with them. Fie spends some time with a ranger trying to be more perceptive. Kal spends her days studying at the Crown Athenaeum, learning about religion and trying to find out more about the Betrayal, with Penny also learning from Morgan how to be more deceptive.

During this time, the Day of the Dead is celebrated all over the plane. Fie and Kal celebrates privately, with Morgan and Penny going to the temple to go to the ceremony which is being held there. The owls, now no longer charmed by the spell, have come to love their new family, and decides to stick around.

Kal learns that Faunus is a newer good, but the researchers have seen them do miracles, so it is definitely a real god. She also learns that Rexendell is where most of the conflict with the drows took place. Asimaria and Krawdoth to the south was mostly affected by the lack of sun for several years. The biggest battle happened in the fields south of Twilight Peaks, and the massive loss of life caused the area to be forever cursed. Apparently the drow were after an artifact that was contained in a temple in the area. She also learns that the drow army was led by a brother and sister, whose name is lost to time. But all signs points to this being Malice and Nezznar, considering the clues (the note in Nezznars belongings, the voice Kal heard from the sending stone).

Northward Bound (Again)

As the weeks pass, toward the end of Penny and Kal’s studies, Dandelion wants to return to her forest to see if she can find her tribe. Morgan uses his ring to teleport them both to Maplemere, before returning back to Ravenforge(not without trouble, as his teleport fails several times and he ends up in a cave surrounded by Rust Monsters.) He returns a day later, and goes to the bathhouse for some R&R.

While Dandelion, Argus and Ira is away, a man appears by the front door. He tells the party he is sent from the castle to bring them there, and gives the correct response to the challenge they were given earlier. Kal drags him inside so he isn’t out in the cold, to the man’s objections. The rest of the party eventually comes down, and heads outside, Fie dreading the cold already. The man whispers something to the driver of the carriage, but they don’t pick up what he said. They head to the castle, with the man awkwardly facing them in the carriage the whole way there.

When they are led to Thervan’s office, and the delightful warming sphere hanging from his roof, he tells the party that they sent a group of peopleup north to the Thax'ning Tribes, as some orcish warbands have been attacking the southern continents villages and hamlets, and attempted to take control of The Northern Fort, which separates the north from the south. They tried to find the tribal leader Murzol the Usurper to broker a peace-deal, but over time they lost contact with the group. They don’t get a response to their sending spells, but they do get through, so they know they are most likely alive. Thervan asks the party if the would be able to head north, retrieve their people, and hopefully bring peace. In return, they will be paid 30,000gp. Thervan offers to supply cold resistance gear free of charge, and that they will sail by boat on the Unsinkable II. The party tells him that Dandelion is visiting her tribe, so they will have to wait for her return, and they also have to finish with their studies, which is nearing its end. Thervan understands, and hopes that it will not be too late. Before they leave again, Thervan asks Penny what happened when she touched the key, and she tells him that the connection was made instantaneously. He tells them that it is disconcerting to hear, as they attempted to make contact with Vuthul by trying to attune to the Key, but when they did, nobody was there. He theorizes that Vuthul is probably attuned to someone else now, but tells the party not to be worried. They can tell that he is VERY worried by looking at him.

A Needle in a Haystack

As Dandelion stands in the field after Morgan returned to Ravenforge, she looks at the forest, and takes out her owls. She tells them that this is where she is from, and they are awed by how big it looks. She agrees, and they all enter the forest. Dandelion uses commune with nature to try to find firbolgs or goblins, as she knows Droop made it to the tribe. Nothing in the area. It’s a big forest, and she will have to be extremely lucky to find the right location. After a couple of days searching, she sends a message to Kal, asking if she can try to get Udall to show her the way. She tries to cause a divine intervention from Ravenforge. As Dandelion sits in the forest, she can feel the wind picking up, and looks up. Udall is standing over the forest, and points to the northeast. Dandelion gets a direction and distance imprinted into her head, and takes flight with her owls. After about a days travel, she lands in the area, and can sense the presence of firbolgs and a goblin. She keeps walking, and eventually hears a voice. A familiar voice. Hawk. He is standing by a tree, doing his business. She quickly apologizes and turns around, but before she knows it, she is tackled to the ground by Hawk giving her a big hug, asking where the hell she came from. He takes her to the rest of the tribe. They are all sitting together around some campfires, talking and conversing, but they all stop when they see Dandelion. Sage, looking stern, walks over to her, and looks down at her for what feels like an eternity, before embracing her in a long overdue hug. He apologizes for what they did, and that Wren told them what happened (they didn’t notice he was gone for the first days, but then got worried). Granny also told them what Dandelion has been up to. Aster and Bear come to greet their daughter, and eventually the whole tribe surrounds her, wanting to greet their long lost sister again.

Dandelion tells them about the dream she had where she was visited by Faunus, but she wanted to visit them even though she can’t stay. The tribe makes it clear that even though she is on a path and she has to walk it, the tribe will always welcome her back. 

She spends a few days with the tribe, telling them about her adventures, showing off her companions by using disguise self, and wowing the children with wildshapes and souvenirs. Droop walks up to her, and express his gratitude for her saving him. He asks if they killed the black spider, to which she responds that they did, but his body disappeared, so they don’t know if he is truly gone. Droop doesn’t seem worried, since he never met the man, so he’s probably safe. Corn is particularly glad to see Dandelion again. But all good things must come to an end, so she is led by Wren and Hawk to the outskirts of the tribe, where she says her goodbyes, before using the Hearthstone to return to the house. With a blink, she’s back in Ravenforge.

Eve of Departure

Just as she returns, Kal and Fie head out to get some drinks. Kal seems upset or annoyed, ever since Thervan told them about the mission to the north, and Fie wants to know why. After a while, and some drinks, she tells him that it’s just bad memories. She doesn’t want to go up north, but she will, as there is nobody else who can help. Fie has made a new persona, a mid-20s human named Luan. He tries to cheer up Kal, and she gets distracted for a while. In return, she starts asking about his background, and if he ever truly was a caravan guard. He tells her that he knew a guy named Theren, who was a guard, but he passed away on the job. He then took his identity as his own. She asks what he did before that, but him, being the secretive guy he is, doesn’t divulge much, only that he has been involved in some shady stuff. He does however confirm that he is from the same country Kal is. He has picked up that she was in the army, and suspects that something happened there that caused her to have bad memories from north, and she makes it clear she has hard feelings towards her former superiors.

When they return to the house, Penny and Dandelion is sitting talking about maths. Penny has tried to explain to Dandelion what the mission is, but she is leaving out some details, so Kal gets her up to speed. 

Morgan and Trixie gets ready to depart. As Penny is on a quest, and Morgan misses the tour life, suggest that Trixie can tour with him until Penny is done with her task, which Trixie is very happy to do, as she no longer has to pretend to be someone else. They give their tearful goodbyes to each other, with Morgan is making it clear that they will see eachother again. He gives Penny one of two sending stones, so she always have a way of contacting him if she wants to talk. Morgan turns to Kal, and says that he hopes that she will come around to mother, as she is concerned about Kal. She is not impressed, saying if she really cared, she would have made herself known to her. He explains that she probably has, without her realizing, giving her a wink. Before they leave, Penny begs Morgan to tell them something about the path ahead. He doesn’t know everything, as Mova is not omnipotent, she can read hints at the future, but not see it clearly. He does however reveal that he fears not all of them will make it until the end. But that’s just life. 

With a flash, Morgan and Trixie departs to Elvenbridge, to head on a new tour, leaving the party behind, who are ready to head north to save the lost souls, and hopefully bring peace.

Epilogue

Kal, realizing they haven’t heard from Gundren in a while, shoots him a message, asking if he’s all right, and if he heard about Ruins of Phandalin. The response comes quick. He tells them “Yes, we made it out just as that vile woman appeared. Will send payment when forge is reclaimed.”. Kal relays this to the group, and they figure it’s probably Malice being Malice. She sends him a new message, asking if the woman was a drow. He responds that it was a bald human woman with red robes. Surrounded by ghouls. A necromancer.

Seems like the party has some unfinished business to attend.

Preparing for the Trip

The party spends most of the day before leaving to gather supplies. They also leave behind a bunch of gold for upkeep of the house, and promise he horses they will be back. Having lost the cursed crystal ball, they acquire a new focus to use for scrying, and finds a hand mirror that will be suitable. In addition, they buy whatever they can find of diamonds, but due to the dragon attack on Khuzunzan, supplies are dwindling. After shopping for whatever material components they need, they meet Thervan on the docks, who briefs them on the situation. He reminds them that the main priority is to rescue their people, but if they manage to make a truce with Murzol then that would be preferable.

The Unsinkable II

Walking down the docks, they see a fine ship, with an extremely tall Katari captain standing at the helm. He looks at the party, and waves them to approach, clearly having been told who to look for. He welcomes the party to The Unsinkable II, and introduces himself as the captain Windy in the Wind. Elmroot and Kal both ask what happened to the first Unsinkable, but he makes himself busy, not wanting to answer the question. Shame? Pride? It is uncertain. When they board, Dandelion asks where the boat is, and Windy in the Wind steels himself for 5 days with this extremely sheltered individual. Before setting off, he tells the party they’re waiting on the cook, and shortly after a stern looking goblin comes wandering down the docks, dragging a big bag of food behind him. Windy in the Wind warns the party that he is to be left alone, as he has a tendency to stab people who interfere with his cooking. He also tells them he doesn’t know the goblins name, he just makes sounds when they ask him, and they just og by that. Today it seems the name is Grah.

Setting Off

As the ship sets sail in the night, Kal apologizes for the storm that is raging above them, and Windy in the Wind is confused at first, but when he sees her holy symbol he understands. He says it’s fine, he’s been through worse. Dandelion spends most of the trip being nauseous as she has never set foot on a ship before. Fie spends most of his days cooped up in his cabin, dreading the cold weather. Penny spends some time writing songs for the crew about the ship, and her performance even draws the attention of some merfolk. Dandelion manages to insult them, so they splash her with some cold saltwater, but Penny is just glad to finally have seen merfolk up close. 

Kal in the meantime, has been trying to befriend the goblin. She does this by simply standing around him when cooking, and doing her best to intimidate him into accepting her. It seems he doesn’t appreciate it at first, but he respects the effort she is putting in. When she starts helping out, she brings out her bag of spices, much to the goblin’s approval. 

The deckhand Hugh approaches Dandelion as she is trying not to be sick due to the unsteady ground, and Kal senses that he is interested, but Dandelion being Dandelion doesn’t notice or realize. Talk about barking up the wrong tree. 

Kal also tries to go into the crows nest, much to the annoyance of the navigator Nalral. He allows her to stay for a short while, so Kal uses her storm magic to look through the storm to see what is ahead of them. She can sense that she can move extremely far, reaching almost 20 miles away by her approximation, before her vision becomes blurry. 

Nearing the end of their journey, by the shore, they see a massive hulking creature, almost like a troll. It appears to have noticed them, and starts walking out towards them. It appears to be an old friend of Windy in the Wind, who introduces himself as Larth. He asks if Windy in the Wind’s passengers are going to behave, referencing a bachelor party that went wrong a while back. He promises that they are just passing through, so Larth gives them a push to send them on their way, making Dandelion lose her footing, falling straight into the arms of Hugh. Hugh and Windy in the Wind share a wink, but Dandelion is too busy trying no to throw up to notice. 

The Northern Fort

As they arrive at the docks, nightfall has come, and so the party sleeps on the ship for the night, before setting out in the morning. Before they do, Kal makes some candies, and gives one to the goblin, much to his approval. So much so that he tries to force her at knifepoint to stay on the ship to keep making food with him. He almost manages to convince her, but she sadly has to depart. They shake hands, leaving on good terms.

Standing by the docks, with Argus and Ira stretching their wings, Dandelion notices that Kal is staring at the storm roaring to the north. She puts her hand on her shoulder, asking if she’s okay. Kal just replies that she doesn’t like the cold. Dandelion feels there is more to it, but doesn’t press it. Standing around, Penny tries to throw a snowball at Fie, but he easily avoids her throw. 

Going east, towards the fort, they can see the winds whipping the snow across the peaks of the mountain. Getting close to the base, they can see a guardpost with a tunnel leading into the mountain. A couple of sentries raise their crossbows and demand to know who goes there. Fie simply responds that they are sent from the crown to reach the north, looking for missing people. The guards lower their crossbows, having been told of their arrival. The party is led by carriage into the tunnel, which appears to be dwarven made, most likely from when the dwarves called the north their homeland. It has since been overtaken by the orcs. After a couple of hours of travel into the tunnel, they reach an ancient elevator. The journey to the top is slow and arduous, and takes about an hour. Getting to the fort, they are led to their chambers for the night, ready to set out in the morning. Looking to the north, they see a massive blizzard raging. Fie dreads the “fucking cold”. He and Dandelion try to walk around to find someone who can tell them more about the north, finding a ranger who tells them that there seems to be two factions, one with blue warpaint. The factions do not seem to get along, and the war painted ones seem to be more hostile. They are warned about howling blizzards, dangerous creatures like dragons, winter wolves, and other creatures that come from below. Another danger is “The Cold”, an unknown entity wandering around restlessly. Extremely dangerous. They are told it would take at least two weeks to reach Darmurd, but they do not recommend going there. Murzol, whom they are trying to reach, never stays in the same place too long, as he has to wander around the various tribes to lead the orcish people. But the ranger recommends to the party that the orcs are violent people, and if they are faced with a group of orcs, the party should run away or kill them before the orcs get a chance. In the evening, Kal asks Udall if the weather is his doing, which it is, but it is not to help or hinder the party, it’s just weather.

Into the Wild

Going down the elevator and walking to the north to exit the mountain, the party dreads the journey ahead of them. It is an extremely windy morning, and a full on blizzard. They put on their snowshoes and sets out. The first day goes relatively fine, no orcs to be seen, no scary monsters, just bad weather, luckily the party has good cleather. They push ahead to find a spot to get shelter from the wind. Penny casts the tiny hut to keep themselves safe, but Fie asks everyone if they would also like to accompany him in the ring to get more comfortable. They do, so they get dragged into it, getting a nice comfortable rest for the evening. 

The next morning the storm has let down a bit, so the owls take flight to scout the area. Argus spots a party of orcs, to the north east. They appear to be painted with blue war paint. Realizing this, the party tries their best to stay hidden, managing to avoid facing the orcs. They seem to be looking for people, but it’s unclear if they are looking for the party in particular or people in general. After the orc party has passed, they stealthily head north, and can see a frozen lake in the distance, most likely Lake Mordol. Kal uses a spell to clear away some snow, with Penny summoning the hut again. Dandelion wants some beasts to protect the ring and hut in case something happens in the night, and manages to summon Mr. Elk again, as well as a giant boar and giant badger. Kal, Fie and Penny all look at each other, having come up with an idea that could make travel faster. Penny uses seeming to make the furry trio look like a Woolly Mammoth with its offspring, with Fie fastening the ring in a thread around Mr. Elks neck. They tell Mr. Elk to travel as far north as they can go, and pop into the ring to rest and travel at the same time. 

Long Lost Relics

When the party emerges from the ring in the morning, just before dawn, Mr. Elk looks tired. The badger disappeared in the night, having fallen behind. Dandelion and Penny give lots of attention to Mr. Elk, and before he disappears as dawn approaches, he tells the party that he saw a hooded figure in the night, that just disappeared in front of his eyes. It seemed to be observing them.

The party continues their trek, with Ira suddenly spotting something in the distance with his owl eyes. He gestures to them to follow, which they do. In front of them, frozen in a thick sheet of ice, they see what appears to be an ancient door. Kal uses a few charges of Destroy water to make an opening in the ice wall. Penny studies the door, trying to find traps, but it appears to be safe. She tries to open the door, using all of her strength, and manages to force it open. It wasn’t locked, just slow. Darkness can be seen beyond the door. Fie goes first with his fiendish eyes granted to him by his patron, with the rest of the party following close behind.

The door leads to a set of narrow stairs, leading down into the mountain. After a short descent, they reach a hallway that opens a bit up. At the end of the hallway they see a large intricate door that is quite obviously dwarven with dwarven markings and imagery.  Fie and Dandelion both notice that the beautiful floor leading up to the door appears to be pressure plates, and in the ceiling they see a large hammer that appears to reset itself. Fie activates his flying, and floats into the hallway, looking for a switch or button to stop the trap. Guided by Dandelion, he finds a small lever next to the wall, on the ground, that seems to lock them in place, making it safe to pass. The rest of the party approaches, and the door is locked, by a pretty sturdy and intricate lock, but Fie decides to go for it. Guided by Dandelion and Inspired by Penny, he manages to just barely unlock the door, and it slowly opens inwards.

Within, there appears to be an ancient dwarven workshop, dedicated to the study and production of Warforged. It appears to have been untouched for a few thousand years, as a thick layer of dust covers most of everything. They go through the room, finding a bunch of ancient relics and treasures, some potions, tomes and another blank tarot card like the ones they have found before. Penny also finds what appears to at first be a small statue of a dragon-esque creature, but when she turns a key, it turns into a clockwork familiar that follows her around, to help her. 

As the workshop seems untouched, and out of view for most, they decide to stay there at least for the night, getting some good cover from the storm. 

Dangers Below

When the party emerges from the workshop, the weather is mostly clear. Some light snow falls from the skies, but the wind is all but gone. The owls fly around observing the area, watching for dangers, while the party wanders the snow covered lands, heading even further north. It does not take long for the ground to suddenly start shaking violently below them. Fie and Penny both take flight to avoid it, but Kal has no way to fly. Dandelion wild shapes into a giant eagle, and flies over to grab Kal out of danger, and just as she manages to pick her up and soar to the sky, a large centipede-like creature bursts out from the ground trying to eat her. The party, realizing that this thing most likely will follow them if they try to leave, decides to try to take it out. It being a wild beast, the party manages to do a lot of damage to it using int-based attacks, with Kal summoning an insect cloud that covers the area around it, hurting it and making it hard for it to move. Realizing it’s mistake, it tries to burrow underground to get away. Kal and Dandelion lands, with Kal running to the side to make it follow her. Dandelion notice that it is moving towards Kal, so she, Penny and Fie hold spells to attack it when it emerges. As it bursts out of the ground again, ready to feast on the cleric, Penny, Fie and Dandelion all release their held spells, with Dandelion getting the killing blow, causing the Remorhaz to explode, it’s smoldering body parts melting the snow and ice around it. 

Afterwards, the party continues the trek northwards, but nearing the end of the day, both Dandelion and Penny can see a stormwall approaching from the east. It is moving fast, and is almost upon them, only about a minute away. Penny quickly starts summoning the tiny hut, with Kal once more using her Destroy Water spell to clear some ground for her. The stormwall hits just before the party is safe beneath the hut, causing them to take some cold damage. Seems that the storm is very dangerous to be caught in by the unprepared.

The Cold

Sadly, the storm won’t give up, causing the party to lose a little over a day, waiting for the storm to pass. When it does, they continue north once more, but they don’t get far before night is upon them again. Dandelion notices that they are being followed. A large shape is following them, and getting closer. They all realize that the description fits The Cold that the ranger was talking about, so Penny starts summoning her tiny hut once more, trying to get shelter, managing to get it up just in time before the Cold gets close enough. Looking out, they all see the glowing yellow eyes peering into the hut trying to find the party. Penny uses her detect thoughts, and all she can feel is “cold… so cold… need warmth… cold…”. The being lets out a terrifying groan, sending shivers down the party’s spines. Dandelion lights a torch and places it just outside the hut. As her hand exits the hut, it immediately starts freezing, almost getting frostbite, even though it was only out for a second or two. As the creature notice the torch, it moves towards it, immediately extinguishing it, with the smoke almost freezing mid air. Realizing that this creature will not let up, they have to come up with a plan to lure it away. Kal suggests using the thermal cubes and throwing it away, with them running the other direction, but Penny creates an oven, animates it, makes a fire within it, and sends it on its way to lure the creature towards it, away from them. It seems to be working, and they can see the slumbering, hulking creature disappear into the night. They quickly hurry the other way, and manages to summon Mr. Elk once more, doing the same routine of having him carry them through the night. This time, Penny uses Seeming to make it appear to be a larger version of the Cold, ensuring that it will not be disturbed in the night.

A Presence in the Night

As the party rests in the ring, watching the world pass by outside, Fie goes to sleep. As he enters his slumber, he can sense a presence trying to intrude into his dream. He can hear “give it back”, but his Ring of Mind Shielding manages to keep it out, not affecting him. He tells the others about it when they wake, with them wondering who they are and what they want. He thinks it’s fairly obvious, they want the Key back, but they might not know that they don’t have it anymore. 

The Pass

As the party emerge once more, just before dawn, they can see that they have reached a road that leads through a mountain pass. They’re having a hard time thinking about where to go next, continue north, head east, it’s very unclear. They do figure they should stay away from the main road, and sneak around to the south of it. Kal does a divination spell asking where they should go, and is told that “The direct path is not always the best, you should head east”. She casts commune, asking Udall to clarify, and is told to just head east, and they should find their way. She also learns that the missing people are not held at Darmurd, but held by the orcs who use blue war paint. Murzol is not with the missing people, and is not affiliated with the blue-painted orcs.

The party sets east, with Penny using Seeming to transform them into orcs who has blue war paint, having Argus and Ira’s help to describe how they should look based on what they saw a few days ago. Dandelion also transforms her staff into a staff of autumn, to help them with stealth. She also communed with nature, and discovered that there are various game animals, winter wolves, ice elementals and orcs within 3 miles of their location. It seems that there also seems to be an influence from the elemental plane of air in the area, but it’s not possible to pinpoint where.

The party doesn’t have to travel long before they hear rhythmic drums ahead of them, the sound carried by the wind. The storm makes it hard to see or tell where it is, but soon they can see the outskirts of a tribe in front of them. They decide to hide and observe, and notice that there seems to not be any blue warpaint on any of them. They do however see that there are women and children in the tribe. The party stays around for a while, observing, and notices that a couple of sentries wanders dangerously close, but they do not see them, thanks to Dandelion's spell veiling them. Penny uses her detect thoughts, and they seem to be on edge, watching for the “wrong” type of orc. They assume they mean the blue-painted ones. Kal does a commune once more, asking if they should talk to the tribe, but it is unclear. It is clear however that the tribe is not affiliated with the blue-painted orcs. With no way to communicate and them looking like the enemy to the tribe, they decide to move east. As they exit the mountain pass, the storm lets up a bit, making it easier to see, and they can now see that there seem to be more trees in the immediate area. Wanting to stay safe for the night, they look around for an abandoned hole they can put the ring in, before resting for the night.

Fau’Nok

The next morning Fie announces that they have just woken up in a new year. It’s January 1st, and what follows is a discussion with Dandelion about the sun, the planet, and how it moves around the sun. Dandelion is confused, and doesn’t see the relevance.

They continue to head east, staying clear of the road to the north. After a couple of hours, they can see a figure sitting in the snow among the trees to the south of them. Ira is sent to examine them, circling abov, before returning. He tells them that the figure looks like a woman, and kinda like Dandelion, with pain in her face, surrounded by bones, feathers and sticks. They discuss how they should approach her, with Ira suggesting that he can just talk to her. Dandelion doesn’t like the idea as she doesn’t want him to get hurt, but Kal assures her it’s fine. Ira flies over, and they can see that he tries to introduce himself, but this just spooks the woman. They talk a bit, with Ira gesturing toward the party to the north. The woman turns, sees them, and tries to run and hide. The party approaches her, making clear that they mean her no harm. She asks them, in very broken Common, who they are, and why they are here, as they don’t belong, all while holding a knife towards them to protect herself. They tell her that they’re looking for some missing people. She asks them if they follow Grommok, supposedly the leader of the blue-painted orcs. They assure her that they do not, but want to find Murzol. She ponders the situation, and the party asks what she was doing out here. She tells them she is praying to Fau'Nok to help her. This causes Dandelion to absolutely lose her mind, as she immediately hears the resemblance to Faunus. The woman tells them that it is not Faunus, as Fau’Nok is an orcish god, but she has heard of the other gods, particularly Velho, the god of magic, whom she refers to as the god of spirits that grants powers. She was praying for help to clear a corrupted shrine nearby, and if they party can help her clear it, she will lead them to Murzol to negotiate. She tells the party that Grommok’s tribe hails from the Frostfang Pekas to the north, but she doesn’t know where they are exactly. Realizing that the party seems safe, she introduces herself as Draka Earthwhisper. She starts walking west, telling the party to follow if they want to help. Fie curses the gods, feeling like a pawn in their game, but comes along too.

Draka leads them to the mountains, and after some hours into the valley and through a narrow passage, she stops, and gestures further, telling them that the shrine is beyond, and that she hopes they can clear it. She seems forthcoming, but Kal gets the impression that she genuinely does not believe they will survive.

The Being 

Entering the shrine, they can see that it is walled in, with a natural platform next to the northern wall of the half-cave that seems to have some writing on it. Dandelion approaches carefully, with Penny right behind her, having activated detect thoughts. Fie activates his flying, but walks carefully after them, Kal getting ready for a fight. Penny senses no thoughts in the area other than those of her group. Dandelion approaches the shrine, seeing writing that has been written down over generations. There seems to be no presence around, but as soon as she steps on the shrine, Penny gets a deafening scream into her mind, and as they all look up, they see a disturbing abomination emerging from nowhere, made of what appears to be several body parts of various orcs and creatures, screaming, heading straight towards Dandelion.

The Abomination

As the hulking abomination comes flowing down straight towards Elmroot, Kal springs into action, casting a shatter on it, hoping to impede its way. Sadly, the abomination is much more resilient than most creatures the group has faced before, and merely shrugs it off. Dandelion summons a fire elemental to protect and to distract, before trying to escape from the being, leaving Penny in its path instead. The abomination descends onto Penny, latching on to her, trying to absorb her into its being. Fie takes off, firing from a distance, to support and to avoid being put in too much danger. Kal, seeing the abomination trying to eat Penny, runs forward and slashes its tentacles to allow Penny to escape. What she hadn’t considered however is the abomination focusing on Kal instead, and as a reaction, tries to attack her instead. As it does, Kal uses her Wrath of the Storm, forcing the creature to be shoved back by a thunderous roar. Wounded and angry, the creature ascends into the air, releasing a loud roar that momentarily takes Penny out of it. As the abomination rests in the air, the fire elemental tries to throw whatever it can at it, but its shell is too thick to penetrate. Highwing, being summoned by Kal, fires arrows from a distance. Suddenly, several of the party members make eye contact with several of the faces trapped within the being, causing various effects to happen. Dandelion gets slowed, while Kal uses one of her new spells granted by Udall to jump with thunderous effect straight through the abomination to a point in the ceiling, causing a lot of damage, but doesn’t manage to force it down. At one point, Fie gets struck by a psychic blast, causing him to go unconscious, but Dandelion uses a high level healing spell to bring him back. The abomination, seeing that it is outnumbered and outgunned, having taken a fair amount of damage, and now acting more like a cornered beast, releases a final flurry of magical effects before slinking out of the cave through a crack in the ceiling. One of these effects hits Dandelion, causing her to suddenly drop to the ground right next to Penny, no longer alive.

The Soul Taker

Penny, sends an animated boulder after the abomination to finish it off, before turning around, creating a diamond in her hands, cradling Dandelion's dead body in her arms, hoping for aid from Kal. Kal, hanging on the ceiling, sends Highwing after it, before descending to the ground again, and runs over to Dandelion, takes out the remaining diamond she needs, preparing to revivify her. Fie flies to the crack in the ceiling, peering after the abomination which is being pursued by Highwing, and fires a final volley of eldritch blasts at it, before it disappears in the storm. One of the beams makes contact, causing the being to disintegrate and various body parts fall to the mountainous cracks below. It is defeated.

Kal, telling Faunus that he can’t have this one yet, uses her divine powers to drag Dandelion’s spirit back into her body. Dandelion, now in the eternal forest between worlds, sees a woman in front of her. She puts her hand out, caressing Dandelion’s cheek, saying “Fear not, child.” Before Dandelion gets a chance to respond, she is shunted violently backwards, away from the goddess, and back into her body, looking up at Penny, teary eyes, caressing her, and Kal, looking very determined over her, telling her that they can’t lose their best healer. 

The group spends a moment healing each other as best as they can, with Kal going to retrieve Draka who is waiting further down by the entrance. She asks Kal if they did it, and if they all made it, to which Kal responds that they did, and they are. She gives a brief thanks, healing Kal with her cold touch, before walking into the chamber, straight past the rest of the group, over to the shrine. She puts her hands up to the various runes that were invisible at first, but are now glowing, before looking over at the party, asking if they want to get in on this. The party makes their way over to Draka and the shrine, touching various runes, and feeling that the room gets slightly warmer. She thanks the party for purifying the shrine and confirming the abomination was vanquished. 

Resting in the Shrine

As the storm is roaring outside, and nightfall is soon upon them, they think it wise to rest in the shrine for the night, and then head east to Draka’s clan in the morning. They invite Draka to rest in the ring, causing the owls to stand guard outside in the tiny hut. Draka is fascinated and not the most willing participant, but she goes along with it. 

As the party is resting in the ring, Draka comes over to Dandelion, asking what she saw when she was between worlds. She describes a woman, before casting disguise self to look like her. Fie and Kal both recognize her, having seen her when they too were between worlds, with Penny also recognizing her from various depictions and descriptions from Morgan. Mova in the flesh. A beautiful, but sad looking, pale woman, draped in black clothing. Draka calls her Moreshth, the Soul Taker. Seems like Fau’Nok and Moreshth are the orcish names for the gods they know. 

They ask when the abomination caused havoc, and she tells the party that it started appearing around a year ago. The same with the storm, the north has always been cold, but the roaming storm has grown even more stronger over the last year. The party fears that this might be connected to the cult following, and their influence. They will have to talk to Thervan about this. They tell Draka about their task, to find the missing people, asking about Murzol. What Draka knows is that Murzol has been chieftain for almost 10 years, but his brother Grommok, returned from exile about a year ago, and has been gathering allies. Grommok is the older brother and was set to become chieftain after their father died, but Murzol became the leader instead. Apparently, Grommok wanted to abandon the orcish ways, so the tribes went against him, causing him to be exiled. He returned from Crags of Despair, more powerful than before. The party ponders the situation, before retiring for the night, going to sleep.

Heading East

In the morning, before they emerge from the ring, Draka is gone. Dandelion is a bit sad by this, as she wanted to talk more to her about Faunus/Fau’Nok, but when they emerge, they see Draka sitting by the shrine, having a conversation with the owls. She compliments Dandelion on her beautiful companions, which the owls are happy to hear. The storm is still roaring outside, but they don’t want to waste too much time, so Draka takes charge and leads them out east towards her clan. After about six hours, the storm finally lets up, and the owls get to stretch their wings. During their walk, Dandelion walks next to Draka to hopefully learn more about her beliefs. Draka is very reserved, and not too trusting of outsiders, despite them aiding her. She does however tell her about Fau’Nok, which is more of a spirit of the lands; wilderness, peaks and the valleys. She mentions Kihra, the goddess of change, which Dandelion recognizes as Kia, the spirit of seasons. Velho has the same name, but is referred to as the granter of spirits, as opposed to the spirit of magic. Draka makes it clear however that not all orcs follow Fau’Nok. Most warrior orcs follow Gruumsh, the orcish patron of war. 

As they are wandering towards dusk, Thervan suddenly appears, startling Draka. He quickly tries to calm her down, by acting like a total fool, showing how little he thinks of “lesser” cultures. The party scolds him for this, and gives him an update on what they have discovered, with the abomination and the storm. They also tell him about Grommok which seems to be the clear threat. Seems Thervan didn’t know about Grommok, but he is concerned by the report about the storms, but is unsure if it is connected to the cult or if it is just a coincidence. Thervan thanks them for the update, telling them he will not check up on them like this unless he hasn’t heard from them in a while, before turning around, his projected image disappearing. 

Midnight Travel

Hoping to cut down on the travel time, they try to summon a beast from the bag of tricks, and miraculously, Master Elk reemerges once more, giving them a way to travel during the night. They debate what form to give him again, whilst explaining to Draka the situation, and that they can travel in the ring during the night while Master Elk walks. She is not too fond of the idea, finding the ring too hot to sleep in, but goes with it. They decide to keep doing what they always do, and cast seeming on Master Elk to appear as The Cold once more. Draka recoils by the look, having heard of the creature before. She calls it Nocturnus, explaining she doesn’t like daylight. Fie asks Kal to prepare a daylight spell just in case. Draka tells Master Elk the way to her tribe, to follow the path to the mountain to the east, and that the clan is at the base of it to the north. Seems she doesn’t need Dandelion to translate, being able to talk to beasts as well. 

When they enter the ring, and go to rest, Penny is having a hard time. She is dreaming of Morgan and playing in a tavern, before noticing a figure standing in the crowd. The rest of the people in the tavern melts away, with only him remaining. He reaches out to Penny, telling her to “Bring it back. It does not belong to you!”. She falls, and falls, into an eternal void, not being able to escape. When she wakes, she hasn’t gotten the chance to rest properly, but manages to resist against the exhaustion. When she tells the party about it, Kal thinks that Protection from Evil and Good could help resist the effect.

The Clan

Draka quickly emerges from the ring, as she can’t stand the heat, with the rest of the party following behind. The owls, having rested on Master Elk with a thermal cube, are happy to see the party again. The mountain has gotten a lot closer, and the clan should be just under a day away, so they continue eastwards to reach it before nightfall. As they arrive, they can see that the village is a fairly large collection of tents, surrounded by perimeter markers that show their territory. It is rested by the foot of the mountain, next to a frozen lake. They ask Draka how they should behave, and she tells them to just keep low, and not talk. She will converse with Thorgal about them, hoping to get them aid. Kal and Fie cast tongues and comprehend languages in preparation for the village. When they enter, they are met with the eyes of all villagers. The children are being led into the various tents, as their parents are afraid of these “invaders”. It is clear the clan mostly lives of fishing from the nearby lake. Scattered around the village are various spirit totems, most of them representing Faunus by Dandelion's recognition, as well as some other gods from her beliefs. A lot of the villagers are accompanied by dire wolves, with one that Dandelion tries to befriend in passing, causing it to wiggle its tail, before the woman who owns it reels it in.

Draka leads them to a large tent to the outskirts of the village, and tells the two orcs guarding it that they are to take their weapons and keep them inside until the chieftain has had the chance to talk to them. They give up their weapons, but Penny gets to keep her instrument, as the orcs don’t see them as weapons. Little do they know… When they are led inside, Dandelion, studying the tent, notices that it is nomadic, like her tribe, but by the looks of it, they have stayed in the same location for at least a few years now. After about an hour, they can hear heavy footsteps approaching. Penny activates her detect thoughts, and can sense that the approaching figure is excited and interested in these new arrivals. The flaps on the tent open, revealing a large blueish orc with red tattoos, a little taller than Dandelion, with large tusks and braids hanging down the sides of his face. Thorgal, the chieftain.

Audience with the Chief

Looking over the group, Thorgal asks them what their purpose is in their lands, as they don’t see many “southerners” heading this way. They tell him that they are looking for a couple of emissaries that went missing some weeks back, and ask if they have seen them. Thorgal replies that he or his tribe hasn’t encountered any non-orcs in the last months, but as they were heading for Darmurd, then there are several ways they could have gone, and wouldn’t have come this way if they wanted to be stealthy about it. But, as they were going to speak to Murzol the Usurper, he can send a messenger to have him come to this location to speak to the group, or the group could head to Darmurd themselves, and speak to Murzol directly. As getting Murzol to come to the clan itself will take a few weeks at best, the party finds it wise to head there themselves. Thorgal accepts this, and promises that he will provide them with cloaks that marks them as not to be harmed by the clans, but cannot promise that Grommok’s orcs will honor it. As the crow flies, it will take about 7 days to reach Darmurd, shorter if they have help from Master Elk. 

The party asks Thorgal what he knows about Murzol and Grommok, and he responds that he was in the same clan when their father, Kruznak the Conqueror died. Everyone expected Grommok to take over the clans, but Murzol spread word that Grommok wanted to change the orcish way of life, to abandon their time honored traditions in favor of a more peaceful existence, maybe even go so far as to make peace with the southern lands. This was not received well, and gave Murzol the opportunity to seize the clans for himself, inserting himself as warchief supreme. Grommok was forced into exile, and spent some time in the Crags of Despair. He must have found something there, because he returned more powerful and fierce than before. 

The party also asks about the storms, and Thorgal theorizes that one of the shrines to the storm god must have been corrupted, as this is unusual. None of the shrines in the “lowlands” are affected, so he suspects that it is one in the Frostfang Peaks. He reveals that the orcish name for the storm god is Uduk. As the party has gotten Fau’Nok’s blessing from clearing the shrine, the storms are no longer lethal, but Thorgal warns them about Rimechain, an old white dragon that roams the lands, terrifying the orcs. The party takes note of this, hopefully they will avoid meeting her.

Meeting the Community

As the party’s intentions are revealed, Thorgal feels safe to allow them to rest in the village, and leads them outside, where a couple of orcs take them to their quarters for the night. As they wander through the village to a yurt in the outskirts, they get a lot of stares from children in particular, most that have never seen outsiders. Many are fascinated, some are scared. Dandelion tries feeding some of them goodberries, but the mothers are still a bit on edge, so they pull the children away, much to her disappointment. One child goes over to get one, and manages to grab one before it’s mother comes running after it, scolding the child, much to the enjoyment and laughs of the rest of the clan watching. Seems like tensions are cooling. She goes over to ask the chieftain if it is okay to bring her owls down. He allows her to, and greets them, complimenting their beauty. He asks Dandelion what she thinks of the north so far, and they talk a bit about her own forest and background. 

During the evening, the group is invited to eat dinner with the rest of the clan. They are fed fresh fish from the nearby lake, and some wild game that has been caught. During the feast, the orc lady with the friendly direwolf from earlier comes walking over to Penny. She asks what she is, as she is much different from the others. She touches her face, thinking she is wearing makeup, but is surprised to find pink is her natural skin color. She asks what their business is in the north, and she tells the orc that they are looking for some people that went missing. The orc lady is about to ask something, but excuses herself. Penny tells her in her mind that she can talk to her. She turns back and introduces herself as Karga. Her brother, Barak, has been taken by Grommok and his men. She says he is a good warrior, and if they were to find Barak and bring him back to the clan, she would pledge her life to them if they needed. She introduces Penny to her pet wolf, Frostbite.

Meanwhile, many of the children come over to greet the owls, who are careful not to speak. They do however appreciate the attention. As the feast comes to a close, Draka is chanting to the moon god, Runak, whom Dandelion recognizes as Aruna. The party excuses themselves, and retires to their yurt, with Penny playing a soothing melody for herself from her instrument, casting Protection from Evil and Good. This grants her a good nights sleep.

Into the Storm

The next morning, as the party prepares to head out, the weather is stormy. Not as bad as the corrupted storms, but it’s thick, cold, and windy. Before setting out, Kal does a commune with Udall, asking if he knows of another corrupted shrine, which he does. There is only one however, but it is confirmed that it is in the Frostfang Mountains. She gets a feeling that he waited to tell her so as to not distract her from her mission.

As the party leaves, Kal casts light on a stick, throwing it to the children. Dandelion takes out some seeds, and druidcrafts some flowers for the children as well. One child asks for another one, and runs over to his mother with it, which she accepts, looking kindly at the group. Before they leave, they are given a cloak each, with distinctive markings, most likely signaling to let them pass.

The party holds a steady course going north, being careful not to get lost in the storm. The first day goes without issue, and as night fall, they check if they can summon a fitting beast from the bag of tricks that can carry them through the night. The first one is a giant rat, whom is very cold, sad that it cannot help, but takes solace in wrapping itself in Penny’s collar. The next one is a badger, which Penny also accepts. The final ball is thrown, and a massive elk stands before them. Master Elk has returned again. They debate whether to disguise him as a dragon, but decide the smartest would be to just keep going with the regular plan of disguising it as the cold. 

A Rude Awakening

When the party enters the ring, and lays their weary heads to rest, most of the night goes uneventful, until they suddenly are awoken by growling. Master Elk, whom Dandelion can understand, tells them that he might need some help. Thinking quick, Dandelion, recognizing the growls as canine in nature, wild shapes into a direwolf, in hopes of resolving it peacefully. Fie prepares to fly, as he shunts the whole group out of the ring. Standing in the middle of a snow covered forest, they are surrounded by 8 large winter wolves, with cold magic coming out of their mouths, staring at the giant elk disguised as the Cold, and now the party.

The Duel

As the party emerges from the ring, Elmroot in direwolf-form, they see eight large winter wolves surrounding them. One of them appears to be larger, the alpha. Dandelion tries to be submissive and show that they mean no harm, but the alpha suddenly speaks common, telling her that she can stop her theatrics. They demand to know why this… thing is so far north. He’s referring to Master Elk disguised as The Cold. Penny quickly drops the spell disguising him, to show what he really is. They ask why she can’t come this far north, and they reply that they have to keep the balance, as two beings of such power cannot be allowed to congregate, lest they invite the potential for great chaos in nature. He’s referring to her, the dragon Rimechainthat the party has heard about already. Penny reads the thoughts of the wolves, and they seem to be anticipating what their leader will do going forward. The alpha, who introduces himself as Skoll, challenges Dandelion to a duel, wolf to wolf. She reluctantly agrees, although she doesn’t want to kill anyone, and doesn’t want to be killed. 

The battle between Dandelion and Skoll is fierce, with her getting in a few good hits, but the large winter wolf easily bests her with his frost breath and vicious bites, taking Dandelions ear off in wolf form. Penny and Kal try to help, but the surrounding wolves take notice and stop Kal, with Penny managing to sneak in a booming voice to give Dandelion an edge. During the battle, Kal realizes that the best way to go forward is simply to fight honourably, you won’t always have to win to get what you want. As a final blow, Skoll takes a running start and jumps onto Dandelion, pushing her on her back, and biting into her neck, making her return to her firbolg form. In “retaliation” she grabs his face and casts cure wounds on him, healing him a bit from her attacks. 

Skoll is pleased with the duel, and tells the party that they can move on, but if they find them here the next dusk, they will not be so forgiving. They leave the party, with a few young ones thinking that the duel was pretty cool. The party gathers themselves, and has Mr. Elk carry them a bit further north to a place where they can rest in the tiny hut.

First Sighting

The next morning, getting a long rest for the night, they continue their trek northwards to Darmurd. The storm is picking up, with the Owls feeling miserable, even with their thermal cubes. During the storm, they all hear something large flying overhead. Dandelion picks up the sound of metal against metal. They wonder what the sound is, and if a dragon might be wearing armor. Fie says it’s very unlikely that a dragon is wearing armor due to them being too prideful. Luckily, it doesn’t seem that the dragon noticed them, so they press on towards the city. At night, they summon Wolfsleigh from the bag of tricks, give him a thermal cube and jump into the ring. 

The day after the storm has cleared, and they have clear visibility into the northern mountains. Far in the distance, just over a days' march away, they can see the city of Darmurd, or at least its borders; a massive wall protecting the valley within, with tents and huts littering the sides of the valley. They realize they cannot reach the city in one day, so they make camp some miles outside of its reach, and rest for the night in the hut. The night passes without any encounters, but in the morning, Kal can feel a presence, but cannot see where it is from. The others notice it as well when she points it out to the rest of the group.

Negotiations

As the party finally reaches the gates of the valley, they have been spotted. The cloaks they got from Throgal ensures that they are not shot on sight. After a short while, the gates open slightly, and an older looking orc comes out to greet them. He asks who they are, with Kal replying that they might have a common enemy, and wishes to speak with Murzol. The orc returns to the gates, which closes, without giving a response. While waiting, Kal casts tongues on herself, as the gates finally open, and they are let in. Entering, they see a vast valley filled with thousands of orcs, preparing in various ways of warfare. They are escorted by a group of guards surrounding them with spears. The long trek through the valley leads to a massive dwarven city, with a large doorway leading into it. It seems it once had doors, but they are long gone. Within they can see several layers of what once was the great dwarven capital of Krunbar, now repurposed to be the orcish capital. 

In the city, they are told to wait, as one of the guards venture further into the city, returning shortly after with an orc woman. She looks incredibly strong, and could easily take anyone in the party in a one on one. She tells them in common to follow her, as she leads them up a long winding staircase to the chamber of the chieftain Murzol.

In the chambers, they see a large stone table beneath a massive gemstone hanging from what looks like a natural rock formation. They immediately recognize the glow and shine as it resembles their own Hearthstone.

Murzol the Usurper, sitting on his throne, gestures to the woman, whom he refers to as "Shargra", to retreat. She heads to the back of the room, into the shadows. He gestures for the party to approach, and to say their piece, before they have to depart. Kal takes charge, explaining that they have met with the warchief Thorgal, and that they are looking for missing diplomats. He tells the party that he met with the missing people, and told them the same thing he is going to tell the party, that he and his orcs are not responsible for the attacks on the southern lands, his brother is. He retells the tale they have already heard, that his brother was exiled for his beliefs, that the orcs should change to be more docile, but in his exile he found something. He returned more feral, dangerous and violent. Murzol wanted to unite the tribes against the south, to be independent, exclaiming that he doesn’t need the southern interference, and he knows that they send spies and rangers to observe, which he despises. Grommok is trying to upend the status quo, by attacking the southern lands, trying to force the south to go to war against the Thax’ning Tribes. Murzol reluctantly tells the party that he could be convinced to discuss a peace with the south, as long as they take out Grommok, and end his insurrection. He looks to Kal, sees in her eyes that she knows war and killings, and that she knows what sometimes must be done. 

He tells the party that the emissaries from the south was sent to the fortress of Grommok along with a squad of orcish warriors. Sadly, only one survivor returned, all others having perished on the journey there or during their encounter with Grommok. He told them that Grommok has something embedded in his chest, a small red glowing crystal. One he did not have before. The party originally suspected that Grommok might be under the influence of an evil god, but now realize that he might have encountered one of the divine shards, specifically the Shard of the Warrior. Murzol requests that they bring the shard back to him, saying it belongs to the orcish people. Kal counters by saying with him talking about the strongest thrives, and the weak perish, it’s only fair that they get to keep it, if they manage to defeat him. Surprisingly, Murzol sees the logic in her thinking, and agrees, as long as the shard isn’t used against his people, to which the party promises. 

The party asks if Grommok has any strong allies, to which Murzol replies that his trusted lieutenant Zugor, is a powerful magic wielder. He describes him as a shaman, but the southern word would be druid. They both worship Gruumsh, and Murzol knows that his brother doesn’t easily abandon his beliefs.

Finally, the party asks about any corrupted shrines, with Penny pointing out they have already helped vanquish the corruption from one shrine already, belonging to Fau'Nok. Shargra is impressed to hear this, and tells the party they indeed suspect that one of the shrines of Uduk might be corrupted, causing the storms to be more fierce and dangerous in recent times. They all seem to be impressed with Kal being a follower of Uduk, but even more impressed by the fact that she talks to him. They don’t know where the corrupted shrine is, but as Kal told them he led her to the last corrupted shrine of his, then he probably will do it again when they get closer.

Before leaving, the party asks if they can rely on help from the orcish clans for rest and help, to which Murzol replies that although they answer his call when he demands it, they are mostly self-sufficient. If they want to ask for their help, they have to do so themselves, either by impressing them, or by forcing them. The party thanks for the audience, and take their leave. Murzol tells them he will give them a giant goat that will ease their travels to the north. As they walk past the giant gemstone in the center of the room, it flares, as it has already done once before during their talk. They ask about it, with Kal asking to examine it. Muzol tells them it is forbidden, it is a relic of the long lost dwarven kingdom, and is holy. They know not it’s purpose, only that it flares randomly, sometimes several times with seconds apart, other times it goes days without it flaring. Kal suggests that they could help discover its secrets, but Murzol tells them they have to deal with Grommok before such negotiations can take place.

As the party descends the winding staircase into the city proper, and into the valley beyond, they can see Argus and Ira desperately try to dodge out of the way of a few orcs trying to shoot them down with arrows. Dandelion pleas with them, telling them that they’re her owls, and not to be harmed. Shargra walks over to the orcs, and slaps one of them on the side of their face, yelling at them in orcish. In anger, the orc kicks one of his companions, and walks away. Dandelion thanks her for her help. By the city gate, there is a large pen of giant goats. Shargra talks to the keeper, and they are given one giant goat each, which the party inevitably must give a name. Before departing, Dandelion greets Shargra with a blessing of Fau’Nok, much to her pleasure. She tells Dandelion that perhaps not all of the south are savages as they originally thought.

An Old "Friend"

Traveling with the giant goats makes the journey go much faster, allowing them to reach the pathway leading to the mountains in a little over just four days. During the night, as Fie keeps watch, he notices the same presence they noticed the day before. Looking around, he can see the hooded figure in the darkness. He waves at it, thinking to himself “long time no see”. Fie casts message at the being, asking who it is. He doesn’t get words in response, but more a feeling that the being is… not quite friends, not quite an ally, but not an opposing force. While staring at it, he blinks, and the figure is gone. He tells the others about the experience when they wake up, before setting out on goatback again. 

During the next day's travel, Kal notices something to the side, between some boulders. A black shape, but she can’t quite make it out. 

The Obelisk

As the party enters the chasm, they can see a 15 feet tall obelisk, made of what appears to be shining obsidian at first, but as they get closer, they see that the stone is jet black, covered in a layer of ice. When they step on the stone circle it stands on, they see glowing runes beginning to move around on its surface, as if projected onto it. Fie casts discern languages on it, and notice that three of the runes that float around on it has meaning, the rest being just imagery. The three runes make up the sentences “Warmth lies within”, “Fear the cold” and “Frozen hearts”. Noticing that the runes can be manipulated by holding their hands near them, they have to put them in the correct order. Penny tries to touch the obelisk directly, as she notice it emanates cold, pushing away snow, but it just causes her to take a serious amount of cold damage if she didn’t have resistance. They try a few combinations of the runes, before they come across the correct solution: “Fear the cold, frozen hearts, warmth lies within”. The runes lock into place, glowing a bit brighter. Nothing happens though. They realize they have to solve the riddle, so Kal tries to cast destroy water on the ice, but nothing happens. Dandelion finds an old tree branch, warps some cloth around the end, and lights the torch. As soon as she gets close enough to the obelisk, it absorbs the fire, extinguishing it, causing the whole obelisk to melt. The party moves back, as to not be drenched by the water, which then returns to the center, forming a chest. Within the chest, they find a bunch of old useless maps, a chest of old dwarven coins, worth double of what regular coins would cost, a 1000gp diamond that looks like a piece of ice, a chain that grants resistance to cold and can cast fire from, as well as a Wand of Wonder. They pocket the items, and head onwards towards the pathway. 

Second Sighting

During the night, both Penny and Argus sees the silhouette against the night sky of a dragon, flying a few miles south of them before veering north/north west, before passing over them. They tell Dandelion about it, before going to sleep. Dandelion and Ira have a heart to heart about dragons, with Ira wanting to go back home again, and that he appreciates Penny having made such a good connection with Argus. Ira has begun to realize that everyone in the party have their own flaws, and appreciates that they have each other. 

During Fie’s watch, he can suddenly hear loud footsteps approaching. He sees a frost giant checking out the goats, and as it goes to pick one of them up, he casts a message at the giant, telling him to not dare touch his goats, in a menacing and threatening way. The giant freezes mid reach, and simply apologizes to the unseen voice, before running away. This wakes the party, but Fie just tells them to go back to sleep. He then wakes up Kal when his shift is over, and she begins making breakfast. During the cooking, she can hear a dragon's roar coming from deep within the mountains, sending a chill down her spine. 

In the morning, Kal has solved the problem of naming the goats, as they all want to be called Horn. This is too confusing, so they name them Bolthorn, Glitterhorn, Smolderhorn and Hornhorn. The goats wonder now since they have gotten names if they are to be coming with them south when they are done in the north. Fie cannot bring himself to tell them that he would be surprised if they survived the whole journey. Penny spends the morning making snow-aasimars. 

The following evening, after another days travel, Kal tries to convince the Horns that they have to be quiet during the night. Most of the night goes fairly uneventful, until Kal’s watch, where another frost giant tries to grab one of the goats. A younger one, looking very unsure of himself, so Kal casts a message at him to intimidate him. She does so well that he becomes scared, and tries to run away, but Kal invites him to stay for breakfast instead. He stops in his tracks. looking at the tiny humanoid that appeared from a bubble, but doesn’t run away. She gives him a large bowl of stew, which he scoffs down, but still looking suspicious. The rest of the party emerges, and he introduces himself as Iskaldur. They talk a bit with him about his tribe, and how he knows common. He tells them his father taught him common, as it’s important for “diplomatic relations”, but as Iskaldur describes these diplomatic relations the party realize that it just means raiding and pillaging southerners. Fie convinces him not to tell his father about them, with Iskaldur suddenly realizes that he cannot let his father know that he met with people, so he quickly throws up the stew and hides it beneath some snow, complimenting the taste as it came up. As Iskaldur leaves, the party quickly gathers their things, realizing they might have overstayed their welcome.

Ascension

As they reach the pathway leading into the mountains, they all see the dragon flying above them in the distance. As it is daytime, they see the white skin, signifying that this is indeed a white dragon, but it seems to be wrapped in what looks like chains or something. Suddenly, the name Rimechain makes a lot more sense. Heading into the path, the owls scout ahead, causing the party to avoid many dangers, and during one night, Kal finally has a vision from Udall about his shrine. She is dreaming of a crossroad with a stone that has been impacted by several lightning strikes, and her vision is taken to the left, up and down winding roads, through caves and beneath vast valleys, before she reaches a platform, containing a standing stone with the symbol of udall on it. It is glowing, but she senses that the glow has been diminished. Suddenly, the wind picks up, twirling around the stone, causing her to drift along with it, before something grabs her and pulls her away, out of the dream, waking her up. They have their heading.

During one of the days travel, they are forced to walk into a narrow mountain pass, and as they reach the middle of it, both Argus and Ira suddenly flies away. Dandelion notices the danger just in time, but the rest aren’t as perceptive. Two ropers suddenly make themselves known, grabbing a hold of the party, and their goats. The ropers seem to be of a different species, with longer reach, and a paralyzing essence on their tentacles which inhibits the parties ability to escape. The battle is fierce, and the party manage to get a few good hits in, with Dandelion casting blight, Penny casting steel wind strike, releasing herself and Fie from their grasp, with Kal summoning a storm of lightning to help defeat them. Before they manage to take them down however, Smoulderhorn is eaten by one of the ropers, and Fie, his rider, is also taken down as well. He manages to dimension door out of their reach, and stabs himself with Caduceus to heal himself. With a final lightning bolt, both of the ropers are defeated. Smoulderhorn lies dead on the ground with a large part of his chest missing. Dandelion pleads to resurrect him, but the party cannot spare the diamonds. Penny leads the goats away, as Kal harvests what she can from the goat, using her experience as a cook. She also harvests the horns, to be used for later. Dandelion decides to fly with her owls in wild shape, letting Fie ride on her goat, as to not slow them down.

On the way, Kal asks if Penny could use the jewelers kit they found to embed some gemstones into the horn, so that she can use it as a spell component for clairvoyance. Penny rises to the challenge, managing to craft a beautiful pattern of the symbol of Udall using a few gems they have acquired during their travels. 

Third Sighting

When the storm finally picks up, Kal uses her vision of the storm to scout ahead, trying to find a safe way going forward. A big obstacle is readily apparent. Rimechain, clad in chains, is feasting on a fresh mammoth kill, just half a mile up the road from their location. Kal finally gets a clear view of the dragon, and can see that she is adult, going on ancient, so she would be a mighty challenge if they want to take her on. She does however also notice that the chains must be a remnant of a capture that the dragon has experienced before. The chains have begun to grow into her flesh, like a fish tangled in a fishing line. Kal emerges from the vision, and tells the party about this. Fie doesn’t like it, as chromatic dragons in general are evil. There are of course outliers, but in general, if it is chromatic, just assume it will try to eat you. Hearing about the chains, Penny wants to help her, but everyone tries their best to convince her that it is folly. Penny uses the sending stone she got from Morgan, asking him if she should help. He tells her an immediate no, and casts a sending to Kal to ask what the hell Penny is up to. She explains the situation, and Morgan casts a new sending to Penny, begging her to leave it be, as it would be dangerous. She already lost him once, he doesn’t want to lose her now. This convinces Penny to not pursue the matter further, although the thought of Rimechain being in the situation pains Penny. They decide to wait a bit to see if Rimechain will move on, and after an hour, Kal uses clairvoyance on the spot, now hearing the dragon snore. They realize that the best thing to do might be to take the long way around. 

As the party continues their trek, they still haven’t reached the crossroads, but realize they must be close, as they are nearing the peak. In a valley, as the storm rages above them, with howling winds and snowflakes pestering them, Fie can make out a few shapes on the road up ahead of them. A couple of griffons, and they look agitated…

Helping the Innocent

Stopping in the middle of the mountain pass, facing down the pair of griffons in front of them, the party holds back on approaching. Elmroot in owl form flies up, and can see the reason for the agitation. A smaller griffon lies among the rocks, with its wing and leg broken, apparently having tumbled down and crashed among the rocks. She returns to the others, and explains the situation. Kal takes out some goat meat and hands it to Dandelion, as she and Penny approaches, with Penny playing a soothing tune, hoping to show the griffons that they wish them no harm, and only wants to help. It seems it is working, as they relax a bit, while the presumably mother of the wounded griffon moves back to the infant, looking over it. Dandelion calmly walks over and makes a wound in her hand which she heals with magic to show what she is trying to do. It seems the griffons understand, as they do not try to stop  her. Penny’s soothing music also helps. Dandelion leans over, places her hand on the infant, and tries to cure its wounds. The wing snaps into place, and the exposed leg-bone is reformed and healed. The infant rises up, takes a few steps, before galloping off into flight. The two parents thankfully look back at the party, and follow shortly after. Left behind are a few feathers that must have come off during the fall. Both Penny and Dandelion picks one up as a memento, Dandelion putting it in her hair, with Penny fastening it to her belt.

Crossroads

Dandelion returns to her owl-form, and takes flight along with Ira and Argus, scouting ahead. Seems the party is in luck, as there seem to be no more dangerous encounters in the path in front of them. After a few hours however, the path diverges, and splits into two. Kal immediately recognizes the area, the same area from her dream. A large flat stone lies in the middle of the split, covered in snow. Kal walks over, and brushes it away, revealing a hole underneath, with smooth black glass emanating from it, as if it has been hit multiple times by lightning. This is the signpost that Udall was showing her. Looking up towards the mountain east of them, they can barely make out what appears to be some ancient dwarven structures. To the west, about a days march away, they can see the storm coalescing. They have to decide which way to go first. Fie points out that last time they purified a shrine, they were granted a blessing by Udall. If they take the shrine first, he might be generous enough to grant them another boon that could help them when facing Grommok. The rest of the party agrees, and so they take their goats, and head westward into the storm.

Shortly after heading west, they are spent for the day, so they choose to settle down for the evening. During the night, Dandelion and Ira notice that there seems to be a small campfire a few miles ahead of them, barely distinguishable through the night. The light snowfall makes it harder, but not impossible to spot. Kal also spots what appears to be smoke coming from the same area during their watch. It seems that there is someone in their way.

The Traveller 

The next morning, they wonder who is waiting for them up the road, but decide the best way to find out is to go there. After all, they have to go that way anyhow, so might as well just get it over with. Dandelion takes flight as an owl once more and scouts ahead. After about an hour of traveling, they are nearly at the campfire, and Dandelion can see that it is just some old guy, fidgeting with a book, sitting by the roadside. She sends Argus down to tell the others what she sees, and they spend some time discussing how to approach it, if Dandelion should just fly down and spy on him. After talking for a while, Penny gets tired of waiting, and much to the annoyance of the others, starts heading towards the man around the cliff side. The rest reluctantly follow suit, with Penny forcing their hand. When they reach the man, he simply greets them, mentioning that he wondered how long they were gonna wait until they made themselves known. They ask him who he is, just sitting by the wayside, and he simply responds that he is a traveler. He asks them where they are heading, with Kal responding that they can be called “pilgrims”. He takes a note of that in his book. She pushes him for a name, and he gives a cryptic response, but eventually say they can call him Silas Wayfarer, if they need a name. He also mentions that he is from a place far away, but that’s not very interesting. He asks the party who they are, and Kal introduces herself, with Silas correctly guessing that it’s short for Kalyssandra. She asks if he’s heard about them, and he mentions that he has heard about many adventuring parties, some taking down a beholder, but he wonders if they’re not the group that took down that dingusdown in Wave Echo Cave. He has heard of them. They ask him how long he has been around here, and he doesn’t give an answer, other than to mention that the weather hasn’t been right every since that “thing” took hold of the nearby shrine. He offers them a piece of advice: If things seem too difficult, retreat is a viable option, to fight another day. The rest of the party is very skeptical about Silas, but Kal sees something in him that makes her trust him. Fie is skeptical about the whole situation. Prodding him, they ask if he has advice specifically for the area or the shrine, but he just mentions that the thing in the shrine is a bit above his reach, but that they should watch out for the dragon looming around. He was cornered by her, but he convinced her he wasn’t worth the trouble. Basically, Silas is a traveler, collecting stories, meeting people. Dandelion in owl-form sits on Penny’s shoulder, and tries to talk to him, and he responds, showing he speaks owl. She points out that he seems to know more than he’s letting on, and why he is here, now, but he only gives cryptic answers. Penny tries to stealthily read his thoughts. Whatever is within almost overwhelms Penny, but she can hear him mention that it’s rude to go rummaging in other people's heads, with a smile and a twinkle in his eye. 

As the conversation has taken is course, he gathers his rucksack and walking stick, and heads out. As he is walking away, he turns around and mentions “by the way, my friend wanted you to have this. He told me to give it to you when I met y’all.” He flicks a tarot card at the group. The same one that the group has found before. Seems they have a common acquaintance. As he walks around the bend, Ira tries to follow him, but as soon as he is out of reach he disappears. The party reflects on the encounter, before deciding to carry on. 

Totally not a Frost Talus

After half a days travel, they finally reach a cave, the same one Kal flew through in her dream. As the winds are ravaging the mountainside, the owls are forced to stay on the ground, and the party realize that flying or climbing around will be next to impossible. They decide to take the most fitting route, which is through, as Udall showed Kal. The path is narrow, and difficult to ride in, so the group dismounts and guides the goats through. When they reach a large open chamber, they see a massive frozen boulder, contrasting the dark stone around it. Around them, in the corners, they see stone moving, much like the earth elementals they have met before, so they have to be extra careful. Dandelion changes her staff to be of autumn, and casts Pass without Trace, so that the party can sneak through the cave. Things seems to be going well, but HornHorn is a bit too noisy, so suddenly the large frozen boulder begins to move, and rises up, shaped like a large vaguely humanoid shape with two arms and legs. It has sensed the vibration in the ground from HornHorn, and prepares for a fight. Just as this happens, Penny suddenly disappears, finding herself in a damp, old shop, with a woman greeting her “Aah finally. Time to repay your debt.”. The rest of the party has no time to think about this, as the earth elemental flings both its arms at Kal and Dandelion, before hiding behind a stone pillar. Fie takes flight, and attacks the stone elemental, noticing that using fire causes the frozen effect to thaw, and it becomes less powerful. Dandelion summons a giant constrictor snake, which is a far cry from what she was hoping for, but she’ll take it. They soon figure that the earth elemental has a weak spot on its back, so fie tries to fly around the side, but this draws the attention of the elemental, causing it to try to throw its arms at him, after regrowing them. The constrictor snake takes a direct slam from the elemental, but survives, thanks to Dandelion's feature as a mighty summoner. 

Abducted

While this is happening, Wanda has decided to collect on Penny’s debt. She says that she cannot reach her favorite box, which Penny can see is on the top of a very tall bookcase. Penny activates flight from her instrument, and flies up, grabbing it for the hag, before descending, giving it to her. Wanda casually waves her hand at Penny, saying “thank you, your debt is paid”. As Penny is about to disappear, she can see that Wanda walks into a backroom, and a half elf seems to be tied to a chair, gagged staring in desperation at Penny. Suddenly, Penny finds herself in the cave again, and sees the elemental in front of her. She reflexively takes out her newly acquired Wand of Wonders and uses a charge. The energy emanates from the small space in the core, before bursting out, revealing an elephant next to the earth elemental. It panics, attacks the elemental once, and then runs away, after the goats who retreated at the start of battle. Dandelion summons a panther from the bag of tricks, and Penny finishes it off with a dissonant whispers, causing the elemental to retreat, and crumble into a pile of rocks. Having dealt with the danger, and seeing the elementals not attacking, they go after the goats. Finding them outside, they can see that they are scared of the endeavor, and in the distance, a confused elephant is running down the mountain, wondering where it is. Penny thinks it is probably a distant cousin of Vrendol, which the party finds offensive. 

When they return to the cave, the earth elementals that were looming in the corners have approached the stone pile. Fie tries to persuade the elementals to allow them to examine the remains. They seem to retreat, allowing the party to go through them. They find little of value, as they realize the magical energy that could have been harnessed has already dissipated, and probably requires special equipment to acquire. They take a short rest outside the cave, using the coffee pot to make it faster. Penny uses her sending stone to tell Morgan about Wanda, but he doesn't know what she’s talking about. Fie covertly sends a message to Alexis through his book, telling her about Wanda and that she has kidnapped someone. He gets a response inferring that this is not the first time, but she will take care of it.

The Final Climb

The group continues on up the final climb to the shrine, and can feel the biting cold get stronger as they get closer. This is the heart of the storm, as they can see bursts of cold energy flowing from it from time to time, as well as the constant flashes of lightning and roars of thunder that pummels the heart. Udall is trying to penetrate the barrier, but is unable. The storm wall is also very thick, making it almost impossible to see within, but they do see a large serpent-like shadow floating around inside. Dandelion sits down to take a commune with nature, trying to find out what they’re facing. It seems like there is a powerful elemental, unlike any she has encountered before. There also is a fiend of sort, with energy that reminds her of her encounters with Vuthul in The Stone Temple. There also seems to be influence from the ethereal realm, almost like a thinning, the barriers are weak in the area, with no sign of animals or other creatures. 

Sitting outside the flowing winds, the group decides to brainstorm, thinking that it might be smart to stick their heads in, test some spells, and retreat to prepare with what they know. It’s been going on this long, what is another day? They decide to enter, climbing up the last part of the plateau, reaching the windy wall. The cold is biting at their faces, making it difficult to see, but then they get through. Just as her dream, Kal and the rest can see a large stone slab in the middle of what appears to be a frozen lake, surrounded by six smaller rocks that seems to be feeding it energy. There is a light in the form of Udall’s symbol, but the light seems to be restricted somehow, pulsing with what can best be described as an “evil” energy. The large creature above them looks like a mix between a dragon and a snake, with many wings on its body. Fie recognizes this as a Tempest, a creature of myth, not many existing. It seems to be covered in black sludge, seemingly corrupted. Previously the guardian of the shrine, now it's prisoner. The party can’t help themselves from feeling heartbroken by the sight, as it’s beauty has been tainted. The tempest locks eyes with Kal, almost begging her to reach the shrine itself. Penny uses major image to make an illusion of an orc on the side, as the tempest seems to be letting them stay on the sides without attacking. As soon as the orc crosses the threshold of the surrounding rocks, the tempest springs into action, attacking it with the lightning from within, before flying down to smash it to the ground. It is unaffected, as it is an illusion, but as soon as the illusion reach the shrine, the tempest retreats and continues floating around. They realize they need to reach the center stone, and fast. They decide to retreat for the night, and come back in the morning, better prepared. As the thunder is constantly smashing against the shrine, they decide to retreat a bit further down the valley to get sleep, inside the ring. Before going to bed, Kal takes a commune, asking if the tempest is native to this plane, which it is. Udall is unsure if it is possible to retreat if they manage to get to the “other side” through the stone, but there wasn’t a gateway there when the shrine was pure. She asks if Udall has any advice for them, and he tells her that he knows not what terrors face the party on the other side, but that the blessing will be helpful.

Cleansing the Shrine

The next morning, having gotten a long rest, even through the tension of the situation they find themselves in, the party ascends the mountain once more. Before entering, they cast freedom of movement on everybody, to ensure that they are not hindered by the storm within. As they cross the threshold, they spread out. Penny takes the first jump, reaching the shrine, and disappearing into it. The tempest notices this, and becomes alert. Dandelion follows suit, entering the shrine as well. This causes the tempest to react, and it attacks the remaining two. Kal jumps to the shrine, but does not enter, waiting for Fie to make it through, and activates Udall’s Blessing. The tempest floats down towards Kal, almost blocking Fie’s path, but he manages to run beneath it, and jump into the shrine. Kal faces down the tempest, locking eyes. It seems to recognize the symbol on Kal’s chest, and manages to resist the urge to attack her, allowing her to go. She enters the shrine, ready to face whatever is within.

When she emerges, she can see that the rest of the party has already engaged the horrible aspect of what has cursed this holy place. Immediately she recognizes the Aspect of Vuthul himself, staring back at her as he comes from behind the stone. The party already seems frustrated and hurt. Kal soon finds why, as the phantom absorbs the magic being used against him, and his attacks steals the magic from them. The phantom at first seems surprised that someone has gotten inside, and mentions that he does not recognize the group. Seems like this aspect of Vuthul has no live connection to it’s maker, but he is a dangerous foe nonetheless. The battle is long and exhausting, as the lair and its inhabitant both seem to bite back at its intruders. Kal tries to cast dawn at the phantom. It tries to absorb it, but Fie manages to counterspell it. This enrages the phantom, and so he targets Fie, who goes down several times before the party can bring him back. With the party getting a few hits in, the phantom becomes more and more dangerous, and fights dirtier and dirtier. Penny goes unconscious along with Fie, and both Penny and Kal is shunted away from the shrine, away from their friends. Kal fights back, but feels completely helpless. In a desperate attempt to strike back, she begs her god for a divine intervention. She gets no response.

Call of the Void

Recognizing what has happened, the aspect of Vuthul pauses, laughing at Kal.

“Is this it? Is this all your measly god sends to protect his pathetic shrine? Now you will watch your friends die in front of you, and there is nothing you can do to stop it!” 

The phantom drains Fie of what little life force he had left, and she can see his body go limp and white. Penny is lying on the outskirts of the shrine, bleeding out, too far away for Kal to do anything. Dandelion, low on health, is hiding behind the pillar, outside of the phantom’s sight. In a last ditch effort, she runs towards Kal, healing her to the best of her ability using the rings, before yelling to her “TAKE THIS BASTARD DOWN!”. Kal stretches out her hand, and a  massive lightning bolt comes striking down at the phantom, violently ripping it apart, with Kal looking at it in anger. As the aspect is disintegrated, the ethereal realm they are currently in collapses, and they are all puled towards the shrine, and is shunted outside. All except for Fie, which is nowhere to be found. Penny, lying unconscious next to Kal and Dandelion, gives a final exhale, the battle being too much for her to bear. Dandelion immediately casts revivify on her, and Penny gets a glimpse at a woman coming to meet her in her little nook from her home, before she is dragged back into the mortal world once more. Kal touches the stone, but the portal has closed. She begs Udall to bring him back. She hears a booming voice behind her. “He is beyond my reach.” Udall is standing to the east, blocking the rising sun. He stretches out his hand, and Kal’s medallion falls to the ground. It rolls towards Udall, who picks it up, infuses it with energy, and then floats it back to her chest, imbuing it with his divine power, making it more powerful. Dandelion and Penny also feel a jolt of electricity surge through them, causing their blessing to become more powerful. As the storm dissipates around them, so does Udall. The tempest above sheds the layer of corruption that was plaguing them, finally free. It descends to the party, and breathes a healing energy at them. Dandelion sits down and stares at the shrine, asking what they should do about Fie. The tempest seems unable to help him. Quickly, Dandelion springs into action, using the Oil of Etherealness they found in the goblin cave. Penny and Kal helps her apply it, and she starts vanishing from their view.

Bargaining

As Dandelion floats around in the ethereal realm, she has a hard time finding anything, as it seems to not be matching what they saw before. As her hour of etherealness is almost run out, she finds a body, a bit down a cliff side. She quickly picks him up and puts the corpse in the bag of holding, as she begins to materialize again. Kal can feel the faith returning to the shrine, as the energy surges beneath her, just as they can see Dandelion appear on the edge of the cliff, climbing up. They decide to rest for the day, and try to resurrect Fie when they have replenished their resources. Before leaving, Kal holds out her hand, gesturing to the tempest. It approaches her, and touches her. Kal gives the tempest a respectful look and a bow, which it returns, before ascending to the heavens to roam the lands once more. 

The next day, as soon as they awake, they place Fie on the ground. Dandelion gathers some sticks and rocks from her pouch, as she usually does with the deceased, hoping to convince him to come back, even though he wasn’t a believer. Penny uses illusion magic to make images around his corpse of memories she hopes was important to him. She realizes that she chose memories about them as a group, as it seemed he was most happy around them. Kal places the dagger in his hands and puts them to his chest, telling him that he has way too many secrets to run away now. Taking out the diamonds needed, as well as the one Penny made for the ritual, she begins casting the spell, asking Mova to bring him back. The diamonds disintegrate into a fine dust, and coalesces into his chest, with a divine energy and a low rumble of thunder coming from within. Sadly, nothing happens. Fie’s soul has moved on.

Fie, first finding things around him to be very blurry, eventually finds himself back in the Institute of Edhellond. The hallway he was waiting in when he was told that he would not be accepted. A voice can be heard behind him. A soothing voice. He turns around and sees Mova standing in the hallway. She tells him that it is sad that his potential was cut short. His patron should have taught him better, then he might have had a better chance. But for now, when he wants to move on, he only needs to walk through the door. He can see a glowing door behind her. She vanishes, and he slowly starts walking towards it, opening the door, and being surrounded by light, as his soul departs to another plane.

The party sits around their lost friend, grief stricken, and furious with what Vuthul has done, realizing that he must be stopped at all cost.

Saying Goodbye

Sitting around their fallen friend, the party cannot move. They’re just shocked and angry at the unnecessary loss of one of their own. Kal looks down at Fie’s hands, and notices that he was still wearing the Ring of Mind Shielding. Remembering that he told them that a soul was residing in it when they found it, she picks it up, and can feel the presence of something or someone within. She holds out the ring, asking if they would like to say their final goodbyes to their companion.

Penny picks up the ring, and puts it on her finger. She can hear Fie, recognizing the tiefling, saying hello to Penny. She is sad that he didn’t make it, and tells him that she died as well, but that Elmroot managed to bring her back just in time. He tells her that he is glad to hear it. Penny says she is going to miss him, and he replies that he doesn’t know that he will miss them, but he hopes he will. He tells her it’s been a pleasure. Penny then gives the ring to Dandelion.

Fie says hello to Dandelion, who laments not being able to rescue him, wishing she had more time or had done anything differently. He simply tells her that if any of them had to die, he was glad it had to be him. Fie seems confident and content with the situation, almost looking forward to seeing where the next path will take him in the great beyond, unsure of where he will end up.

Dandelion gives the ring to Kal, who reluctantly and teary eyed grasps it, and puts it on. Fie greets his friend, and tells her that he’s glad they all made it out. He goes on to tell Kal that he was hoping to get a chance to talk to her before he was completely gone, as he wanted to share what he knew that would be useful. He describes the two others in the group as too innocent. 

He goes on to tell Kal that they need to watch out for Delphine, explaining that she is part of a sort of intelligence agency working for the Akstan Kingdom, “their'' kingdom, referring to where Fie and Kal are from. She asks about everything he knows about her, and he tells her that Delphine is an Elder Archmage of the school of Illusion. She asks if he is worried about her because she tried to have him killed, but he explains that it’s more that he worries about her obsession with the Key, feeling she knew more about it than she should, and having an inkling that she is trying to retrieve it for personal reasons, not for the protection of the realm.

Feeling the connection weaken as the soul, or at least the after image they’re talking to, is fading away, he hurries to tell her about the hidden compartments in the basement, showing her where they can find the spider staff, as well as a mental note of what magical items he was carrying. His final wish is that if they ever find themselves near Blanc Town, there is a tavern with a person that has a mole under their left eye. One of his parents. Kal says she will tell them what happened to their child, and asks how he would like to be buried. He thinks a funeral pyre would be quite fitting, considering his affinity for fire. She agrees. As Fie slowly fades into nothingness, Kal can hear a final thought from him.

“It’s been an adventure.” 

Kal notices that the ring around her finger suddenly gets covered in shadows, and can feel the ring changing underneath it. When the shadows eventually retreat, they reveal a beautiful silver signet ring with the image of a purple eye on it. Transformed into a Ring of Temporal Salvation, a final gift from their friend to help them prevent any other members of the party being forced to say goodbye too soon.

The party climbs to the top of the cliff to the shrine of Udall, and has Penny create a large funeral pyre, which they place their friend on. Dandelion places the oldest stick she has on the pyre, and asks her god to guide him to where he needs to go. Kal summons a lightning bolt in her hands, and ignites the pyre. Standing there, looking at their friend drifting away, they wait for it all to burn. After a few hours, when everything is gone, the summoned pyre disappears, leaving behind the ashes of their friend. They put it in a container, and make the climb back down the mountain, heading towards the orcish outpost to take care of Grommok so they can go home again.

Looking Good for 1600

Heading down the mountain, through the elemental cave, and traveling back towards the fork in the road leading to the outpost, the party decides to rest for the night, not wanting to travel when it’s dark. When they make camp, Thervan’s visage appears, projected from far far away. He offers his condolences, asking if Fie was killed by the orcs, or their “mutual friend”. Hearing that an Aspect of Vuthul was responsible for his death, and that the corruption of shrines spreads, he remarks that they are getting more bold, having corrupted several shrines in recent times, and not only those of Udall. It’s almost as if they are preparing for something. Kal tells Thervan about the “Mother Hearthstone” that was in Murzol’s chambers, and that it flashed twice when they were there. He first of all asks where the hell they got a Hearthstone as those are extremely rare, but then begins to theorize that the large one they saw might be the wayfinder of Hearthstones, explaining the difficulties when traveling between planes.

They tell him they tried to resurrect Fie, but that it didn’t take. Thervan says they don’t always do, but he’s glad they tried, even though the clergy wouldn’t want him to tell them this, as they have a different view on death and resurrection. They feel it goes against the natural order, but Kal remarks that “if the evil bastards can cheat death, so can we”. Thervan gets a guilty look on him, with Kal feeling something is off. He reveals that he himself has cheated death many times, as he uses clones to remain “in the fight” so to say. They ask how old he is, and he tells them his body is a little under 400 years old, but his consciousness is closing in on 1600 years. Perks of being an elder archmage as he puts it. 

When it comes to the prisoners and getting them home, he asks if they would like for Thervan to come and get them, but the party mentions they have unfinished business they have to take care of before they depart. Thervan asks if they have attuned the Hearthstone to a safe location, which they have, so he agrees to bring them 300 gp worth of diamonds so they have an easy way home. He departs, with the party going to sleep in the tiny hut, one member less than they are used to. Before they do, Penny puts on the armor Fie was wearing, with Dandelion taking Penny’s old Mariner’s armor. 

Destination in Sight

The next morning, the party continues onwards towards the outpost. When they are almost at the fork in the road, Dandelion, Argus and Ira all notice a large force of orcs heading south from the road leading to the outpost. They decide to hide, with Kal using clairvoyance to listen to them in passing. She only hears parts of the conversation as they are quickly marching down the mountain, but she picks up “ramp things up”, “escalate” and “Thielheim”. Fearing that the orcs are preparing to provoke an act of aggression from the southern lands, they take a note of it, deciding to tell Thervan in order to have him send word to the settlement. Penny uses her sending stone to tell Morgan not to go to Thielheim in the coming weeks, and he thanks her for the warning, unsure as to why though.

Dandelion attunes her staff to autumn, granting them the ability to cast Pass without Trace, allowing the party to sneak to a hidden area off the path, in order to survey the road leading to the outpost, and prepare properly for the assault itself.  Kal asks Udall if he can summon a storm for them, but as they are above the cloud cover, the weather stays clear. Disappointed by this, she asks her god some questions, confirming that the prisoners and Grommok are present, and that there is only one way in. When asked for any advice, he simply responds in a cryptic manner “tell no lies.” 

During the night, the party takes shifts watching over the road, and mostly it is vacant, but on Dandelion's watch she can see a lone tall figure walking up the road to the outpost in the moonlight. Dandelion wakes the others, telling them that she sees someone. Kal asks Penny to create a glass eye, who in her groggy sleepiness summons a glass eye and hands it to her. 

Kal casts the spell, and can see in front of her a large towering warforged made of dark metal, wearing a hood, with glowing red eyes, walking determined towards the summit. They all get a bad vibe from the individual, thinking that he cannot be a good guy as his eyes are red, the sign of danger according to Dandelion. Feeling that they aren’t prepared to attack the outpost in the middle of the night, they decide to leave in the early morning. 

The One-Eyed Giant

When the party reaches the summit, they decide to hide the goats and let the owls fly freely while they venture into the mountain. Ira takes a short flight around the fort, confirming that there are no other entrances. Committing to the rescue, the party walks the final path towards the large opening in the mountains, and can see a frost giant sitting on a throne with a massive axe on his lap. He seems quite bored, and they notice that he only has one eye. The trio discusses how they should approach this, and Kal remembers what her god told her last night, about being honest. So they simply walk up to the giant.

When they get closer, he shouts out in giant “who goes there?”. The party makes themselves known, and introduces themselves to him. He asks why they are here, with Penny following Kal’s suggestion of being truthful, and tells him they’re here to neutralize Grommok. Giving an approving nod, he tells them that he hasn’t seen anything in that case, allowing the party to pass. 

Surprised that it worked, they ask him his name and why he’s missing an eye, and he tells them he is Fjorn One-Eye, and he gave up his eye in order to tell the truth from lies. Noticing that he seems unhappy with his current situation, they ask why he is guarding the place. Apparently, an evil shaman tricked him into a bargain, and now he’s under his control, his only purpose is to guard the mountain. Noticing that the giant seems quite bored, they give him the tankard of plenty in order for him to have a drink. Finding the experience quite pleasant, he gives them his lucky rock in return. 

The Warforged

Entering the keep, the party is careful not to accidentally walk into the orcs residing there, and decides to be stealthy and cautious. They listen to every door, making notes of where they hear noises. The first hallway they find is filled with statues of long deceased dwarves. The party notices a trip wire that runs through the hallway that triggers the statues to fall on intruders. Circumventing, but not disabling the trap, the party reaches a diverging path that leads north, or they can continue east. Unsure what to do, they decide to flip Rocky to see if he knows where to go. Dandelion throws him into the air, and the rock unnaturally moves towards the eastern door. They decide to listen to the omnipotent rock.

The door opens up to another long hallway, with several large stone doors that lead into what they discover to be kitchens when listening to the door, as well as a hallway leading to a collapsed part of the keep. At the end of the hallway, a door is slightly ajar, and they can see a weak blinking light within. As they get closer, it disappears around the corner. Intrigued by this development, Penny decides to follow it, with Dandelion and Kal following concerned. The doors lead to a storage area, and around the corner, they find the body of a metal man, as well as a book lying next to it. When Penny approaches it, the book suddenly rises into the air, and in common exclaims that it is happy to see they are not orcs. The book introduces himself as Bimble Sparkspinner, with the party asking what he is. He tells them that he is a gnome, but the party holds up a mirror, causing the book to seem fascinated by the reveal.

He tells them that he and his companion which is lying on the floor was ambushed by orcs, and he theorizes that he died and transferred his consciousness into a spellbook. The orcs tried to extract information from his companion, and so he shut down, and went into stasis. He has been trying to awaken him, but to no avail. The party takes out the Golemheart Core they found in the old dwarven workshop, and as if recognizing it, the chest of the body opens up, and accepts it. Hearing the mechanic start working and the warforged booting up, they back away. 

Rising up, the warforged thanks the party for his rescue, and is surprised to see his companion turned into his spellbook. He introduces himself as “Relic”, and the party tells him their name. Apparently Relic and Bimble both know Thervan, so they cast a sending to him, asking if he can project to them. He appears shortly after, and exclaims that he is surprised to see Relic, asking where Bimble is. The book chimes in, with Thervan being curious as to how that happened. They explain that they were ambushed by orcs, and that Bimble died, but he is still alive, so that’s good at least. Bimble seems more fascinated by the experience than anything. Relic explains that he is from around 3700 years or so ago, but has only been awake again for the last 2-3 years, after Bimble awoke him from his stasis. When asked what they’re doing here, they tell Relic and Bimble that they’re here to stop the orc menace, and hopefully kill Grommok. Relic needs no more convincing, not being too fond of the orcs after what they have done so far.

Before Thervan goes, they describe to him the warforged they saw approaching the keep the night before. Even with the vague description, Thervan says it sounds like Doctor Calamity, and if he’s here, then they have to hurry and be careful, as he is probably coming for the prisoners. He goes on to explain that two of the prisoners, along with Ansgar Cain, went to the north to retrieve an artifact that Thervan and his associates wanted to purchase, but the artifact was stolen by Calamity and his group, who used it to awaken a forgedragon. The group he sent managed to destroy the forgedragon, and retrieve the artifact, which probably angered Calamity. He tells them that he will watch the party, through Penny, at times, and if things get too hairy, he will teleport in and retrieve them. He does not wish to fight Calamity directly, not knowing what he is capable of, and recommends the party to not engage, but be cordial if they do encounter him. Thervan then signs off, and vanishes.

Searching the Fort

The party now turns their attention to find the prisoners. As they come back to the hallway with all the statues, they can hear a large force of orcs leaving through the hallway, with Dandelion picking up the sound of what she thinks is bears. When the voices and sounds fade away, they open the door, and sees tracks that lead outside. Thanking their various deities for the luck, they head up the hallway to where the force came from, reaching a large audience chamber that is surrounded by collapsed hallways, with a path leading further north.

They reach another long hallway, with several doors leading to various rooms. Listening to the doors, most of them seem to contain both sleeping and awake orcs, ignorant to the party skulking around. Penny asks why there are not patrols, but Kal points out that they have a guardian, and the entrance is trapped, so there is no reason for them to have sentries walking around. Not finding any prisoners, the party decides to check out the single door at the end of the hallway to the west. Listening to the door reveals a sloshing sound of sorts, like a semi-liquid is moving inside. Penny opens the door, and finds a set of toilets. Curious to see what is making the sound, she moves towards the innermost cubicle, and is suddenly face to face with a large flowing ooze coming out of one of the toilets, filled with feces and urine, and smelling horribly. 

The party, realizing that they are surrounded by orcs behind all doors, realize they must try to take out the approaching ooze as quietly as they can, and are careful not to use spells that require a vocal component or are thunderous in nature. The ooze seems to be resistant to most physical damage, and sprays acid at whoever attacks it directly, but seems rather harmless otherwise. Having underestimated it, Kal says that they should let it attack her, and places herself between it and the party, who backs off further down the hallway. This proves to be a fatal mistake, as Kal is suddenly bombarded with acid, ruining her armor, and almost taking her out. 

Suddenly realizing the gravity of the situation and the danger this ooze provides, Penny and Dandelion both break the silence to heal Kal, and try to wound it. Kal retaliates with her Wrath of the Storm, causing the ooze to split into two. Penny fires a crossbow bolt at it, with Relic using a firebolt. They eventually manage to take out both parts of the ooze, which lies sizzling on the stone floor outside of the toilet. Kal suddenly hears movement inside one of the doors, and runs to hide with the party. 

Opening the door, the party can hear an orc exclaiming that “it got out again”, and goes to grab a mop to clean it up. While he does, he wonders how it managed to swallow a crossbow bolt, and that it must have gotten stuck in the lantern again, as parts of it are singed, but he doesn’t realize that it was attacked, and so goes to pour it down the toilet. The orc then returns to his companions through the door he came out of, and the party breathes a sigh of relief, having avoided alerting the whole keep to their presence. Kal is dripping with disgusting acid, and wants to go somewhere to clean up.

They decide to head to the double doors on the opposite end of the hallway, and after confirming that there are no sounds behind the door, they open it, and find a vast armory filled with whatever they could require of weapons. Kal wanders around and just places a bunch of weapons in their bag of holding, in case they need any later. The others look around, and Relic finds a peculiar looking shield with spikes on it. Thinking it could be useful for Kal, he gives it to her.

Beyond the other set of doors in the armory, the party can hear a large breathing creature, and so they carefully and silently use the bar to lock the door, so they can take a short rest inside. Kal sits down, after having Relic clean her up, to do a divination ritual, asking for a rundown of the opposing forces in the fort. She learns that there are 53 orcs, one ogre and one warforged. Feeling a bit overwhelmed by the thought of having to potentially fight over 50 enemies before reaching the prisoners, they decide to keep relying on stealth and subterfuge. 

The party takes a short rest, using the coffee pot to halve the time, with Relic getting to taste the delicious coffee that it provides. During the rest, he tries to identify the core that the party installed in him to wake him up, and realizes that it makes him stronger and more resilient, but weak to lightning. Kal does another commune, asking if they will find the prisoners through the eastern door where the ogre resides on the other side, which they will. It also seems to be the only way through, but Udall cannot see anyone wielding lightning on their path, so Relic decides to keep the core for now.

From Infiltration to Impersonation

Not wanting to fight the whole fort at once, Dandelion thinks they should disguise themselves as orcs, having mentioned it a few times earlier, but as the party were trying to be stealthy, nobody heard her. Asking themselves why they didn’t do that to begin with, Penny quickly casts seeming on the party, making them appear as the blue-marked orcs they have seen. Having not seen any female orcs in the fort, Relic is the only one who can convincingly pull off an orc disguise, so he takes the lead. He uses prestidigitation to make the rest of the party smell like orcs, before they open the door to the east.

When they get a glimpse through, they see a massive ogre apparently guarding a couple of doors behind him. Taking a calculated risk, Relic tells the ogre that they are here for the prisoners. The ogre asks if Grommok told them, which Relic confirms. Looking a little confused, the ogre moves to the side, allowing them to pass. Within, they can see two orcs playing cards around a table. Kal and Dandelion thinks they look familiar, but cannot place them. Relic repeats that they are there to retrieve the prisoners. One of the orcs asks if he means prisoner, as the other two were taken earlier in the morning to Grommok’s chambers. Relic peeks around, and sees a starving, beaten, tortured orc in one of the cells. Going with it, he says that yes, they are here for him. As luck would have it, this is Barak, Karga’s brother Penny was asked to rescue. 

Taking the prisoner out, they lead him to the double doors at the opposite end of the hallway, and confidently walk through, hoping there are no orcs on the other side. Luckily it leads to an empty library, and when the door is closed behind them, they ask his name, which he confirms is Barak, so they tell him, through Relic who translates, that they were sent by his sister to rescue him. Barak is surprised, but happy, to hear this, and asks if they can go now. They sadly disappoint him by saying they are here to rescue the other prisoners as well, and hopefully take care of Grommok once and for all. Barak asks if they mean the small human and the kobold, confirming that they are still alive. He tells them that the orcs have been trying to convert him to join their ranks, but he refuses to fight alongside traitors of their own kind, and just wants to get home. 

Relic decides to check out the library, checking if he can find any magical items. Activating detect magic, he can see that there are at least four books that appear to radiate magic, so he wanders over to retrieve them. As it is extremely dark in the middle of the bookshelves, he doesn’t see the trap the orcs have placed, and manages to collapse most of the row, almost burying him. Quickly retrieving the books, he wanders back to the party just in time as the ogre comes running through the doors. Relic quickly makes up an excuse that he screwed up, with the ogre remarking that the next row over is the safe one, before shaking his head and returning to his post.

Heading through the “safe” row, they find what appears to be the chamber of the shaman who resides here, Zugor. Still having detect magic up, Relic can see four spell scrolls which he quickly grabs with his telekinesis, and hands it to the party as he cannot read them. The party puts them in the bag of holding, and wanting to sabotage the shaman, decides to mess up the ritual circle he has prepared on the floor, by smudging it in a way that looks like an accident. 

Thinking they might be getting close to the end, they decide to leave Barak in the chambers, telling him to hide. They take out some jerky and a waterskin, giving it to the orc, who immediately grabs it and scoffs it down, as he is starving and dehydrated. Relic remarks that he forgets that living things require sustenance, laughing at himself. Penny and Dandelion also heal him up a bit, with Kal taking out a spear, handing it to the orc in case he needs to defend himself.

Grommok

The party leaves Barak behind, after making sure he has hidden behind a table, and continues onwards through three sets of double doors that lead to the chamber. On the last door, they can hear voices from the other side discussing the prisoners. Calamity and Grommok are having a disagreement, with Calamity saying that the orc is making a big mistake, and the knowledge the prisoners hold could significantly enhance his forgedragon project. Grommok coldly replies that he doesn’t make mistakes, he makes decisions, and his decision is to leave them where they are, out of his grasp. Calamity ponders this, and says to Grommok that he should be careful about what he’s doing.

“Keeping them in such close proximity to you is not just a statement of power, it is also a dare…”

As the conversation comes to a close, they can hear the footsteps of Calamity rapidly approaching the doors separating the party from the chambers, so they beat a hasty retreat, making sure to close the doors behind them, as they hear the warforged exit. Dandelion casts Pass without Trace again, and the group just manages to hide inside Zugor’s chambers, as they hear Calamity mutter something about getting the prisoners no matter what it takes, before he disappears around the corner. 

The party looks at each other, amazed by the fact they managed to avoid dealing with the warforged, and returns to the chamber. They now hear that they are talking low amongst themselves, and so the party decides to enter. Penny turns herself invisible, hoping to get an advantage if things go south. They push open the doors, and can see eight orcs inside. Grommok, an older, large orc with a red gemstone embedded in his chest, presumably the shard, the shaman, as well as six soldiers protecting Grommok. Penny sneaks around to the side, as Grommok asks in orcish why they have entered his chambers unannounced. As nobody responds, Grommok takes a closer look at them, then asks in common who they are.

Kal says they are here to put an end to his silly skirmishes, and steps forward towards Grommok, with Zugor standing next to him telling him that his brother must have sent them. Grommok asks if they are here to kill him, and what his brother told them. Kal tells him that his brother told them why he was exiled, that Grommok was weak, and a pacifist. Grommok says that his brother keeps spreading lies. He goes on to explain that his brother stole his throne from him, as he was the rightful ruler, but his brother lied about his intentions, and so exiled him. 

He has returned, and is attacking Moroxia with his troops, to force an act of aggression to take out the other orcish tribes. Kal and Relic both chime in saying that his plan is bad and he should feel bad, considering he isn’t even trying to disguise himself as Murzol’s orcs, wandering around with blue war paint. Grommok laughs at this, saying the southerners don’t care what they look like, they see orcs attacking and want blood. When they attack and take out Murzol and his people, Grommok can come in and take what is his. 

The party can all see that Grommok is being influenced by the shard, and not being reasonable, but Kal can tell that he is not being deceptive about his brother. She decides to continue pushing his buttons, remarking that he is planning on having all orcs exterminated so he can be the chieftain of an empty clan? He replies that it is better to be a chieftain of a broken clan, than not at all. She asks how he’s going to populate the orcs, as he has no females, but he waves his hand, saying not all his people are here, they are hiding in the mountains, waiting to ride out the storm that is the inevitable invading army.

Kal decides to go all in, saying that he will be nothing but the chieftain of a group of inbred, weak, useless orcs, and will perish realizing he failed. Grommok clutches his war axe, as Penny suddenly appears from the side, and attempts to charm Grommok by casting fast friends. Sadly, he manages to resist, but he gives her a death glare, before looking back to Kal, pointing at her, telling Zugor “kill this one.” as he rises from his throne.

The Battle of 12 Orcs

Relic, noticing the warchief and his lieutenant preparing to bring their wrath down on Kal, swiftly jumps into action to protect his new friend, and casts a fireball at them, trying to hit as many of the orcs as he can. Grommok and Zugor manage to resist the effect, with Zugor absorbing most of the damage done, but the two orcs that were ready to pounce on Kal were not so fortunate, being left with grievous burns causing them great pain. 

Angered by this, Zugor summons his spiritual weapon, attacking Penny, who were trying to charm Grommok, while also using his thorn whip to attack Kal, dragging her closer to him. Grommok jumps down from his throne to bring his frosthammer down on Kal, but as he strikes her, she uses her divine powers to deal a powerful lightning strike back at him, while also pushing him backwards. In a mix of shock and anger, he screams at the cleric, preparing to attack once more. 

Penny, now with her back towards Grommok sneaks up to him to inflict wounds on the warchief, causing him a great amount of pain, but Grommok has his eyes fixed upon the cleric of Uduk who were bold enough to speak against him.

Dandelion, standing in the back of the room, near the entrance, sends for help, summoning anything that can help them in a fight, bringing forth an allosaurus that runs over to attack some of the orc soldiers in the room, thinning their numbers. She also activates her blessing from Udall, preparing for the worst.

Kal, seeing the warchief ready to bring his wrath down on her, feeling the strength emanating from the shard embedded in Grommok’s chest, stretches out her hand, and makes a request to her god. 

“In the name of Udall, grant me that shard!”

A beam of bright lightning suddenly penetrates the roof of the room, shooting straight towards Grommok’s chest, blasting it open, revealing the shard more clearly underneath. The shard then suddenly loosens itself, and flies straight toward Kal and her open palm. As soon as she makes contact with it, she tries to resist the influence of it, but it is too powerful, and so it embeds herself in her chest. Kal can feel that all her other items lose their attunement, but her power grows stronger. The rest of the room sees that red lightning is shooting out of her eyes, and she asks if Grommok is ready to see reason.

With the shocking development, Zugor looks to Kal, then to Grommok, who looks enraged at the cleric who took his power from him. In a desperate attempt to rectify the situation, realizing that she is too dangerous for them, Zugor attempts to banish Kal from the plane, hoping to take care of the rest of the party before taking her out when she returns. Unfortunately for the orcs, Relic counterspells him, after taking out two of the orc soldiers with a magic missile.

Grommok then goes on the offensive again, running straight up to Kal, demanding she gives it back, tearing at her chest in order to rip the shard from her, but with her new found strength, she easily manages to hold him at bay. Enraged and frenzied, Grommok begins to pummel Kal with his frosthammer instead, hoping to take the shard from her corpse.

Penny, seeing what is happening, and noticing how dangerous Zugor has the potential to be, uses her steel wind strike to attack every enemy in the immediate area, and teleports up to Zugor, hoping to finish him off. Meanwhile, Dandelion and Relic are being cornered by a couple of orc soldiers, but the allosaurus comes from behind and bites the head off the one attacking its summoner. 

Kal tries to make quick work of the remaining orcs, as the power is in their hand now, putting her hand down to the ground and releasing a powerful blast outwards from herself, decimating the remaining orc soldiers, and greatly wounding Grommok, with Zugor again absorbing some of the magic, preventing too much damage. Free from the flanking orcs, both Relic and Dandelion focus on Grommok, but he is too focused on Kal to stop, and continues to attack her again and again, hoping to take her out to retrieve what is his. The party uses this to their advantage, healing Kal to prevent her from falling to his barrage, even using the Rings of the True Companions at one point to prevent her from going unconscious. 

Zugor, being cornered and seeing the desperate situation he and his master is in, wild shapes into a giant constrictor snake, and attacks Penny, restraining her to prevent her from helping. Unfortunately for him, she uses a thunder jump to escape from the grasp, while damaging both the remaining orcs at the same time. With their defeat nearly at hand, Zugor walks over to Grommok, places his hand on him to transfer some of his life energy, and tells him to finish this, before running behind the throne. Relic quickly shoots a fireball at him, changing the flames to be radiant instead of fiery, preventing the shaman from absorbing it, gravely wounding him in the process.

Kal, getting real close to succumbing to the barrage of attacks from the warchief, summons a lightning storm inside the chamber, striking Grommok several times, causing him to be even more enraged and more determined to take her down, but with her companions behind her, helping keep her up, she knows that they will win the day. Grommok keeps striking her, trying to kill her properly, shouting at her.

“WHY WON’T YOU DIE?!”

Dandelion quickly runs over to Kal in order to help heal her along with Penny, getting all the way close to him, seeing him being fixated on Kal for taking his strength. Penny casts a repelling spell at him, causing him to move away, which grants Kal, Penny and the allosaurus an opening to strike him. Penny jams a dagger straight into his groin, Kal breaks his knee in order to lower him to their level, with the allosaurus screeching as it comes down at his throat with its teeth. It bites down and rips out the windpipe of the warchief, causing him to fall over, drowning in his own blood. Dandelion calmly walks over to the hiding shaman, and executes him with her wand of magic missiles. The room grows eerily quiet, illuminated by the sparks of the lightning storm above them.

Rescue

Penny quickly runs to the north of the room, and tries to open the double doors, but discovers it to be locked. She then runs over to Grommok, finding a key, and using it to unlock the doors, running inside to find the hostages, hoping to quickly bring them out of danger. Dandelion and the allosaurus go to retrieve Barak who was hiding in Zugor’s chambers, gesturing for him to follow her, as they know they have to get out fast. Relic and Kal go after Penny to help with the hostages.

Tied up in the personal chambers of the warchief, they find a kobold and a halfling, sitting next to the wall. They look dreadful, having been tortured and beaten, and not allowed to rest for all their time in captivity. Penny quickly asks if they are okay, and that they’re there to help, but they refuse to answer. Thinking that it is the orc disguise, she drops it, revealing her to be friendly, but strangely the captives still refuse to answer their questions. Penny tries to read their minds, and finds them fixating on the fact that they cannot reply. Thinking that they must be under some sort of spell, she asks if they aren’t allowed to talk, with the minds confirming the idea. Dandelion enters the room, as Penny explains that they must be under geas or similar, so she creates a pouch with diamond dust, allowing Dandelion to use greater restoration to release them from the magic.

Ethalyn quickly chimes out saying it is a great relief to be allowed to talk again, with Ash being a little cranky at being captive for so long. They look up at the party, who asks who they are and if they are here for them. The party tells them that they were hired by Thervan to retrieve them, causing them great relief, but as the party mentions that someone named Calamity is nearby, they both look at eachother, and then tells the party they have to leave, immediately. The party quickly leave the chamber, grabbing the bag of holding that lay within, to carry the hoard of gold lying beneath the throne. 

Thervan, who has been watching over Penny from time to time, suddenly teleports in. Ash and Ethalyn are especially glad to see him, and ask if they can leave. Thervan says that he can bring them home to Ravenforge if they so wish, and asks Barak in orcish what he would like to do. Barak just wants to go home, so Thervan suggests that he comes with them to his private sanctum, and then he can teleport him to his village the next morning when the orc has rested, unless the orc has any object tied to the village. Barak takes out a small hand carved statue, saying his sister made it for him. Thervan says this means they can go immediately without risk as it will allow him to make a strong connection, but suggests that they drop off the group in Ravenforge first. He looks at Kal and the shard that she carries, telling her that they have to talk about that later.

Kal sends a sending to Murzol, telling him that Grommok is dead, and that they held up their part of the bargain, now it’s his turn. He responds by thanking Kal, and telling her that he will welcome the negotiators in order to talk out a treaty. She also sends a sending to the frost giant Fjorn, telling him that Grommok and Zugor are dead, and that he is free. He responds that he owes them a life debt, and should they need him, he will answer the call. Kal imagines the frost giant simply grabbing his axe and leaving his post, happy to be free. 

As Thervan is about to begin drawing up the teleportation circle, Dandelion says they cannot leave as their owls are outside. Penny quickly runs to the private chambers of Grommok, and uses stone shape to make a passageway through the most narrow point, running through the hallway, jumping over the trap, and sends a message to the owls to follow her, as they’re leaving now, before they face an ever bigger danger. They quickly swoop down and fly with her through the hallway towards the main chamber.

As Penny is running to retrieve the birds, Relic looks through the corpse of Zugor, finding his belongings in his pouch, as well as the circlet he was wearing, thinking it looks powerful. Penny returns with Argus and Ira, ready to depart. Having filled one of the bags of holding with gold, there is little left in the chamber of value. Ethalyn and Ash look at the entrance of the chamber in anticipation, hoping Calamity does not return, not wanting to face his wrath. Kal asks Thervan to write a message in blood on the wall, telling his followers that they have killed their leader, and that they should return to Murzol’s rule, and placing his corpse in the empty throne as proof.

There and Back Again

Thervan quickly draws up the teleportation circle, with Relic making a point of not looking as a respect of privacy and respect to the wizard. When the circle is complete, the party quickly runs through, Ethalyn and Ash being carried by the allosaurus, and Dandelion holding the owls as they enter. Coming through the other side, they reach a beautiful large chamber filled with spellbooks, a large ornate desk overlooking a beautiful view of the coast. Thervan’s private sanctum. 

He thanks the party for the help, looking at Ash and Ethalyn, who looks at the party with gratitude. He looks to Relic, and gives his condolences to his deceased mentor, and offers him a private chamber in the castle if he requires, unless he would like to go with the party to their house. Relic thanks for the offer, but feels it fitting to join the party, if they will have him. They tell him that there’s an empty room full of pillows in their house, and it feels wrong leaving it empty. Penny stays behind, wanting to see Kargaa as they deliver her brother. 

Penny, Thervan and Barak wait in the sanctum for the party to leave. After they do, Thervan asks Barak to borrow the statue, with Penny holding his arm, as a way of promising that things will be okay now. Thervan focuses his mind, closing his eyes, and Penny can feel herself being drawn into a whirlwind of energy, before suddenly appearing in a snow filled landscape, next to a village. Barak looks at Penny and Thervan, before starting to run, albeit slowly, towards it. Karga, who is wandering around the outskirts, suddenly notices them, and comes running.

Karga and Barak embrace in a loving hug, neither thinking they would ever see the other one again. Karga then turns towards Penny and runs up to her, embracing her in a hug. Penny hugs her back, happy to have helped her new friend. Karga then looks into her eyes, asking her if she would like to stay for a while, but Penny points to Thervan, who waves, saying she has to return home, but she will definitely come back later. Karga says she hopes that she does. As she leaves, she squeezes Penny’s arm, getting one last look into her eyes, before turning around, helping her brother back to the village. Penny joins Thervan, and they depart.

The party has been provided a carriage that takes them back to their home. Relic sits in the carriage, and tries to identify the circlet he took from the shaman, finding it to be a Circlet of Dwarven Focus that can help with concentrating on multiple spells at once. She shares this with Dandelion and Kal, who think it could definitely come in handy for them. 

Finally returning home after over a month away, Dandelion quickly runs over to the The Party's Horses and plants, asking if they have been well cared for, which they confirm that they have, but they are mostly happy to see their owners again. They tell Dandelion they have a visitor, and when asked who it is, they say they don’t know, but they seem nice, and they’re a tiefling like Penny. Relic and Kal have been discussing the stone fence near the house, remarking that he can fix it with some effort, before Dandelion suddenly walks quickly past them towards the front door, dragging them with her. When they open up, they see Raam looking from the kitchen, smiling at them.

“Aah, you’re back! Finally!”

A Deal Rejected

The party looks at Raam, as he stands in their kitchen, waiting for them to enter. He reiterates that they should come in from the cold and that they need to have a talk. Both Kal and Dandelion are extremely on the defensive about his presence in their home, but Raam ignores that, and introduces himself to the newest member of the party. Relic, having never met Raam before returns the gesture, and introduces himself in a friendly manner. Both Kal and Dandelion chimes in about his true nature. 

Raam asks the party where the rest have gone, noticing that there appears to be only three of them. Kal bluntly tells him that they all are “gone”, trying to hint at their passing. He says that he hopes it was painful in that case, before gesturing to the party that they really should sit down, as they have a lot to discuss. They ask him where their housekeeper is, and he simply tells them that she’s “close”, and as long as they don’t harm him, she won’t be harmed or shipped off somewhere horrible.

They continue to exchange “pleasantries”, before Raam finally reveals his true purpose for being with them. After they killed his mortal form the first time, he spent some time in the Nine Hells regrowing his body, before being well enough to return. During that time, he overheard from their spies in the abyss that the party had been mingling with a certain Forgotten God. The trio looks at each other, Relic more in confusion than anything else. Raam asks them straight up if they are in cahoots with the god, or if the rumors that they are opposing him are true. They tell him that they are not on any good terms with the Forgotten One, but Raam retorts with the fact that one of them had him as their patron. Kal tries to tell him that it was not by choice, but Raam replies that no god becomes a patron without an agreement.

Feeling satisfied that the party is not in allegiance with the Forgotten One, he reveals that he has information that could become useful for the party; a way to kill the Forgotten One once and for all. Apparently Raam was owed a favor by a certain Spider Queen, and decided to cash in. And as the Spider Queen has been cast out by the Forgotten One, she was more than willing to reveal the waypoint to a weapon that can be used to kill him. He takes out a piece of parchment, depicting a sword with the blade split along the center, and says that he is willing to share with them the location of the waypoint, but he wants them to leave him and his business alone. 

Kal tells him immediately that they are not going to agree to that, with Dandelion agreeing with her, telling him that she is honorbound not to let him continue with his evil acts. He tells them that he’s not that evil, as they only take two or three people a week to be shipped off to get “new homes” as he puts it. He implores them to at least consider it, and takes out a contract he had prepared for the occasion. The trio skims through it, and finds a few points that are not something they are willing to accept, but it boils down to the fact that he will provide them with the waypoint, and in return they cannot interfere, lest their soul would be forfeit to him. Kal takes the contract and tears it in half, telling him they will never have an agreement with him that allows him to commit evil acts. Raam simply pulls out another copy, smiling. 

But the party does not relent, and so Raam realizes that they are unwilling to listen to “reason”, so he sighs, telling them that he wishes this would have gotten a better outcome, but someone else might be interested in the information; Malice. The party looks at each other, and tells him that he wouldn’t dare, as he would be selling out his own kind. Relic asks if Raam has thought this through, saying they can tell his superior devils about him making deals with abyssal entities, but Raam seems unfazed, telling them that if he cannot get someone to finish off the Forgotten God, he will do his darndest to at least get in his good graces. Giving the party one last chance to reconsider, he looks at them. Realizing that they are steadfast, albeit conflicted at the notion of letting Malice get the information, he leaves. As he does, four shadow devils emerge from the corners of the house and follow him outside. 

Negotiations

As he leaves, Penny has finally returned from saying goodbye to Karga and her brother, so they run into each other on the steps. Penny seems  taken aback at first, but knowing that Raam would eventually return, she doesn’t seem surprised. She asks him why he is here, and he tells her that he was trying to make a deal with the party, but that they would not listen to reason, shouting so the rest of the party can hear. Penny asks what the deal is, and he tells her about the weapon. Penny tells him to come back inside so they can talk it out.

The rest of the party seems on edge, and as Penny returns Raam says that he was always willing to negotiate the terms, he wasn’t expecting them to sign the contract as is. Kal complains that he never told them that, but he practically shouts at her, asking if she’s ever signed a contract before. But she hasn’t. He sighs once more, seeming agitated, but hopeful at the prospect of getting a deal signed. Penny asks what the deal is, and he explains that he wants the party to stay out of his way for the information, with one of their souls as collateral. Penny, wanting to end the Forgotten One, suggests that she can sign it, but the rest of the party won’t allow her.  

They discuss the contract further, and end up with several changes, most notably that he cannot escalate and expand the operation, and that the contract will only be valid until the party has dealt with the Forgotten One or until the world ends, whichever comes first. They ask Raam why he asks them to retrieve the weapon instead of just doing it himself. He replies that he is not powerful enough, and he knows that the party has potential. They ask why they shouldn’t just kill him now, and then finish him off in the Nine Hells. To their surprise, he tells them that if they set their mind to it, they could probably kill both him, Muzak and take their whole operation down, and then probably be able to find a way into the Nine Hells to kill them properly. But that would mean that their friends and families would face a terrible fate, as he names both Kal’s family, as well as Morgan and Trixie.

Kal says that she would like some time to think about it, and he tells her that they can have all the time in the world, Arin has been in their captivity for a few weeks now, what is another few days. This frustrates the party, wanting to see her freed. Kal tells Penny to come along, and they go outside to confer with Thervan. Kal sends him a message, asking if he can come to their house, as they need his help. He replies that he is rather spent for the day, and if it’s important. Kal says it’s about a certain blade that could kill Vuthul. Thervan suddenly appears.

A Soul for a Blade

Penny and Kal tell Thervan what has happened, and that a devil named Raam is offering them the location of the blade. He seems to recognize the name, saying they’ve had dealings in the past. He tells them that they have been searching for the location of the blade for some time, so Thervan is willing to go against his better judgment and sign the contract if it means progress. Kal is ambivalent, but Penny says that she would be willing to sign it if it means they get what they need. Thervan takes them both by the shoulders and leads them to the door.

Entering, Raam and Thervan’s eyes meet, and they both greet each other by name, Raam more cordial than the other. Thervan asks if he can read over the contract, with Raam telling him to go right ahead. Dandelion says that she wants to have in the contract that Raam cannot go after their friends or family, but Raam says that he absolutely won’t put that in the contract, saying it is redundant, as they would come after him immediately if something were to happen.

After Thervan has read through it, he has made some notes and alterations, changing wording to be less ambivalent, he gives it back to Raam, who checks the modifications and finds them acceptable. Relic chimes in that he is highly against doing deals with devils as a general rule, with Thervan saying that he agrees, but this is a special circumstance. Kal asks to be excused when Penny says that she is ready to sign, hoping desperately to spot a passerby to tell about Raam and his operation, so that she has done something before it takes effect. But she is spent for the day, and sees no one. 

Penny is handed a quill by Raam, who tells her that she won’t need ink. She puts the quill to the paper, and signs her name, committing them to the agreement. The letters of the contract flashes, signaling that her soul is now at stake, with Raam happily snatching back the quill and contract, saying it was a pleasure doing business with the party. He jokingly almost forgets to fulfill his part, and as he leaves, asks the party if they have heard of a place called the Crags of Despair. The party groans, having just gotten back from the Thax’ning Tribes, and recognizes the name as the place where Grommok found the Shard. He tells them of a river flowing through a valley, with a waterfall that refuses to freeze. Within the waterfall is a door, behind the door is a set of stairs, and down those stairs the first marker can be found. He then departs with his shadows. 

As he walks away from the house, Kal runs after him, shouting at him from the doorway, telling him that they want their housekeeper back. He shouts back that she will be delivered this evening, as he wants to make sure they are not following him before he gives her back. 

Dreams of Power

Going back inside, Kal tells Thervan that he can go now, seemingly very annoyed at the situation. Thervan notices the anger in her voice, and leaves without saying much more, letting the party cool down. Kal sits down, looking into the air. Dandelion asks Penny if she could make a new book so that Relic could be caught up with what has been going on. Penny is more than happy to do so, creating a new journal that is even bigger than the last one they made for Chester, and hands it to Relic, who begins reading. 

As they sit around the fireplace, Arin eventually comes through the door. Dandelion runs up to her and gives her a great big hug, asking her if she’s okay. She returns the hug, and tells her that she is fine, and has been well looked after. Although she had been terrified for the first few days, Muzak came and talked to her from time to time, and although he kidnapped her, he was very friendly and cordial to her. But she is extremely happy to be free from the ordeal, and happy to be back. 

The party introduces her to Relic, and she seems quite fascinated by his appearance. They also tell her that Fie fell in battle, and they couldn’t save him. This saddens her, as she did like him a lot. Or she. They. Nobody was really sure what Fie identified as, but come to the conclusion that they identified with whatever was fitting in the moment. 

The party asks Relic where he would like to rest for the evening, remarking that they have a free room now, full of pillows of various shapes and colors. Relic says that he does not sleep, so is fine with staying in the living room. Penny asks what they should do with the pillows, suggesting that they split them up amongst the party. They all agree it’s what Fie would have wanted, so they divide them amongst each other, and retire for the evening, having gone through a lot in one day. 

During the night, the party’s dreams are influenced by their various feelings and experiences. Dandelion soars through the skies with her owls, feeling free again having returned from the north, with Penny dreaming of playing for the king, and making sure he keeps his crown. Kal dreams of the shard embedded in her chest, and can sense that while the shard provides power, it will also draw enemies to claim it. Relic, sitting in the chair in the living room doesn’t dream. But he does notice that something is unlocked within him. He decides to explore it, and finds himself in a memory of an unknown dwarf that falls to a group of drows, before his consciousness is being stored into a small crystal. When he comes back to himself, Arin is standing in the kitchen, opening the Chest of Preserving, happy to see that Raam was courteous enough to buy groceries.

Debrief

Most of the party sleeps in. Even Dandelion, who usually wakes at the break of dawn, is still sleeping well into the morning, much to the concern of Argus and Ira. As she finally wakes up, she sees her owls staring down at her, acting very relieved to see that she is still alive. They both nuzzle up to her, happy to be back home again after being away. Penny wakes up being fixated on the dream she had, wondering what it meant. Kal looks down at her chest, and prepares Greater Restoration, in order to relinquish the power of the Shard. They all can smell the cooking of Arin in the kitchen, so they descend to have breakfast, and talk about what they should do for the day.

Dandelion and Penny both want to go to Tempervale, as the dragon scale armor Pijjirik was crafting should be finished soon, and Penny wants to get a tattoo with the money they are going to get. Kal is up for going to Tempervale as well, wanting to show it to Relic, as he has never been there. They also remember that they commissioned a carriage that should be ready, but first they have to go to the castle to hand off the Shard and give a debrief. Penny also points out that they should clear out Wave Echo Cave before things escalate yet again.

They take the horses, and notice that Wildfire has returned to a regular horse, as Fie never returned. They offer it to Relic, but he tells them that he’s not very fond of living mounts, and sits down to summon a steed with his magic. Wildfire looks saddened by being left behind, so Arin suggests that she can look after him, that way neither of them will be alone again. Dandelion asks if she feels alone, with Arin admitting that she felt rather isolated when the party left to go north. Wildfire is happy to have someone to look after, and be looked after by. Arin waves to the party as they head to the castle, while she takes Wildfire out for a ride.

As the party reaches the castle, they board their horses, and head inside. Within, they can see that Bertram and Ansgar seem to be in a serious discussion, with Ansgar looking quite annoyed. Dandelion, who can read lips, sees that he is angry that Ethalyn and Ash were put in such great danger, but Bertram tries to blow it off saying that they’re fine. Ansgar points to the party, and says it’s thanks to them, not him. Bertram relents as he sees the party, saying they will talk more later, and takes them to meet Thervan.

Thervan is looking out the window when they enter, and with a flick of his fingers four chairs are summoned for them. They sit down, with Thervan saying that he has been thinking about what happened last night, saying it’s for the best, and that he promises the party that he will personally help them put an end to Muzak and Raam’s operation when the Forgotten One is dealt with. Kal still is not happy with that, but it’s as much as they can do with the circumstances.

Kal asks him if he would like the Shard for safe keeping, realizing that it would be dangerous for the party if she was still in possession of it. He opens a drawer and takes out some diamond dust, remarking that his supplies are getting low, but it is worth it. She throws it back, asking Penny to create some instead, who simply holds out her hand, making a small pouch appear. Kal casts the spell, and the Shard falls to the floor, with Penny picking it up, putting it into a bag that Thervan has found. The Shard still shines through it, as he places the bag on his desk. Kal throws him the rest of the diamond dust, telling him to make good use of it. He immediately calls for Raven, who enters the office. Throwing the bag to her, he tells her to find some good use for it while it still lasts. She thanks the party, saying she’s glad to see them again, before leaving to do some good. Thervan sits down in his chair, and looks at the party.

He tells them that he has made contact with Murzol, and they are working out a peace treaty as they speak. He has spoken to the king, and although his birthday is coming up, the king is adamant that he wants to hold a celebration in the honor of the heroes who managed to broker a peace at the cusp of a full blown conflict with the orcs. He tells them that several dignitaries have been invited, both from the Akstan Kingdom and from most of the holds around Moroxia, as well as some from Krawdoth and Asimaria. It will be held at the end of the week, on saturday, and he hopes that the party can attend.

“Speaking of”, Thervan says, before sending a message to someone, saying they can bring it in now. Two guards enter, holding a chest, filled with platinum and gold, 31575 gold in total, with a little bonus as hazard pay. He realizes that it cannot bring Fie back, but he died in service of good, so they should be compensated. He asks the party if they would like to have a plot of land to lay his remains to rest, as it does help, but Kal says that they wanted to bring him back to his hometown, as they tell his parents what happened to him.

The party asks Thervan if Raam was telling the truth about the blade, and if it really could be used to kill the Forgotten One. He responds that it indeed can, but only according to myths. Nobody has seen the blade since his ascension, meaning it has been lost for over 2500 years. Gods in general cannot be killed, so having something that can bypass that is invaluable considering the enemy they are facing. Kal suggests using a legend lore on it, but he says they have already done that, but nothing reveals its location, just what they have already learned. He thinks it is a lead they should pursue, saying that knowing where it is, he can teleport them there directly, saving them the walk. 

Kal asks if she can use his desk to cast a legend lore after all, wanting to see if she can get a hint at the location to Stormseeker and Maravin's tomb. He does not object, and the rest of the room observes her doing the ritual. She learns that Udall himself made the tomb in honor of his fallen hero, and it is located in the Bloodwoods, near the elven city of Eilian. Thervan suggests heading that way, as the locals would probably have more information about their hero.

Dandelion remarks that the party has too many acorns in the air, and that they should try to catch some of them. The rest of the room is completely flabbergasted by the remark, having never heard it mentioned before. Penny asks if she means too many balls in the air, but Dandelion explains that it is a common saying, from when she was little and she and her friends used to toss acorns in the air to try to catch them. Penny picks up some fruit and starts juggling, asking if this is what she meant, but Dandelion takes the fruit and throws it all into the air, but fails to catch any of them. Thervan looks at them, and asks if there was anything else they needed, before the party sets their sights towards Tempervale.

Pain and Gain

When they step through the teleportation circle, after Thervan transferred the ownership of the rights from Fie to Relic, the party is met with a wall of snow, as a blizzard is currently raging over the city. Dandelion yells into the sky that “I thought we fixed this?”, but the rest tell her that this is normal weather, so she shouldn’t worry about it. They all head towards the tattoo parlor “One’s True Colors” that Penny has seen in passing, and is greeted by the owner, a fire genasicalled Deacon Ember. The party asks what he can provide, as they are looking for some protection and some boosts, and he shows his various pots of gem dust saying he can enhance their abilities or give them resistances, or give them some nice tattoos imbued with magic. 

Other than the diamond dust being rather empty, it seems that everything else is in steady supply, so Penny tells him that she wants a jade tattoo, to increase her wisdom, as well as some one-use tattoos for spellcasting. He tells her that he will gladly be able to do that, and asks what design she would like. She describes a field of stars around her shoulders and up her neck, which Deacon thinks is a very cool idea. Considering the placement, she would have to remove her top, which she does, not being embarrassed to show herself, and sits down in the chair.

Deacon fills up the jar attached to a weird looking device with jade dust, and tells her to prepare, as it can be quite painful. Penny says that she can handle the pain, having lost a limb once, but as soon as he starts working on her back, it becomes too much, and she faints. Deacon tells the party that it should take a couple of hours, so Dandelion decides to go and check if her armor is ready. Relic in the meantime asks Deacon if he would allow him to cast detect magic to observe the flow, which Deacon has no problem with. Relic sees that the tattoo is being powered by magic coming from Deacon himself, which he finds quite fascinating. He also sees that there seems to be some residual magic left from where she was marked by Vuthul, and figures this might mean the connection is not completely gone. Kal watches as well, before realizing that Dandelion shouldn’t go alone to buy stuff, and goes after her. 

On the way to the armorer, with her owls sitting on her shoulders, Dandelion notices a familiar face in a back alley watching her. Delphine. She tells this to Argus and Ira, who sneaks a peek, wondering why she is looking after the party at this point. Dandelion tells them to keep an eye out, and makes sure to stay in the streets among people, to avoid getting attacked. When she reaches Pijjirik, he remembers her, and tells her that the armor is ready, if she is still interested in it. 

Kal suddenly arrives, having hustled to catch up with her. They haggle a bit about price, as Dandelion will have to spend most of her gold to purchase the armor, and after they tell him they have thwarted an invasion of orcs heading to Thielheim which apparently is his hometown, he is willing to go down a bit. Dandelion looks at the armor, and realizing that she will have a hard time staying hidden figures that there must be better ways to protect herself, regardless of the other perks it provides, so decides to let it go. Pijjirik is not angered or annoyed by this, as it means he will be able to sell it for a higher price to someone else, but tells the party that he will gladly buy more scales if they do come across other dragons.

They decide to head back to the tattoo parlor, and on the way, Kal decides to check in on Lone Candle, and goes to the square where she kept her stall. Looking around, she finds no sign of her, so she goes over to a nearby booth to ask if they know what happened to her. A kind old lady selling dolls named Hilda tells her that the tabaxi finally saved up enough coin to head west, and apparently found an internship in Ravenforge. Kal is pleased to hear this, and wonders where she ended up. 

Hilda asks if she would like to buy a doll, so Kal looks around the booth, and sees that the woman has apparently made a few dolls that look like the party, finding a green firbolg, a pink tiefling and even a cleric-looking doll with white hair. Remarking that she apparently has been modeling for her, pointing to the doll of herself, Hilda at first seems embarrassed, and apologizes, but Kal says that she loves it, and would like to buy them. Hilda gladly gathers up the dolls, with Kal also picking up some owls that look like Argus and Ira, as well as an elk and some horses, paying way more than what Hilda is asking for them, much to the woman's joy. She asks if Kal would like to commission some, as she works quite fast, so she asks for an elf wizard, and one of Relic. 

Kal can see that Hilda is lightly clothed, and gives her one of the thermal cubes to warm her up, bringing a tear to the woman’s eye. She tells Kal to come back in a few hours and she will have everyone ready, before starting working, tearing out the hair of a wizard doll to make it blonde, and wondering how she will make a metal man. 

Back at the tattoo shop, Penny is finally done, and in a lot of pain. Dandelion looks through the stock, and pays to have a barrier tattoo made, covering the entire front of her body, in the shape of a branching tree. Deacon says that should be a quick job, saying it would take about an hour, and asks Dandelion if she would like some privacy, as she would need to get undressed. Dandelion doesn’t mind, and takes off her clothes, with Kal coming over with a towel, covering up her parts, much to Dandelion’s confusion.

An Unexpected Encounter

As Deacon is working on Dandelion, Kal takes Relic around to see the city, while Penny goes to the Transcendence Theater to see if she can discover what happened to Lady Kree. She wanders around the area, asking people where her house was located, as it was sucked into the ground, and when she finds it, she sees that every single building around was completely spared, while the house of Kree is lying in a sinkhole. Asking around some more, she discovers that Lady Kree seemed nervous and on edge the days before her passing, even saying goodbye to some people, as if she knew what was going to happen.

Penny is distraught by this, and decides to head to the theater in order to discover more clues. Finding the place closed while awaiting new owners, she decides to sneak inside. She turns herself invisible, and climbs up the facade to reach the balcony overlooking the entrance. Seeing the blizzard is raging, it’s difficult, but she makes it, and finds an open door leading inside. She descends down the stairs, and heads to the front desk, looking for anything that can explain what has happened. 

She finds that there are a bunch of documents that she can’t read, but she sees numbers, and realizes that it is most likely her ledgers of finances or something similar. Nothing that can help Penny. But sitting on the desk is the small pink monocular that Lady Kree used to discern illusions through. She takes it with her, and returns to the streets, back to the tattoo parlor.

Kal and Relic wander the streets, with Kal showing the bridges and their various dedications to the gods, as well as showing him the library again, as they didn’t really get a chance to see it when they emerged. He asks if she knows of any place where he can get some spell-scrolls, and Kal remembers a place called the Fey Factory that they have seen in passing. 

Heading inside the Fey Factory, they are greeted by a dwarf, Dain Stoutale, who welcomes them to his emporium, and asks if there is anything in particular they are looking for. As he scans the room, Relic can’t help but notice the glowing scroll hanging on the wall behind the counter. He asks what it is, and Dain proudly proclaims that it is a scroll of Wish, his pride and joy, and can be his for a mere three million gold coins. A bit out of reach considering their budget, he tells the dwarf that he has some other spells he’s looking for, so the dwarf helps him find what he needs, as well as the materials to copy them into his book. 

As the two of them exit the shop to return to the others, Kal sees Delphine in an alley across from them, looking at them. Kal, being annoyed at her, sends her a message saying that Fie is dead and that she can stop following them. As she receives the message, Kal can see Delphine’s face drop. She gets a simple reply, a shivering voice saying “he is?”. Seems Delphine didn’t know about this, so Kal walks over to her, taking Relic with her.

Delphine asks if she speaks true, and Kal repeats herself, that Fie has truly died. Delphine says that she thought that maybe he finally took to his senses and acquired some item to hide himself from her, before running away, but didn’t expect him to be gone. Kal can see that she seems to be genuinely saddened by the news. Delphine goes on to say that she has made a terrible mistake in trying to go after the party to acquire the key, as she underestimated how far Malice was willing to go, and so thinks that they should work together instead. She asks if she can meet the party to discuss, and Kal invites her to their house tomorrow night. Delphine accepts, and walks away, saying she will see them the next night.

Returning to the parlor, Dandelion is done with her tattoo, and a beautiful tree design is sticking out from underneath her clothes, much to Dandelion's satisfaction. The party thanks Deacon for his services, saying they might be back later. Before leaving, they decide to purchase whatever they need of spell-components with their newly acquired spells. As they gather and walk towards the library to head back to Ravenforge, Penny decides to test out the monocular that she found, and puts it up to her eye. It grants her truesight, and so she scans the area, looking at the people, before she suddenly sees a giant golden dragon in the middle of the square. The dragon looks around, and as their eyes lock with Penny, she lowers the monocular, and can see an elderly woman looking back at her, giving a wink, before disappearing into the crowd.

Errands

Waking up in the morning, the party spends most of the day doing errands before their meeting with Delphine. Dandelion, sitting in the garden among the snow, takes the mirror they purchased and tries to look at what her tribe is doing. Getting drawn in, her consciousness emerges in the forest, as she observes the tribe eating breakfast. Everyone seems to be doing fine, and she gets a sense that they all appear to be a little bit happier than usual. Sage appears and tells everyone that they should prepare to head out, as they have lingered for too long. As he scans the horizon, Dandelion swears that he stops to look directly at her, before moving on. Eventually her consciousness is drawn away as the spell ends, and she returns to the gardens.

Penny decides that she wants to go look for where Lone Candle might have gone, and checks out most magic shops in the city. At first she finds no sign of her, but as she enters Scry Me a River, she can see Lone Candle in a conversation with Vontara Vishara. As she sees Penny enter, she immediately recognizes her, and runs over to greet her, proudly exclaiming that thanks to her and the party she finally saved up enough to move westwards as they recommended. 

Penny and Lone Candle talk about their respective journeys, Lone Candle being amazed by all they have done, and hopes that she can help in any way. Penny says that there might be something she can help her with, as she would like a magical item that can cast Find Familiar. Lone Candle says that is absolutely something she can do, and with Vontara’s help, it should be ready within a week, and that Lone Candle can personally deliver it if she wishes. Penny gladly pays for the item, and Lone Candle happily starts enchanting the ring Penny gives her.

Kal travels to Elvenroth to talk to Vrendol about having her armor enchanted, as she has been told he is the best for the job. When she enters, Vrendol greets her, asking her what he can do for her. They talk a bit about her armor, with Vrendol complimenting the craftsmanship, asking what she would like to enchant it with. As she describes her intentions, he tells her that it could be done in about a month and a half, so Kal says that she will return.

After scrying on her tribe, Dandelion sets out to purchase supplies in order to craft some more healing potions, as the party is running low. Using whatever she has foraged over time, she has enough to make a couple, and realizes that she has to head to warmer areas in order to forage for more if she wants to make enough for everyone. She starts the process and starts fermenting her stock, hoping to be finished within a week.

Former Enemies

As dusk arrives, the party all have returned to the house, in preparation of their meeting with Delphine. Penny and Dandelion are both highly skeptical as the meeting draws near, with Penny even summoning the tiny hut in order to be “safe” from Delphine if she were to try anything. Both Kal and Relic on the other hand seem to be more open to the potential of gaining another ally. Suddenly both Argus and Ira flies in the open window, saying that she’s here. They suddenly hear a knock on the door, with Kal going to open up. Delphine greets her, asking if she can come in, with Kal moving aside, allowing her to enter.

Seeing Penny protected by a tiny hut that has taken up most of the living room, she suggests that they maybe talk in the kitchen. Kal gives Penny a stern look, who reluctantly drops the bubble, allowing them to sit in the living room. Delphine goes over to Relic and introduces herself, asking how Bimble is doing. Relic tells her that he sadly passed away, but that he is still around. Bimble, after getting approval from Relic, emerges from the book, and greets Delphine as an old friend. She offers her condolences, but Bimble seems more than happy with the turn of events, just finding the experience fascinating. 

Sitting down, Delphine can sense the tension in the room, and immediately tells the party that she is regretful to how things turned out, realizing her “mistake” far too late, as she didn’t expect Malice to be so aggressive, referring to the fact that she massacred a whole town square in order to free Iarno Albrek, which the party knows as Glasstaff. She only wanted the Key in order to protect her homeland, the Akstan kingdom, saying that Kal should understand. Kal on the other hand says that her allegiance is not with any nation, but for the protection of the world at this point.

Delphine seems genuinely saddened by the fact that Fie paid with his life, asking how it happened. The party tells her that it was an aspect of the forgotten one, and that he died heroically, getting a proper warrior's funeral on the peak. She seems to take solace in this, but the party points out that she tried to have him killed at least once before. She defends herself by saying that Arara might have been overzealous, but that she knew he was accompanied by at least two people who had the capacity to bring him back, which they did.

As it’s clear that they don’t trust her for 5 flat copper pieces, she asks what she can do to make the party trust her. The party says that she has to prove herself, so Delphine takes out a small bundle of pink hair, and throws it to Penny, saying that she will no longer use this in order to watch over the party. Penny seems quite offended by her taking her hair, with Dandelion looking at Delphine coldly. Realizing that it is not enough, she offers up something else.

She tells the party that she and her spies have been looking actively for drow activity, in the hopes of finding Albrek again, and have discovered that there seems to be a drow presence in the ruins of Equinfjord, on the northern coast, north of Ravenforge. They have been observing the area for a few weeks, and the presence seems to be constant, indicating that they are doing something there. Delphine says that it would be a perfect place to hide Albrek, and even if he’s not there, it obviously is important to Malice, so if they disrupt it, they might put an obstacle in her path. Either way, they might get something out of examining the situation. 

Delphine makes it clear that she wants nothing in return for the information, she just wants to help at this point. As she and her organization is not a strike force, they are unwilling to go in themselves to check it out, as she realizes that would be suicide, but the party has proven their potential, so Delphine is confident that they can make quick work of the drow intrusion if they so wish. She warns the party that since the ruined city was one of the locations that fell during the Betrayal, there is a significant undead presence of haunting spirits there, so they should be careful nonetheless.

Concerning the feast that is set to happen in a few days, they ask if she or her network have discovered any threats against the party, but Delphine says that there doesn’t seem to be more than the usual chatter. She will be attending the party herself, so if anything were to happen, she will be there to help. Dandelion is still not convinced, and wants Delphine to promise not to hurt anyone in the party. She is reluctant, as she doesn’t know if they will turn against their interests, but as long as they stay true and go against Malice and the Forgotten One, she promises to not interfere. 

Penny asks if Delphine can check out the scar from the connection that was broken on her head, with Delphine casting detect magic to examine it. She sees what relic saw, that there seems to be lingering magic, which could mean that she will be able to see the Forgotten One if he is nearby, or, more likely, he will be able to influence her more easily. They decide to leave it as is for now, with Penny saying that he has already tried to influence her, by being in her dreams. Delphine says that he is imprisoned, so it is more likely whoever is his new “disciple”. She asks Penny what it felt like to be under his spell, asking if she heard his voice. She tells Delphine that she even saw him, with Delphine being intrigued, asking to see what he looked like.

Penny casts Major Image, summoning a moving depiction of the Forgotten One. The rest of the party have seen a weak shimmer of him before, but never this clear. His eyes are voids, where light does not reach, and his skin is old and pale. He looks quite disturbing, contrasted by his long beautiful white robes. 

Looking at the projection, they ask if she knows of any more shrines that have been corrupted, with Delphine confirming that shrines of Azuna, Phymera and Udall have all been affected, with most of them being cleared, but she will let the party know if she hears of any shrines of Udall being corrupted again. They theorize that, since the temples in towns are places of worship where people go to pay homage, and the shrines themselves channel the faith itself from the area, that the Forgotten One only focuses on the shrines to “steal” the power the faith provides to the gods, with Delphine saying that is not a bad hypothesis. 

Dandelion remarks that her god, Faunus, doesn’t have shrines, but Delphine tells her that she knows of at least one, deep to the south of Spiral Woods. Dandelion admits that she hasn’t heard about this, but Delphine is not surprised, as the clan that watches over it seems to be rather… fanatic about it. Dandelion is shocked to hear this, and decides that she has to reach her tribe to talk to Sage about it. Delphine seems genuinely surprised to hear the party confirm that Faunus is a real god in his own right, and not just an aspect of another god.

Kal asks Delphine if she can track down any relatives of Arin, the housekeeper, but Arin shoots in that she was an orphan, and never had a last name, and she is from another region, so there really isn’t that much to go on. She appreciates that Kal thinks of her though. 

As the conversation has run its course, Delphine rises, and tells the party that she will be staying in her manor in the city, and if they need help or information, to call on her, and she will do what she can. She hopes that they can move past what has happened in the past, and go forward in a new direction, cooperating instead of working against one another. Penny and Dandelion aren’t convinced yet, and Dandelion is the only one not to shake her hand when offered, but Delphine doesn’t seem offended. She says that she will take “former enemies” as a step in the right direction.

Where To Go

As the party watches Delphine take flight and head towards the city, Dandelion says that she doesn’t trust the woman, even though she did seem to be truthful. Kal commends Dandelion’s character development, but says that she has to take a leap of faith sometimes, and that they have to take what they can get, with Delphine seemingly being an ally for now. Dandelion says that she doesn’t trust people who live in cities, and calls them cruel by nature. 

Penny sits down with Arin to ask her about her experiences with Muzak. Arin tells her that he asked her about her life and where she had been, and it was a harrowing experience, but he was polite and nice, even if he didn’t have to be, which she appreciated. The party reflects on what they have heard about Muzak, with Kody having overheard the name Muzak from his fiancee’s father. 

Penny asks Arin what he looked like, and she described him as looking like an exotic tabaxi, but his hands were all backwards. Kal and Relic both recognize the description as that of a classic Rakshasa. When they point out that he is a fiend, and a dangerous one at that, as he cannot be affected by magic below a certain power, Arin is taken aback at the fact that she was harbored by something from the nine hells. She decides to go to bed, feeling faint when she realizes the danger she actually was in.

Relic goes outside to fix the fence, and uses magic to forge a solid stone wall, with dwarven design, which looks quite fancy. Dandelion sees this and asks if it means anything in particular, but Relic tells her that it is only to make it look nice. She compliments it, saying it looks quite pretty. As they stand there, they see a person walking over to the shrine of Udall that Kal set up, giving an offering, before returning to the city. Kal gives them a blessing as they pass, much to the person's appreciation. 

Unfinished Business

When Penny wakes up, she draws a beautiful drawing of herself, and asks Kal to write on it that she is in Ravenforge and that she is safe, hoping to send it to her commune. She heads to the city and flags down a halfling caravan that is headed south, giving them some gold and asking if they can have the letter delivered to The Emerald Earth Sanctuary. The halflings are headed to Shortlot, but will try to get someone to head east from there to deliver it. 

Dandelion says that she would like to visit her tribe soon, as she wants to know more about the supposed shrine of Faunus surrounded by the fanatical tribe, but Penny points out that they have to deal with Wave Echo Cave sooner or later, so might as well do it first, since it could be done in a day or so. They agree that they have the time to do it now, and prepare to travel there via a tree that they know lies nearby. They leave the owls in Arin’s care, with Kal taking out all the dolls she purchased, putting them up on the mantelpiece, saying they will keep her company. As Kal is inside doing this, the rest of the party stands outside, and discuss that they should awaken a tree to protect the house when they are away.

Ready to travel, they head to a large tree towards the mountains, and travel through it. Emerging on the other side, they see that it is snowing, which provides a serene feeling, as the smell of the city is gone. Dandelion takes it all in, being quite pleased with the change of scenery and sensation, before heading southeast towards the entrance.

When they get there, they see that a lot has happened, with many carts and crates being there, apparently being used to bring in supplies and remove debris. There also appears to be a path heading east towards the old entrance, so they decide to head there first. Sneaking through the snow, they see two figures standing in front of the large stone opening to the cave. Ghouls.

Dandelion sneaks up next to one of them, as the rest of the party prepares to attack from a distance, and with some quick spells and teamwork, they manage to take down the pair without anyone else noticing. Relic, who can read dwarven, translates the writing on the entrance, confirming that it is indeed Wave Echo Cave, and that there is a sign to wipe their feet before entering. Using prestidigitation, they clean themselves up, before they venture deep into the darkness below.

Wave Echo Cave

As the party walks along the dark corridor, they can see light and movement in front of them, as a large humanoid shape walks past a statue in the chamber ahead. Sneaking forwards, they don’t appear to be noticed, so the party slowly approaches. To their right, they see a set of double doors, with Penny peeking in, seeing a circular chamber within, with a raised platform. The door appears to be bolted from the inside, so Dandelion wild shapes into a spider, and enters, opening the door to let the others inside.

Within, the party can see that someone has recently been here to cast a teleportation circle. Relic knows that in order for a circle to be permanent, it has to be cast daily, so someone is apparently still sneaking their way inside to cast it, before leaving again, daily. As the writing seems fresh, they apparently just missed them. As the room is a dead end, they decide to head further in, with Relic summoning an unseen servant to lock the door from within. As the party heads outside however, the servant is having difficulty lowering the beam silently, and they hear a large thud as the beam slams into place, alerting the undeads within the cave.

Seeing the shapes move in front of them, Kal starts heading towards the chamber, with Dandelion summoning a cave bear to help them out. Relic manifests the mind of the spellbook, allowing him to see the chamber within, seeing that a large gathering of ghouls and ghasts are preparing for them. Kal, moving up towards the gathering of undeads, suddenly hears a door on her left burst open, as another group of undeads emerge and attack her. She manages to push them back with her wrath of the storm, and pushes onwards. 

Penny and Relic stay behind and attack stragglers that are trapped between them and the bear, as Kal moves further onwards in order to make quick work of most of the undeads. They do see one of the ghouls suddenly run away, further into the cave, quite determined to warn someone of their approach. They are unable to stop it in time, and it disappears into the darkness. Kal eventually reaches the chamber and sees the undead horde surrounding her. She channels her divine powers to destroy them, managing to take down most of them in a few seconds. 

The bear, having nearly been torn apart by the undeads, Penny, Relic and Dandelion all take care of the remaining undeads in the hallway. Kal can hear a female voice coming from further into the cave, and the undeads who were heading towards them suddenly turn tail and retreat. Having won their first battle, the party regroups, discussing where to go from here.

Remembering from the last time they were here, they theorize that the woman that Gundren described may have taken refuge in the largest chamber, and decide to head there. In the chamber where the dangerous mushrooms were before, they can see that it has been made into a garden, with some lingering undeads roaming within, apparently oblivious to the party’s presence. 

They decide to head towards the western entrance of the large chamber, knowing that it is higher up, allowing them to have the high ground if it turns into another fight. As they reach the hallway leading to it however, they see that it is barred by chairs, tables and benches, apparently to block off the passage, and it’s clear it’s to keep them out, not to keep something inside. Kal goes first, and uses shatter to blow away the obstacles, allowing them to enter.

The Necromancer

As the chairs and tables are blown away, they peer inside as the dust settles, seeing a large collection of glowing eyes peering back at them. A horde of ghouls await them, but they seem to not be attacking, but waiting for something, almost as if they have been told to stand down. Kal tells the ghouls to stand back or they will be destroyed, and as she says this, they hear another voice coming from within, saying “that is no way for a guest to talk in someone's home”.

The voice tells them to please come inside. The ghouls retreat slightly, allowing them to enter, and to their left, they see a bald pale woman with glowing eyes and red robes sitting on top of a throne, perched on top of a pile of bones. She introduces herself as Ren Haradi, and Relic recognizes her as one of a group of necromancers that hails from Manath. Apparently they want to be immortal, and will go through great lengths to achieve it. Penny looks through her binoculars and recognizes a few of the town folks from Phandalin.

The party, not dropping their guard, ask Ren what she is doing in the cave, and she tells them that she is looking for the secret of resurrection, being told that an artifact that is supposedly hidden within can grant her control over a god, allowing her to bring back her deceased sister. Penny tells Ren that they have already found the artifact she is talking about, and that it is no longer here. In either case, it would not help her, as the god she talks about would just use her as his pawn. Kal and Dandelion also try to intimidate her to vacate the premises, as she has already destroyed an entire town. Ren retorts that she hasn’t destroyed anything, but rather has granted her “family” eternal life. Relic shoots in that they are undead, not alive, but Ren is unwilling to listen to reason. She does however believe the party when they say that the Key isn’t here, and so tells the party that she will take her family and walk.

Kal says that they cannot allow her to leave with her family, but Ren insists. Realizing that she won’t be allowed to leave with her horde, she tells the party that they are now in her way, and so she will do what she must, asking the party if they are ready. They all look back at her, with a slight smile, Kal staring her down, saying:

“Let’s dance”

Ren immediately casts several spells at the party, hitting all of them, while her ghoul army approaches to tear them apart. Ren steps into the broken soil and disappears into it, emerging at another spot, allowing her to be covered by her undead horde. Two of the ghouls seem to be more dangerous than the others, and they both focus on Penny and Kal, who are the closest, but Kal manages to push one of them back. Dandelion puts out a Bear Totem to help the party stay alive, with Relic using a mind spike on Ren. They notice that she can drain the life of one of her ghouls in order to resist the effect.

The ghouls all come closer and closer, surrounding the party, but Kal positions herself to cover as many as possible, and lets off another divine channeling, destroying most of the ghouls surrounding them. This enrages Ren, who yells in pain, calling for more ghouls, who emerge from the darkness and hallways, as she casts a spell at the cleric. Kal can feel a grasp around her heart, and it suddenly wrangles it, wounding her greatly, but she manages to resist the worst. As even more ghouls approach, Kal lets off another divine channeling, destroying most of the ghouls that have come to reinforce Ren. 

Ren, now enraged at the loss of her family, focuses all her attacks on Kal, who has now managed to resist the grasping of her heart. She fires off all her grave bolts at her, managing to make her fall unconscious, despite Dandelion's efforts to keep her up. Realizing that there is little she can do, Ren decides to make a run for it, and travels through the ground towards an exit. The ghast that remains runs over to Kal and starts feasting on her, but Dandelion heals her, waking her back up. Relic, using his manifested mind, can see that Ren is almost at the exit, and fires a beam of disintegration at her. Having spent all her resources, she is unable to resist, and so large chunks of her flesh are torn away from her, exposing the muscle and tendons beneath. It is not enough to bring her down, but Penny, knowing her name, sends a psychic lance at her, striking her directly in her mind. Relic sees that she turns, before dropping down, dead. 

Deafening Quiet

As Ren succumbs to her wounds, the remaining ghouls all drop down, dead as well, only being kept alive by Ren’s magic, which has now expired. Relic goes over to loot her body, and finds a ring of protection, an amulet of proof against detection and divination, some gold and platinum, some living gloves, as well as a parchment with a drawing of a circle on it, much like the ones the other party members found when they first entered the cave last time.

They go through the cave, making sure there are no remaining threats, finding the corpses of at least eighty ghouls. But it seems to be safe, so Kal sends a sending to Gundren, telling him that they have cleared the cave, and that it is safe to return. Standing at the Forge of Spells, which is now fully functional, they can hear the distinctive sound of people teleporting in, and then marching of dwarven boots, as a group of dwarven soldiers enter the forge, asking if they are all right. Confirming that they are safe, they call for the “short one” to come say hi to his friends.

Gundren makes his way past the guards, and happily greets his old friends, going over to give Penny a hug. He remarks how good it is to see them, and asks where the others are, referring to Theren, Granny and Demetrius. The party tells him that Granny and Demetrius both are doing their own things, but Theren tragically died in a skirmish not long ago. Gundren is quite saddened by this, but still composes himself to greet the newest member of the party, Relic. They speak in dwarven, with Relic complimenting the cave, saying it reminds him of the Great Forge of Krunbar. Gundren appreciates the compliment, before returning to speaking common as to not leave the rest of the party out of the conversation. 

He tells the party that he has their share of the profits stashed away, and gives them over ten thousand gold pieces as payment, and says that for saving his cave for a second time, he thinks a more fitting reward would be to grant them a magic item of their choosing, but says they can think a bit about it, and then let him know, and if it is within his power, he will grant it to them. 

Relic is offered to study the teleportation circle they are preparing, so that they can return when it is completed. After this, they are given a tour of the rebuilt cave, with Gundren telling them what they have done to fix the shortcomings of the last cave. While they’re doing this, the dwarven guards have gathered the corpses of the deceased and brought them all outside. Before returning to Ravenforge, Kal holds a symbolic funeral rite for the deceased, with Dandelion making a small effigy of snow, placing it in front of the bodies. It is a solemn gathering, considering that the entirety of Phandalin has been destroyed, and all of the inhabitants have died. 

Afterwards, they head back inside, so that Relic can teleport them back to Ravenforge. Gundren gives them all a hug as they depart, saying that they will always have a place to stay if they find themselves in the area. When they return, nightfall has come, and so they decide to return home to rest, Kal feeling more spent than the rest, having almost died. 

Dandelion and Penny take their horses to finally retrieve the carriage they ordered, and as they head there, Diamond remarks that he misses being on the road with Penny, with Speed agreeing. Dandelion tells them that they are probably going to head out some time soon, as they have several places to go in order to deal with the approaching danger. After getting back home, Penny takes a ride with Diamond before heading to bed.

Returning Home

As Dandelion wakes up in the morning, making sure to awaken before any of her companions rise, she gathers her stuff and heads out into the dark cold morning outside Ravenforge. With Argus and Ira flying alongside her, she makes her way to the large tree to the south of their house, to prepare to head towards her forest. Sitting down next to the tree, she takes out her small mirror, and scries on Wren to see where her tribe is currently heading. As he is not the most resistant to magic, she easily manages to spot him and her tribe heading westwards, having already started their trek.

Dandelion gets on her feet, and approaches the tree, and pulls it open to reveal a passage within, which she and her owls walk through. On the other side, she emerges where her tribe had camped the previous day. Noticing the large group of footprints heading away, she wild shapes into a giant owl, and flies in the direction they’re heading. 

Not long afterwards, she spots a group of firbolgs, being led by a lone figure in front. Dandelion, flanked by Argus and Ira, swoops down between the branches and lands in front of them, immediately turning back into herself, greeting the group. Sage is at first surprised to see her, but gets a genuine look of joy in his eyes as well, greeting her along with the rest of the tribe. After everyone has greeted her, with even Corn flying at her to say hi, Sage asks her why she has returned, and if it is for good, to which Dandelion replies that she wants to know about the shrine of Faunus that she has heard about in the forest.

Everyone starts looking at each other, murmuring at the revelation, with Sage giving Dandelion a look of wanting to speak in private. Sage gestures for the rest of the tribe to keep moving onwards, as they have to make it to their destination before nightfall, and walks with Dandelion to the south of the group, wanting to speak in private with her about her questions.

The Glowing Tree

They spend some time talking about her experiences on the outside, with her showing him various coins, explaining that they are used to buy material components, specifically diamonds that have been “literal life savers”. Clarifying, she says that diamonds can be used to bring people back from the dead. Sage is a bit disturbed by the idea, wondering if she has thought about the fact that by bringing people back she is affecting the balance of life and death. Dandelion justifies it by saying that people being killed in battle before their time is different from someone dying at the end of their natural life. Sage agrees with this, but is just as perplexed as Dandelion when she explains more about the outside world, specifically that people don’t sleep outside. 

Sage asks Dandelion if she is returning for good, but she tells him that she has been tasked by Faunus to help her friends protect the world from the Forgotten God. He tells her that he hopes that she can return home for good at some point, but understands what it must be like to be chosen for a task. Dandelion goes on to explain that she was told by Delphine about a shrine to Faunus in the forest, with Sage asking if Delphine is a trustworthy source. She says that she has tried to kill the party before, so no. He seems genuinely troubled by this, asking if she told her the information under duress, and is even more troubled with Dandelion explaining that she told them over a cup of tea in their home. In either case, she asks if he knows about the shrine.

He tells her that on Clementine’s death bed, she explained to him some of the secrets of the tribe, and specifically warned him about the shrine, saying that the tribe that guards over it is a group of what can best be described as “fanatics”. Apparently they are guarding a grove that has Faunus himself within. Dandelion says that she didn’t know that Faunus walked on this plane, to which Sage replies that he doesn’t, which makes the idea dangerous. She tells him that she also met a group of orcs to the north who also followed him and his spirits, but had other names for them. Sage wonders if Faunus or Fau’nok came first.

Dandelion begs him to tell her where it is located. He asks her if she’s going to go look for it no matter what, to which she responds that yes, she will not let this go. He thinks for a whole minute, before looking up, asking Dandelion if she can also see the light that has suddenly appeared.

Turning to her left, she can see it coming from a couple hundred meters away. The rest of the tribe have stopped, seemingly noticing the light as well. Sage seems to recognize it, and starts walking over to it, but Dandelion stops him, saying that she should go. He nods, and holds back the rest of the tribe, allowing her privacy. Getting closer, she can see that an ancient tree is glowing from its core. When she reaches it, she sees that it is a passage through the tree, leading somewhere. She gives a small prayer to Faunus, and walks through.

The Forest Spirit

Emerging, she finds herself in a small grove. Where she came from there was snow, but the weather here is milder, and she can see the Iron Hills to the north, indicating that she has traveled a few hundred miles away at the very least, but she recognizes and feels the forest is still the same. In front of her, she sees a large, 10-12 foot tall figure, made of glowing light, looking down at her. Around her there are several spirits, but she doesn’t recognize any of them.

The large spirit in front of her, which Dandelion can feel is an aspect of Faunus himself, looks down at her, as if he is expecting her to do something. She gives yet another prayer to Faunus, and asks for guidance. The spirit says that she is unprepared, and needs help reaching her full potential. To show her bond with the forest, she must bring him her heart’s desire by dusk of the next day. Dandelion asks what it means by this, but gets no response. The spirit indicates that she should leave, with her sensing that they will probably find her when her task is due.

Returning outside, she can see that Sage is waiting for her, having already sent the rest of the tribe ahead. She wasn’t gone long, so they can see them in front of them between the trees. Sage asks her what she saw, to which she replies that she thinks she met Faunus, or at least an aspect of him, and explains her task. Sage says that she alone must accomplish her task, but she can probably ask for help from her tribe if needed. Dandelion is afraid, as what she wants most is to be back at her tribe, so she wonders if she has to leave them for good. Sage says that being chosen for something is not always wanted, with Dandelion thinking of Kal and her reluctance to be Udall’s cleric. 

Guidance

Dandelion spends the rest of the journey talking with Lark, Hawk and Wren, asking if they have any ideas about how she can accomplish her task. They all seem to agree that what lies dearest to her heart is the idea of being back with her tribe, and wonders how she will convey this to the spirit. She figures that she will have to promise to stay away, at least for as long the Forgotten One remains a threat. She plays a song for Lark, which Penny made. He thinks it is beautiful, hoping to meet her one day, especially after Dandelion compliments her beauty and skill. Wren asks about Fie, as she doesn’t mention him at first, with her explaining that he fell in battle, but she has made a new friend in Relic.

As the tribe reaches their destination, Sage makes sure everyone has made it, with Hawk beginning to make a bonfire to keep them safe. The rest of the tribe spends the evening foraging, but Dandelion uses her magic to make Goodberries for everyone. Sitting down to rest and eat with the rest of the tribe, she watches Lark put on a performance based on the journeys of her group, using their earlier conversation to fill in the blanks, and his imagination to embellish the story quite a bit. It is very entertaining, with even Dandelion being enthralled, even though she lived it.

As the night draws to a close, Dandelion lays down amongst her tribe, with Hawk and Wren nearby. She doesn’t get to sleep long however, as she is suddenly awoken by a feeling of dread. Looking around, she can see that everyone around her is cold and lifeless, with no breath leaving their mouths. The bonfire has also gone out, which is unusual, considering it is customary to keep it alive throughout the night. She tries to shake Wren awake, but nothing happens. She doesn’t feel alone, and can soon see a figure creeping towards her.

Peering through the darkness, she recognizes the lanky form of Selene, one of the hags that was killed at the coven, although much larger in stature. Dandelion has no time to think about this, and goes on the defensive. Selene greets her, asking if she really thought she could get rid of her that easily. Dandelion replies that she has killed her once already, she can do it again. Selene laughs, saying that Dandelion took her family from her, so she will take hers in return. 

Dandelion says that she cannot allow that, but Selene practically ignores her, picking up the lifeless body of Sage, mimicking his speech whilst using him as a puppet, to provoke Dandelion to do something. She manages to maintain her composure, so Selene tells Dandelion that she can give her a choice. She can either come with the hag willingly, or she will take her tribe with her. Dandelion says she will do nothing of the sort, and tries to cast a spell on her as the hag begins picking up Sage, putting him in her bag. Selene easily corrupts her magic, causing it to backfire at Dandelion. 

As the hag picks up Hawk and puts him in her bag, Dandelion finally relents, asking if she promises to leave her tribe alone if she comes along. Selene looks at her, and joyfully empties out her bag, causing Sage and Hawk to fall to the ground, and holds the bag open for Dandelion, gesturing for her to climb inside. Dandelion says that she would rather walk on her own, but the hag says that she cannot walk to where they are going. Dandelion asks what she will do to her, to which she gets the reply.

“I won’t kill you. At first.”

Seeing no other option, and wanting to protect her people, she reluctantly gives a final prayer, and walks into the bag. Everything turns dark, and Dandelion suddenly wakes up, and can see her family around her, all sleeping peacefully, with the bonfire lit once again. Realizing it was just a vision that felt very real, she gives a sigh of relief, with Wren waking up, asking her if she is alright. She just gives him a big hug, with Droop coming running over with Corn, asking if everyone is safe. Dandelion calms him, saying it was just a dream, and he returns to his patrol, with Dandelion laying on the ground, happy to be alive.

Judgment

The next day, Dandelion decides to make the most of it, spending what she thinks is her last day with the tribe for a while just socializing and catching up. Argus and Ira are entertaining the kids, whilst Dandelion reconnects with her tribe. She gives Silver a platinum, gold and copper, with him suggesting that he should change his name daily to whatever coin he happens to pick out of his pocket that morning, and nobody can convince him otherwise.

Before her “judgment”, she ventures into the woods by herself, away from her tribe. Her owls stand by her side, as she sits on the ground, meditating on her future. She can suddenly sense a warmth coming from behind her, with Argus saying that she should see this. Turning around, she sees the same tree as before, and remarks to herself how she couldn’t see it before. No matter, she thinks, and walks through it, with her owls perched on each of her shoulders. Within, she can see the same spirit, surrounded by other spirits, one she believes she recognizes as Galen. She gives him a short nod, and a thank you.

The spirit looks down at her once more, as if awaiting her heart’s desire. Dandelion tells him that she spent the day meditating, wondering about how to convey it, but her deepest desire is to stay with her tribe. She realizes that the world is in danger, and that she must help her friend defeat the darkness, but she wishes it wasn’t so, and that she could just return home and stay with them, but she realizes that she cannot. She must stay away, and not return until her task is done. Her mission requires a sacrifice, and this is hers. 

The spirit looks down at her, and gives her the feeling of acceptance, as if her words were enough. She gets the feeling that realizing what must be done is enough, and that she cannot return to her tribe, but she is not forbidden to visit. The spirits of her predecessors begin to disappear, with the spirit of Faunus growing brighter and brighter, filling her up with warmth, before she is blinded. Suddenly the light disappears, and she stands in the space of the tree, which is now gone as well.

Realizing that she doesn’t have to stay away, she returns to her family, and tells Sage that she succeeded. Wren comes running over, overjoyed with the fact that she is still here, asking if she can stay another night. She tells him that she has to go back tomorrow, but can indeed stay for the evening. Wren goes to tell the others, as Sage reveals to her the location of the shrine of Faunus, telling her that it is located where the two rivers meet to the south. She decides to head there as soon as she can, but not without her friends.

Dandelion spends the evening with her tribe, making sure to tell everyone that she has to go away again, but she will return, hopefully with her friends the next time. Wren has finally found his calling. After listening to Dandelion’s adventures, he wants to be a druid, like her. She thinks that’s an excellent idea, and gives him  one of her rocks, to start building his own staff. As they feast and listen to music from Lark, she feels happy, content and at home, but realizes that she cannot stay. She says her goodbyes to everyone, as she plans to leave before dawn the next day.

When she wakes up, she tries to sneak away quietly, but manages to wake up both Wren and Hawk, who gives her a very sleepy goodbye, looking forward to seeing the others, Hawk remarking that he looks forward to seeing a pink tiefling. Dandelion laughs, and pats him on the shoulder, before leaving. She finds a suitable tree, and uses her magic to head home, returning to a raging blizzard on the other side.

The Long Wait

As Dandelion has left to visit her forest for a few days, the rest of the party spends some time relaxing and preparing for the upcoming gala that is being hosted in their honor. Kal spends a few days wandering through the city streets of Ravenforge, to see how she can do some good. Coming across a few orphanages, she donates a hefty sum to them, much to the gratitude of the workers there, while the kids look at her in awe, as a true hero. She also heads over to Tempervale to purchase a couple of spell tattoos so that she can disguise herself while still wearing armor.

Penny takes Diamond out for a few rides along with Arin and Wildfire, traveling throughout the valley south of the city along the river, finding a few smaller settlements and inhabitants that seems to be nice enough, but in the end wants to be left alone. Relic in the meantime takes the time to just rest a bit after having had a busy week since meeting the party. During the previous days they get a formal invitation to the gala, with a notice that a carriage will be sent to retrieve them in the afternoon.

On Saturday morning, Dandelion finally returns, and finds that a blizzard is raging across the city. When the rest of the party sees her they notice that she is rather quiet, as she has a lot to think about, but Dandelion doesn’t bother the rest of the party with the knowledge she now has, opting to wait until after the party to ask them for help. Penny takes some time to get ready with her makeup, and as she notices that Dandelion is planning to go to the gala as is, she takes her to the side and forces her to be worked on. When they’re done, Dandelion can hardly recognize herself in the mirror.

Seeing as the blizzard is raging, the owls will have a hard time keeping watch around the castle, so Dandelion opts to give Argus one of the sending stones they have instead, so that he and Ira can give a heads up if anything were to happen to their home while they’re gone. Kal thinks ahead and puts their weapons in the bags of holding, and gives one of them to Dandelion. Arin tells the party to make good choices as the carriage comes to pick them up. Dandelion makes sure to tell the horses carrying the carriage how important their job is, while Relic lends a thermal cube to the coachman to keep him warm. Kal looks at the blizzard, and gets a feeling that it is sent by Udall as a precaution.

Arrival at the Castle

Traveling through the city, they can sense that all the guards seem to be highly on edge, seeing as there is a large gathering of important individuals present, and they can see that they are one of several carriages being transported to the castle. There seems to be few townsfolk in the streets, which isn’t that uncommon considering the current weather. Dandelion sticks her head out of the carriage to tell the coachman that he is doing a good job, but it’s difficult to convey it through the storm.

As the party reaches their destination, they are led by a group of servants to the main entrance, up the main stairs and to the left to reach the ballroom. A large hall with several pillars holding up the roof, and a massive window dominating the northern wall. Towards one of the walls they see a large gathering of sweets and baked goods, whilst the head table meant for the party is right by the king, considering the rather large throne that is put beside it. When they enter, a herald announces their arrival to the few people who have already arrived. 

Penny heads over to the table with sweets and is positively salivating over the fresh baked goods. Next to the table she can see Emma Halflight, the owner of Emma’s Sugary Emporium standing proud next to her creations. Penny gives her a compliment, with Emma being quite grateful, revealing that she and her workers have worked throughout the week to produce enough goods for the party, alongside some local bakeries.

Relic makes sure to take note of who the herald announces, but Dandelion isn’t paying too much attention, as she doesn’t see the point since she doesn’t know these people anyway. All the rulers of the various counties, Akadio Zetterlund alongside a young gentleman, Usoa Zeri followed by her elven entourage, Paton Dutari and his wife, as well as Guldar Ironbreaker, being escorted by his dwarven bodyguards. Delphine, who’s first name is revealed to be Thalia, arrives and gives a short nod to the party.

Kal has been rather indifferent to most of the names, but as Thaddeus Ildrex, with his wife Xara is announced, she freezes up and stares at the white dragonborn that just entered the hall. Dandelion can tell something is off, and gets a confirmation when Kal suddenly excuses herself and returns, looking slightly different with a different hair color and some additional makeup on her face, barely recognizable. She refuses to explain when asked about the change.

Dandelion tries to look around for shady behavior, and can see that a few of the guests seem to be highly on edge, looking around nervously, some fiddling with something in their inner pockets. Delphine seems to be quite calm, with Thervan, who resides at the same table as the party, looking visibly tense. Bertram sits next to him drinking wine. By the wall, alongside the other guards, she can see Raven keeping watch. Dandelion points out a few of the suspicious looking people to Penny, and asks if she can take a look with her monocular, recognizing it as the same one Lady Kree used to check for imposters.

Penny steps over to the side to get a quick overview of the gathered people, and looks through the monocular. She sees that there are a few guards posted high above, invisible, with loaded crossbows, looking at the gathering. She sees that Kal is wearing her armor, and also notices that Ildrex seems to be wearing armor, with a glamored dining suit disguising it. She doesn’t see any drow or hidden assassins present, but with over 200 people present it is hard to pick out anyone who is particularly suspicious. As the spell runs out, she returns to her seat, telling Dandelion about what she saw.

The Gala

Suddenly, as all guests have arrived, the sound of trumpets can be heard ringing throughout the dining hall, and everyone goes quiet, as the king, Triston Bouchard finally arrives, accompanied by his young daughter, Satine, who helps him get to his throne. They are accompanied by a few knights, and a couple of highly decorated soldiers in shining armor, who place themselves behind the king’s throne. Satine takes her seat next to the king, sitting between him and the party.

After the king has gotten comfortable, he, through great effort, stands up again, and gestures for the gathering to quiet down, which they quickly do. He then goes on to give a brief announcement, that clearly takes a lot out of him to do.

“Friends, dignitaries, citizens. We are gathered here today to honor the heroes who brought the possibility of a peace treaty between the Empire of Moroxia, and the Thax’ning orcish tribes to the north. Penelope Roxley, Dandelion, Kalyssandra Merwen and Relic. We honor you. I also have been told that another hero, Fie, gave his life in the protection of our country. Thank you for your sacrifice.”

The king seems quite exhausted by the effort of speaking to the gathered crowd, who gives an applause in return, as well as raise their glass to the fallen. The party notices that Ildrex is glaring directly at Kal after her name was mentioned. Dandelion, who can read lips, sees that he tells his wife “I know that name from somewhere”. At the conclusion of the speech, the food is brought out, with a wide array of various cuts of meat and vegetables, something for everyone, and quite delicious.

After people have eaten they start mingling with each other, and the gala goes from being a dinner to a party. The other regents make their way up to the king one by one to show their respects, kissing the ring of the regent. Dandelion can feel that while most people seem to be honored by this, the rulers of the counties appear to be very reluctant when doing so. Dandelion realizes that the regent isn’t very popular amongst the other rulers. She quietly mentions this to Kal, who tells her that the Bouchard family conquered the lands around 850 years ago, and subjugated the other rulers underneath them. They probably want things to go back to the way they used to.

After showing his respect, the king under the mountain, Guldar, walks over to Relic, asking him if he is from the old times, referring to the conflict between the dwarves and the drow that happened almost 4000 years ago. When Relic confirms that he is, Guldar gestures for his guards to bring over a stool so that he can sit with the warforged. Relic recognizes the family name of Guldar, and tells him that he fought alongside one of his ancestors, and tells the king about the time, which for Relic was but a few years ago.

Penny, who goes to pick up some more desserts, gets approached by Usoa Zeri, the countess of Elvenroth, who recognizes her as a member of the Bows’n’Roses, asking her what happened when they took a hiatus. Penny reveals the story of her mentor Morgan and her quest to find him, with Usoa being quite intrigued by the tale, and jokingly suggests having Trixie assassinated for taking her place. Penny assures her that it won’t be necessary, but joins the gathered crowd with tales of her party’s adventures so far. 

Ildrex makes his way over to the king, to offer his respects. Dandelion, who has noticed Kal’s tenseness, asks if they have history, and if they are on good terms. She tells her to pretend that they do. Ildrex gives a bow to the king, kissing his ring like the others have done, and says to the king that queen Alynna Venra regrets that she was unable to make the journey. The king replies that he is honored to have someone of Ildrex post to come in her stead, asking if he is still a general, but Ildrex replies that he has been made a lord now. 

Ildrex turns his attention over to Kal, asking her if they know each other, as he seems to find her familiar. She reveals that she is the cleric of Udall, and that she has never met Ildrex before. He seems to buy it, surprisingly, but insists that he has seen her before. Kal tries to play it off with the fact that a dollmaker in Tempervale has made dolls using her likeness, so he might have it from there. Ildrex doesn’t push it further, and leaves the matter be, before giving a final gesture of respect to the king, before returning to his wife.

Delphine walks over to Penny who is sitting with Usoa, asking if everything is alright, with Penny telling her that they have noticed a few shady people, but neglects to tell her anything about the invisible guards in the ceiling. Delphine tells her that she feels something is off, and moves on to Kal, Dandelion and Relic. Dandelion is obviously still not trusting of Delphine, and makes sure to show it. Delphine asks how it is going, with them giving the same reply as Penny. Kal asks Delphine if she knows Ildrex, with Delphine replying that he was a general in their armies, but she doesn’t know him personally. Kal gets the impression that she is not telling the whole truth here, and seems to have a certain interest in the Lord, but it is difficult to gauge exactly what type of interest it is.

Return of the Drow

Penny, uses her one charge of the Songbook of Sorcery to subtly cast a detect thoughts-spell, and wanders around the room to listen to the various people who have gathered to see if she can pick up any suspicious thoughts. As there is quite a large gathering of people, it is difficult to make out exactly who is having the thoughts, and most of the gathered crowd seems to only be focusing on the festivities, but a few voices say that it is almost time, and that it’s almost here.

She goes over to the others, and quickly tells them that something is about to happen. Thervan, having noticed her concerned demeanor, quickly makes his way over to them to ask what they have learned. Penny tells him about the thought she has overheard, and so Kal suggests that they bring the king and princess to safety. As the words leave her mouth, they can hear a massive explosion in the city, and the horns of the city walls blaring, as the city is being invaded.

The guards in the room quickly make a wall between the royal family and the others, with Thervan pointing out that the party is on their side, allowing them to stay. A guard comes bursting in from the main doors, saying the drow are attacking the city. Chaos ensues, as the guests make their way to the exits, to try to find safety. Ildrex has dropped his disguise and is heading towards the city along with his wife. 

The massive window on the northern wall suddenly gets smashed to bits, and a lone figure is hovering in the center of it. Malice. She laughs maniacally, and tells the king that his line ends tonight. The king looks at her, and, with a renewed vigor, tells his guards to “kill this fucking bitch”. The guards loosens their arrows at her, with Malice casting shield to deflect them, but a few manage to get through, striking her. She laughs, and flies away. Penny casts protection against evil and good at the king, with Kal starting to concentrate on Aura of Life. 

The king tells Thervan and the party to protect his daughter. Satine protests, but is led away by the knights in the shining armor, followed by Thervan, Raven and Delphine, who offer to help. Relic and Kal follow orders, give a short bow to the king, before following the princess. Penny decides to stay behind, as she doesn’t want the king to die, after seeing him in her dreams. Dandelion doesn’t want Penny to be alone, so decides to remain at the king’s side, to protect him.

Protecting the Princess

As the princess is being led throughout the hallways to a safe location, Relic casts Mage Armor on her, and makes sure to look out for danger. With screams and fighting surrounding them, they are eventually led towards the chambers of the princess, but outside her door, a figure awaits, being accompanied by a few drow. The group turns around to retreat, but notice that several drow have made their way up behind them, trapping them in the hallway. The lone figure, with glowing red eyes, dead skin, and a glowing red dagger smiles at the group. 

Kal quickly throws a chair out of one of the windows, and tells the group to take her hand. Thervan, sensing that they are too many, tells Kal to bring the princess to safety. Kal hurls herself out the window, and uses the storm to transport herself, the princess, Relic, Delphine, Raven and the four guards to their home on the outskirts, as Thervan is left behind. They emerge by the shrine of Udall next to their home, and quickly lead the princess inside, with the guards taking up a defensive position within. 

In the distance, they can see lights from the city being on fire, with screams of people dying as large figures stand on the walls attacking the guards and the citizens. Several of their neighbors are standing outside of their homes looking at the horrific scene. Kal and Relic spend a few seconds staring at the invasion, before entering the home.

Argus, who has at this point asked Dandelion what is happening, and gotten a vague response that she is in the middle of something, tells Kal that something is wrong, and they feel that they might need help. Kal walks outside, ready to run back to the castle, but returns, asking Delphine to teleport them to their friends, as they can protect the king. Delphine scry on Penny, sees them all in danger, and casts teleport to bring Kal and Relic to the fight.

Cornered

Penny and Dandelion follow the king and his guards, surrounding the regent, heading towards a safe spot where they can put up a defensive position. Dandelion has summoned a cave bear to help protect them, which follows them from behind. Running down a hallway and turning left, they see a massive skeletal figure with a glowing red greataxe staring back at them. They retreat, to find another place to stay safe, but before they are able to turn the corner, another figure emerges, this one holding a glowing red sword, and mocks the king for running away. 

The second figure, who introduces himself as Lord Falric tells the group that they are only here for the king, and would rather not kill anyone else if they don’t have to. Dandelion says that they cannot have him, with Falric remarking that his rule will soon come to an end, with or without their help. She replies that even though the king is old, he seems like a good person, and so they want to protect him. The king tells them that he doesn’t want anyone else to die for him, and tells them to stand down, but neither Penny, Dandelion or the king's guard seem keen on that idea.

The massive axe-wielding figure to their rear seems to be rather impatient, saying they should just slaughter them all and take the king's head for themselves, but Lord Falric tells the man to have patience, referring to him as Lord Vaelen. Penny uses animating performance to awaken one of the statues, to help protect the king. At this point, Argus has made contact with Dandelion, asking if she is okay, as the city is on fire. Dandelion replies that she is in the middle of something. Lord Falric tells them that they can have it their way, and moves in to strike.

The first guard proves no match for the sword of Lord Falric, who quickly slices him down, while at the same time tries to intimidate and frighten the others. Dandelion and Penny seem to be resistant to this at first, but Penny is not as strong willed as Dandelion, so becomes frightened of the death knights. Lord Falric tries to hold a few of the group in check by casting hold monster, but only manages to hold the summoned cave bear, effectively removing it from the fight. Dandelion summons a bear totem, in order to give some extra protection to the group.

Lord Vaelen casts haste on himself, to be even more dangerous in the fight, and manages to take down another guard as well as the animated statue that Penny brought in to help, moving closer to the king, while slicing down guards left and right. Lord Falric teleports closer to Penny in order to attack her directly. Dandelion, having been forced to maintain concentration and so hasn’t gotten the chance to attack the death knights, summons a draconic spirit, who attacks Lord Valeen, making him lose concentration on haste, and so is knocked out for a round. 

The death knights have had several opportunities to strike the king directly, but have neglected to do so. Penny figures that the only thing protecting the king at the moment is the protection from evil and good spell that she is concentrating on, and so does whatever she can to keep it going. Dandelion quickly breaks the window, and commands the draconic spirit to pick up the king in order to bring him to safety. 

The spirit grabs the king by the shoulders, and flies out the window, being struck by the axe of Lord Vaelen, but it is not enough to bring it down. It tries to fly away, and has nearly disappeared in the storm. Lord Falric smiles at this, and calmly walks over to the window, allowing himself to be hit as he passes by the guards, and tries to dispel the draconic spirit. Penny tries to counterspell it, but he simply counterspells her in return. The dragon suddenly vanishes.

Demise of the Crown

The king plummets to the ground below, and is luckily saved by the extra vigor that the bear totem provided him. Lord Falric laughs, as he teleports down below to the king, but doesn’t strike him yet. The knights, who have now been reduced to half, run over to attack Lord Vaelen, who still remains inside. They get in a couple of hits, but he just retreats slightly, allowing himself to be struck by the knights, as he casts a hellfire orb at everyone in the hallway. Two of the knights succumb to their wounds, with a final knight still standing strong.

The king, now alone, faces down the death knight. Dandelion can see that he rises up, and speaks to the death knight, before taking out a small blade, and strikes the death knight in the neck. A final act of defiance from the regent. Penny, who took the brunt of the hellfire orb cast by Lord Vaelen, loses concentration on the spell protecting the king. Lord Falric feels this, and so strikes at the king. Dandelion sees that he cleaves clean through the shoulder and down the side, slicing the king in half. She tries to heal Penny, herself and the remaining knight, and as she does, Kal and Relic are suddenly teleported into the hallway. Seeing the danger, Kal tries to lie, saying that the princess is dead, but she doesn’t convince the remaining death knight.

Relic, seeing the death and destruction around him, twins a spell and casts a disintegration beam at both Lord Falric and Lord Vaelen. The latter manages to avoid it, but Lord Falric takes the full force of it, being hit directly by the beam, tearing away some of his flesh. In return, he casts another hellfire orb into the hallway, and starts walking away, as the crown falls from the head of the deceased king as he is dragged away. Dandelion goes unconscious from this, but Kal manages to bring her back due to her Aura of Life still being active. They hear a pop outside, and see that Lord Falric has plane shifted away.

The final knight makes a last stand against the remaining death knight, and runs at him, wanting to avenge his fallen king. One of his strikes misses, allowing an opening for Lord Vaelen to slice him clean in half. He then walks around the other corner, and they hear another pop, as he too escapes the scene, their task being finished. The party stands amid the corpses, exhausted. Dandelion sits by the window and stares blankly at the remains of the king.

The Aftermath

After a short while, as the party heals themselves up in case of another attack, they hear movements throughout the hallway. Guards start appearing and immediately surround them, taken aback by the death that fills the hallway. They are at first very suspicious of the party, but Penny manages to convince them that they tried to protect the king. Dandelion points out the window, and so the guards walk over to see their deceased ruler. Many guards start crying, but get some hope back when Kal tells them that the princess is safe.

They decide they should check on Thervan to see if he made it out alright. Dandelion is still sitting by the window, staring out. Kal tells her that there is nothing more they can do, and so they should make their way back. Dandelion protests, saying that it was her actions that directly caused his death. She feels that she failed him. Penny tries to tell her that the death was not their fault, they did what they could. Kal takes Dandelion’s hand and brings her with her to the main hall.

As they get there, they find that most of the tables have been overturned in the chaos, but luckily, a single table with candies and sweets remains. Kal is about to cast a sending to Thervan, but he emerges just before she has the chance. He tells them that he managed to hold back the death knight and the drow, but they suddenly retreated as if being called back by something. He tried to reason with the knight, as he recognized her as a changeling that he had worked with before, but it was not the same individual any more. Kal tells him that the king is dead. Thervan seems to take the news in stride.

Thervan asks where the princess is, with them telling him that she is safe at their house. Thervan tells a few guards to accompany him, as he teleports them all back to the house. Relic goes over to knock on the door, and is greeted by a couple of guards asking who it is. Thervan tells them that it is safe, and to let them inside. They carefully open the door. Satine sits on the couch in the living room, accompanied by Delphine, Raven, and a few guards. Satine looks up at the party, and as she doesn’t see her father among them, she quickly realizes what has happened. 

The princess, nay, queen, drops her head into her hands and starts sobbing. Dandelion quickly moves over to her, and is not held back by the guards, as she sits on the floor in front of her, saying how sorry she is. The queen falls to the floor into the arms of Dandelion, screaming at the news. Penny and Kal both go over to comfort her, being joined by Argus and Ira. Relic, not being the best with situations like these, moves to the kitchen, where he finds Arin looking shocked at the news standing with a few guards who have removed their helmets and gloves, looking distantly with teary eyes.

Relic starts writing down in his book what he remembers about drow tactics, and recognizes that they haven’t changed much from his time, using a tactic of quickly moving in, doing as much damage in a short time while the enemy is surprised, before retreating just as fast. 

After a while, the queen apologizes to the party, saying that she didn’t mean to intrude into their home, but says that she cannot bring herself to return to the castle tonight. Penny says that it is not an issue, and that she should take her room. The queen is quite grateful for this, but continues laying in the arms of Dandelion, still crying uncontrollably. 

After some time, the queen collapses due to the exhaustion, and so the guards carry her carefully up the stairs to Penny’s room. Penny takes Fie’s old room, with Dandelion and Kal still sits in the living room. Dandelion just sits staring into nothing, before she too eventually collapses due to the exhaustion. Kal carefully carries her up to her room as well, before returning downstairs where Delphine and Thervan are still holding watch, alongside a few guards. In the distance, as the storm has subsided, Kal can see the city still burning, but the screams have died down.

Royal Guests

The next morning, after the disaster, Kal awakens first. Remembering the events from the previous night, she arises, and emerges from her bedroom, meeting the two elite guards that are stationed outside Penny’s room, protecting the princess. They give her a short respectful nod, which she returns, before descending to the ground floor. Meeting her downstairs is a group of very tired guards watching every entrance, with Relic, Thervan and Raven sitting in the living room, waiting for the princess to emerge from her chambers. As Kal glances out the window she sees a group of locals gathering around the shrine to Udall, giving offerings and prayers.

Dandelion finds herself on the floor of her room, and just spends a few minutes staring at the roof, before forcing herself upright, heading outside to tend to the garden, trying to distract herself from the thoughts about the previous night, feeling responsible for the loss of the king. Penny eventually awakens as well, and just sits by the window, staring outside at the people gathered at the shrine, and on Dandelion working with the plants. Smelling breakfast, she heads down to eat.

Kal, having prepared food for everyone present, tells the guards that they are free to join them at the table, saying they will probably need it if they’re heading to the city to help with the situation. They don’t have to be asked twice, and they all sit around the dinner table to feast. Dandelion comes inside and joins them, and notices Thervan speaking to someone through sending, but doesn’t ask about it. The guards, tired as they are, get a boost from the prepared breakfast, and seem ready to take on the day.

Suddenly, they can hear footsteps from above, as well as a door opening and closing, before the princess descends, accompanied by the guards. Thervan quickly goes over to greet her, and whispers something to her, with her nodding in return. He then turns to the guards and the party, telling them that they are moving the princess to a safehouse. Dandelion and Kal both question if they have anyone they can trust, with both Thervan and Satine assuring them that whomever they have an agreement with can be relied upon. Thervan tells the guards to eat up, and not rush, before resuming their duties in the city. He turns to Satine, and everyone gives a salute to the princess, who looks uncomfortable at the prospect of being a ruler. She does give them a quick gesture, thanking them for their service, before Thervan teleports them both away to safety.

Aid

The elite guards, who introduces themselves as Alaric Blackthorn and Lyria Moonshadow, tells the rest of the guards to eat up, hinting that they have no time to waste, causing them to scuffle down whatever is on their plate, and then putting on their helmets and gloves, preparing to head out. They all give a salute to the party, thanking them for their help and hospitality, before leaving through the front door, catching curious glances from the gathered neighbors around the shrine. The party decides that they feel that they could be more useful in the city, so they decide to go after them.

Relic summons a steed, and quickly moves past the party and guards, heading to the city gates. Penny, Dandelion and Kal catch up to the guards, who appreciate the help. Reaching the city gates, Relic can see first hand the destruction the Drow attack has caused, with dead and wounded guards and civilians laying in the streets, being tended to by whoever can help. Priests and priestesses from the Temple of Mova wander around, giving the deceased their final rites. A woman with a clipboard is doing a tally, so Relic approaches her, asking if there is anything he can do to help, and what the situation is. The woman tells him that the casualty toll is at least a thousand dead or wounded. The Drow emerged from holes in the ground, attacked, and then quickly retreated, taking the city by surprise. If he wants to help, the eastern part of the city was hardest hit, so Relic makes his way over there to assist. 

As the rest of the party arrive alongside the guards, they too see the death and destruction ahead of them, with collapsed buildings, children crying, and blood-covered snow. The guards spread out to help where they are needed, and disappear in the chaos. Kal talks to the woman with the clipboard, telling her that she is a cleric, and asks if she could help in any way. The woman takes her to the nearby office embedded in the wall, and shows her several wounded guards, many with missing limbs and eyes. Kal gets to work, healing those who can be healed enough to assist, allowing more guards to help out.

Penny wants to make her way towards Scry Me a River, as she wants to make sure Lone Candle and Vontara are safe. Along the way, she does whatever mending she can do to help people repair their clothes, windows and whatever small will help. The path is slow, as there is much to do, but she eventually makes her way to the docks, spotting Relic along the way as he is helping out, using magic to give support to damaged buildings, allowing people to put in supports to prevent collapse. As she arrives at the magic shop, she sees that the windows are shattered, and the front door is broken down. Inside she can see a wounded Vontara cleaning up, and when she spots Penny tells her telepathically that they are closed due to the circumstances. Penny tells her that she isn’t here to shop, but to help, asking if Lone Candle is safe. Vontara tells her that she is alive, and resting upstairs. Relieved, Penny heals Vontara, and offers assistance in cleaning up the shop.

Dandelion makes her way towards the Arena, being told that it is being used as a triage center, and on the way there uses magic to put out fires by summoning rain. She also spots more of the holes in the streets where the Drow emerged from, but cannot discern what being or contraption made them. As she arrives at the arena, she enters through the front gates, and sees hundreds of people waiting to get help. Kal arrives shortly after, and working together they use magic to heal as many people as possible. Dandelion also summons a basket full of goodberries, offering them to people, feeding and healing them at the same time, with Kal walking around casting Spare the Dying on anyone who needs it.

Relic continues to support however he can, and after spending a few hours helping out with supporting the buildings, he takes a short break to recuperate some magic. As he does this, he overhears some guards talking about how they found Ildrex surrounded by dead guards and Drows, allegedly having fought off a large group of Drow by himself. After the break, Relic uses magic to become proficient in medicine, helping out with the wounded, as the buildings are standing for now.

Penny, now helping out Ventara with cleaning up the shop, suddenly hears footsteps coming from the staircase in the back, and sees Lone Candle emerging from upstairs, looking quite tired and wounded. Seeing Penny, she looks surprised, but happy. As she comes closer, Penny sees that she is missing part of her ear, having gotten a little too close to a Drow blade the night before. Vontara says they are lucky to be alive, as they both helped each other. Lone Candle suddenly looks very guilty, before telling Penny that her order will be a few days late, considering the circumstances, but Penny assures her that she doesn’t have to worry, she’s just glad they’re safe.

Back Into Service

After having done what they can do in the arena, both Kal and Dandelion move on, hoping to help bring someone back from the dead that can help as well as they can. Kal is told to go to the temple of Azuna, as it was hit the hardest by the attack of all the temples. On the way there, she assists in extinguishing some of the buildings that are still burning, both by summoning rainclouds, as well as taking control of water from nearby fountains to douse the flames. Eventually, she reaches the temple, and can see two half-orc guards standing outside, holding out their hand for her to stop, telling her that due to the attacks, the temple is off limits. She tells them that she is the cleric of Udall, and that she can help those within. The guards look at each other, shrug, before opening the door, allowing her entrance.

Dandelion approaches one of the officials near the arena, asking if he knows of anyone who can be brought back, as she could help if someone important has passed away. He asked what she means by important, to which she clarifies someone who can help the people, clerics and the like, to heal. He tells her that due to the chaos he doesn’t have that information, but he can ask around to see if her services are needed. She sends Argus with him, and tells him to give the owl a sign, so that Argus can lead him back to her. As she waits for him to find someone, she returns to the wounded and helps out however she can.

As Kal enters the temple, she can see the desolation inside. A vast chamber dominated by a statue of Azuna in the center, and a large hole in the center with rubble around it. She approaches, and is overcome by the stench of the sewers below. She approaches a half-elf who is looking over some of the wounded, introducing herself. She gets no response, the half-elf deep in thought, so she begins healing the wounded, which gets her attention. The woman introduces herself as Liora, a humble priestess of Azuna. Kal gets straight to the point, asking if there is anyone here who can heal with magic. Liora glances over at one of the bodies covered by a white cloth. She tells her that Maelyn was the head cleric of Azuna, but she was killed during the attack. Kal walks over to the corpse, with Liora taking the cover off. Beneath, a white tiefling, with a large wound in her chest, as well as several lacerations to the face. Kal asks if they have diamonds to spare, with one of the priests running to the back, returning shortly after with a large diamond. Kal takes it, and begins the hour long ritual to raise the tiefling, Liora holding Maelyn’s hand, helping with the ritual.

Penny, having helped Vontara and Lone Candle with cleaning up the shop, is invited upstairs for something to eat. She accepts, and joins them at their table. Lone Candle sits quietly eating her food, with Penny noticing that she is shivering, clearly traumatized by the experience. Vontara uses her telepathy to speak to Penny directly, so as to not break the comfortable silence, telling her she is grateful for her help, and grateful that she is so guarding of Lone Candle, indicating that the tabaxi doesn’t have that many friends in this world. Penny replies that she is just happy to have made a difference. Vontara says she has heard rumors of the king and princess both being killed in the attacks, with Penny telling her that she was there when the king died, but reassures her that the princess is alive and safe, much to the relief of Vontara. After finishing her meal, she says her goodbyes, before heading into the city to see if she can be of assistance.

After completing the ritual, the diamond in Kal’s hands shatters into tiny pieces, before entering the body of Maelyn. Kal sits there, thinking at first that the spell failed, before the tiefling suddenly gasps for air, alive once more. She thanks Kal for bringing her back, with Liora being visibly relieved by her master’s resurrection. Maelyn confirms that she can bring people back, but Kal senses that the resurrection took a toll on the tiefling, so tells her to rest, as she can resurrect one more. Liora mentions that another cleric named Petyr was also killed in the attack, so Kal goes to work, with Maelyn healing herself and then others. Soon, another cleric rises, ready to help the wounded.

The official eventually returns with Argus back to Dandelion, and tells her that he hasn’t found any clerics or healers that fell, but did hear that the head priest of Lot was killed in the attacks. An important figure in the community, as he guides people by interpreting their dreams, the official feels that it would be a devastating loss if he were to vanish. Dandelion agrees, and so they head to the temple of Lot, to bring back the priest.

When they enter the temple, she can see that it is a beautiful interior, with pearlescent pillars holding up a marble white roof against an obsidian black floor. To the rear, beneath a relief sculpture of the god Lot, with incense flowing out of his head, lies an elderly half-orc on the altar. Several of his followers are around, praying for his soul. Dandelion gets to work, explaining that she can try to bring him back, but that she needs the material components. The priests have already prepared what is required, and so Dandelion gets to work. A couple of priests assist in the ritual, but as the priest’s soul has already been in the beyond a couple of times before, it is not an easy task to bring him back. Dandelion warns the others that this might change him, as he gets a new body, but they feel that the sacrifice is worth it. As the hour closes, the ritual completes, and the body ascends into a floating position, surrounded by green light and leaves, entombing him. 

The gathering sees that the figure shrinks, drastically, going from over 6 feet to around 3 and a half feet. As the leaves and light retreats, a short gnomish figure descends onto the altar. He opens his eyes, and at first seems rather confused by his hands and lack of tusks, before dandelion explains the situation to him. The priest introduces himself as Bromar Dreamtusk, and thanks Dandelion for bringing him back, even though it was mid conversation with Lot. Asking what happened, Dandelion explains that he was killed in the attack, with him being confused about what she means. When she clarifies that the city has been attacked by Drow, he is horrified, and must have died as one of the first casualties, as he was walking back home after tending to the temple. 

Bromar grumbles to himself that he will need to redecorate his home to accommodate his new stature, and he will probably need a new name, due to his lack of tusks. Dandelion suggests Bromar Godtouched as he has been resurrected by Faunus, but Bromar does not recognize the god, but is thankful nonetheless. He tells her that he has to find the rest of his “flock”, so he and his followers depart. The official is standing near the entrance, and says to himself that he really should have been out in the streets doing more important stuff, but admits he was drawn in by the “show”, referring to the reincarnation. He thanks Dandelion for her help, before returning to the arena to help out. Dandelion goes out as well to help more people.

Winding Down

As the evening approaches, the party continues to help out however they can, with Penny joining in, playing music for the wounded, using her song of rest ability to help them heal, and entertaining the children who have yet to find their parents. After the party meets up, they decide to put Bozuuth into good use, and so sets up a resting station with free coffee for everyone who wants it. The coffee pot is overjoyed at the amount of “souls” it seems to think it is acquiring, but only Penny who pours the coffee can hear it, as she laughs to herself. During this, she gets a sending from Morgan, asking if she is okay, having heard about the attack, to which Penny confirms that she is safe, and wasn’t responsible. Morgan is happy to hear that, and promises to return in the morning.

The party shares with each other what they have heard throughout the day from various sources and town criers, mostly that local business owner Zakhar Miriel  of the Azure Tides Trading Co. is giving out supplies and food to whoever needs it, and that the teleportation circle in Elvenroth to Ravenforge was shattered when they learned of the attack, and various rumors of the king and princess being killed in the attacks. Relic also tells them what he heard about Ildrex being caught in a fight with the drow, getting Kal’s attention. Kal wonders if they should make it clear what actually happened, so she heads to the castle to see if Thervan has returned, asking him for advice.

Reaching the castle, she is not allowed entry, but Bertram meets her in the courtyard, and confirms that Thervan has returned, offering to bring her to him. Kal says it’s fine, and asks what they should do about the rumors about the princess being dead. Bertram, still shaken by the experience the night before tells her not to worry about it, when it is time for them to know they will know, for now it is for the best if people think her dead, as it will make it less likely for people to look for her. Kal asks if there is anyone of importance in the castle that needs to be brought back, but Bertram gets a stern look, saying politely that it is not necessary. Kal senses the animosity, realizing that he is of the belief that people shouldn’t be resurrected, so she doesn’t push the matter. She thanks for his help, and returns to the rest of the party.

As she wanders down the street back to the arena, she sees that the Lucky Duck seems to have been hit in the attack, with a large hole in the wall, as well as the door being broken down. She enters, worried about Throk, and is met by a few guards who tell her that the business is closed indefinitely, as the owner and a few employees were killed in the attacks. Kal asks if anyone from the kitchen was killed, but they all survived. Throk seems to have been wounded, but was well enough to go home after being checked out. Kal leaves, and reunites with the rest.

As the party has spent all their resources, they feel that they need to return home. Relic tells them he will continue for a little bit, as he still has some resources left. Before they leave, Kal asks if he can point out where he heard about where Ildrex was found, with him giving her a general direction. Kal goes to check it out, but is unable to find exactly where it was in the chaos, and asks a guard to find out so that she can check it out later, maybe talk to some of the corpses about what actually happened. Penny and Dandelion walk home in silence, both too tired to speak.

Post-Op

As soon as Penny gets home she goes to the garden, sitting under the tree, lost in memories. She looks up at the cloudy sky, reflecting on how many more worries she has now, and how carefree her life used to be. She realizes that she is more “free” now, but at the same time has more responsibilities, which she is not that fond of. Argus and Ira sit on the nearby roof, wondering what she is thinking about, just as Dandelion joins her by tending to the plants to distract herself. Wearing her Earpods of Silence™, she senses that Penny wants someone to talk to, so she takes one of them out, as a gesture for her to come closer.

Dandelion shows her what the various plants are called and how to tend to them, with Penny observing closely, taking it all in. After a while, she asks Dandelion if it is possible to speak with plants without casting a spell first. Dandelion tells her that there are many different ways to do that, some plants even speak common. Penny continues by asking how they would make contact, with Dandelion mentioning treants, sentient trees, who roam the forests and can talk to everybody. If Penny wants to speak with plants, she should find a scroll of Speak with Plants. Penny doesn’t look satisfied with the answer, and Dandelion struggles to understand where Penny is going with this, but Penny just says she’s thinking of her home and old friends.

Kal eventually returns home, having had no luck investigating further into Ildrex’s doing, and finds that about two dozen or so people are gathered around it. She approaches, with everyone recognizing the symbol on her chest, and who she is. She leads the group in a prayer, and tends to the shrine. People approach her, asking her to pray for their lost ones, which she promises to. As people leave due to being too cold to continue, she approaches the shrine under the guise of tending to it, hiding her thermal cube beneath it, giving warmth to the people who go there to pray. 

As she gets inside, she asks Arin if she can cook up some food for them, to which she gladly obliges, and starts preparing some soup. Relic eventually returns home during the evening, being completely spent and out of spell slots. Dandelion and Penny come inside to eat with the others, and they all mostly sit in a somber and exhausted silence, before they all retire to their respective sleeping quarters, Dandelion going outside with her owls to sleep in her hut. When Penny returns to her room she sees that the princess has actually taken the effort to make the bed and tidy up a bit. As Penny undresses and goes to bed, she can smell the perfume of the princess still lingering, before falling asleep.

Divine Guidance

The next morning Arin makes breakfast for the group, with everyone feeling a little better after getting the chance to help the ones that were hurt in the attack. When they sit down, Relic prods Kal about Ildrex and her issues with him, as the tension was palpable during the gala a few nights ago. Kal reluctantly reveals that she was a soldier in his army, and that he is hands down the most ruthless and cruel person she has ever encountered. Relic recognizes the name and service, having read that he was asked to step down as his methods were too cruel during the subjugation of The Northern Tribes. That still hasn’t stopped him from continuing to offer his “services” to whomever requests it. Kal reveals that it is because of her experiences in the Northern Tribes that she dislikes traveling north. She tells them that he apparently is a follower of Yana, an evil god, for those that yearn for war and conflict. Something happened during her time with him, which must have made an impression, considering he almost recognized her.

As they sit talking about this, they hear the familiar arcane thud of teleportation, followed by a knock on the door. Penny, realizing who it is, runs ahead of Arin to answer, and is greeted by Trixie and Morgan. They both get a big hug from her, and she basically drags them inside. They join the rest of the household at the table, with Penny telling them about everything that has happened. Morgan and Trixie both seem shocked by the news, but are glad to hear that the princess is safe.

Kal decides to get some answers about the involvement of Ildrex, and so sits down to do a few communes, asking Udall for answers.

• Was Thaddeus Ildrex in any way responsible for the attacks two days ago? - No.

• Did he know about the attack before it happened? - No.

• Is he in league with Malice in any way? - Unclear.

• Is Glasstaff in Equinfjord, in the Everdark Woods? - Yes.

• Are there any promises left between Glasstaff and Malice? - Maybe.

• Is he planning any form of revenge towards us? - No.

She seems to be genuinely surprised about Ildrex’ lack of involvement in the attacks, as he seemed ready to fight when he arrived, but Udall seems confident about the answers. She asks him about guidance for the path ahead, where to go first, as they have several things that require their attention. She gets a brief answer.

“The dragon lies confidently in its lair,
the spear and knife are not going anywhere,
but the wizard is restless.”

Kal tells the rest of the party what Udall tells her, and they all agree that Glasstaff escaping is not something they wish to happen, so they decide to pursue him first, potentially using wind walk to quickly get there, as it should be less than a day away. Morgan and Trixie needs to be back on the road any way, but they agree to stick around at least until they leave. Penny asks if Trixie has any contact with anyone from the commune, and she tells her that it’s been a while since she has heard from Perry, but just says it’s probably since she has been on the road, and isn’t as easy to get a hold of. 

Penny asks if Dandelion can scry on Perry, and disguises herself as him. They all see her change into a very short halfling, with dark bustling hair, big glasses and carrying around many books. She sits down with her mirror, and places out a few sticks and stones as a ritual to Faunus. As she peers into the mirror to find Perry, she gets a flash of an eye, and recognizes it as Faunus’, guiding her to her target. 

Her consciousness drawn into the looking glass, she emerges on the other side, and finds herself in a forest covered by a light layer of snow. Next to a tree, she sees Perry, sitting with his hands around his knees. His eyes are dark, with bags beneath them, looking exhausted. He seems to nod and shake his head, but isn’t saying anything. Just before the vision ends, he exclaims “I told you, I don’t know where she is”, seemingly to himself. Dandelion realizes that someone is speaking to him within his mind.

When she returns to the others, she tells them what she saw and heard. Penny asks to see what he looked like, so she disguises herself to be like him. Worried that Vuthul has taken hold of him, she quickly realizes that he doesn’t look like she did when he was her passenger, so he probably is just exhausted. Penny realizes that her “friend” that she used to talk to also spoke directly into her mind, so she wonders if there is a correlation. 

Penny wonders what she is to do about this, and as she is distracted, Dandelion talks to Morgan in private, asking him about her questions the night before, and if she has any reason to want to speak with plants. He tells her that he doesn’t know anything about any plants, but she did have a friend that she used to talk to back in her home village. A friend nobody else could speak to or hear. He seems to like the idea of being able to talk to plants though, and asks Dandelion to tell Penny to tell Morgan if they ever discover what her “friend” is, as it has been on his mind for a while.

Penny asks Morgan if he can store a sending spell in her ring, so that she can talk to Perry directly, asking about what’s going on. He obliges, and so she asks Perry how he’s doing, and tells him where she is. Perry responds by telling her about the voice in his head, her “friend”, who is quite adamant about wanting to talk to Penny, wondering about where she is. Penny tells him she doesn’t know who the voice is, but promises to travel home soon, asking him to tell it to the voice, hopefully giving him some peace.

The rest of the group wants to know what is going on with this supposed “friend”, with Penny relenting. She tells them that she has talked quite a lot to the voice, but it only talked to her in her “secret place”, which is in the roots of a tree. A light seems to turn on inside Trixie’s head, finally realizing where Penny used to sneak off to. Dandelion asks if the voice seems to prod Penny for information about her, but Penny seems to remember that it just wanted someone to talk to.

Penny gets an idea, and asks Morgan for a final Sending, deciding to send it directly to her “friend”. She asks if she can do anything to help it. She gets a response immediately. A booming, otherworldly voice responding, asking if it is truly her. The voice tells her that it doesn’t wish to encumber her with its troubles, but it’s afflicted by something, and that they told it that it was because of Penny. Shocked by this, she needs some time to absorb what she has learned. In either case, they have to deal with Glasstaff first, but they decide to head south towards Stormseeker, and maybe pop by her home village on the way.

Doing Good Deeds

The party spends the rest of the day returning to the city to help out wherever it’s needed. Kal learns that there have been several requests by nobles to resurrect their loved ones, but when they learn of the price, that each life they resurrect requires them to provide a diamond for another life, most relent, either unable or unwilling to pay the price. Kal figured as much, and so spends her day healing as many people as she can. Dandelion does the same, with Penny spending most of the time healing and playing music for the kids that are looking for their parents. Kal suggests that Penny could draw their likeness so that they can be hung up around the city if people are looking for their children. Penny thinks this is a great idea, and starts drawing. 

In the evening, Kal realizes that they found a pair of gloves on Fie’s corpse, and asks Relic to identify them. He tells them it’s a pair of Gloves of Thievery, which makes it easier to… steal. Penny quickly calls dibs on them, telling them that her fingers are loose when it comes to shiny things. Relic tries to lecture her to only steal from people who deserve it, but is not confident that the message gets through. Oh well, not much to do about it anyway.

Arin wants to cook a proper meal as a goodbye for the group, since they will all be leaving in the morning. Kal helps her out, giving her some pointers at the same time, which Arin appreciates. They promise her that they will not be gone for long. Trixie and Morgan say that they have to be back on the road soon, as they have a show in Port Emerald in a couple of days, so they will leave at the same time. When dinner is served, Penny makes a large jug of delicious wine, much to the joy of the others who indulge themselves. After a hearty feast and friendly conversations, they all retire for the evening.

Departing Yet Again

The next morning, the party wastes no time, getting up early to leave as soon as possible. Figuring that they will have a lot of time to do recon on the city before they decide to land, they should do it during the daytime, as they know that Drow, coming from the underdark, has a hard time with the harsh sunlight. Before they leave, Penny asks Morgan for another sending spell, just so she can ask her “friend” one more thing. She asks it what caused its affliction, and if it has a name she can call it. The being responds:

“I know not the entity’s name. I didn’t see it clearly.
It said it was your passenger for a while.
You can call me Gleamshroud”

She tells the others what it said, but nobody recognizes the name. They realize quickly who the “passenger” it speaks of is. The situation seems dire, but there is not much they can do about it now, as they are already burning time standing around. Morgan and Trixie say their goodbyes to everyone, and teleport away, hopefully not for long. Dandelion goes over to the horses along with Penny to say goodbye. The horses ask when they are going on an adventure again, as they yearn for the road, with Dandelion promising that it will be soon, they just have to take care of something first. 

Dandelion gathers everyone around, with Argus and Ira sitting on her shoulders. As she casts the spell, everyone feels themselves being lighter, with fog starting to radiate from their skin, as they become more and more translucent, until finally they are all whiffs of smoke. They all take to the skies, and can see the damages the Drow caused on the city from above, with several of the repairs well on the way, and people returning to their normal routines. Continuing onwards, the city soon becomes harder to see over the horizon, as the Everdark Woods to the north comes into view.

Partially Cloudy

With Ravenforge disappearing over the horizon behind the party as they fly, they reach the Everdark Woods, moving north towards the Ruins of Equinfjord. Below them in the forest they see various life, both animals and monstrosities, living their lives, trying to survive in the cold of winter. Flying as clouds, they stay low, but not too low as to be discovered. Eventually, after a couple of hours, the party can see ruins peering over the treeline. They have reached their destination, and so begin to ascend in order to get a good overview of the city.

The party circles around, looking for places of interest, seeing that most of the city has been reclaimed by nature and lies mostly destroyed beneath the trees, but a small part of it is still mostly standing, albeit barely. They take note of a mostly intact storage facility near the docks, a wizard's tower with a couple of collapsed walls in the center of town, and the last standing tower of the castle near the outskirts. Dandelion does a twirl in the air, signaling that she has spotted some potential locations for their quarry. They decide to land in the outskirts of the ruins, in the forest, in order to talk about what to do next. 

After coming out of the cloud shape they talk about what they spotted whilst flying over the city, but as they were too high, it was impossible to make out where the drow were concentrated. They discuss which option would be the most logical, with them all agreeing that the wizards tower is too obvious of a hiding spot, and Kal decides to maybe ask Udall if he knows where Glasstaff is hiding. Before they have a chance to start the rituals, Dandelion can hear voices approaching from the west. Seems that someone spotted them as they descended from the sky.