Previously: Chapter 47: The Shadow of the Dragon
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.