Previously: Chapter 55: Mending
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.
Dandelion summons Master Elk, Wolfsleigh and a giant badger, whilst the rest of the party hides among the trees and bushes. Dandelion wild shapes into a giant owl, and perches herself on the top of a nearby tree, telling the animals to pretend that they are fighting in order to hide their tracks. The voices get closer, and the party prepares to ambush whoever approaches.
The Patrol
Six figures suddenly emerge from the treeline. All of them drows. Luckily, the party manages to stay hidden, and so the drows seem focused on the spectacle in front of them with the giant elk and wolf having a mock battle. The drow look at each other, almost laughing at the scene, preparing to fire at the elk, presumably to feast on. Dandelion realizes quickly that if they kill Mr. Elk he will simply disappear, which would be quite suspicious, so she signals for the others to spring the trap. Penny uses her book of sorcery to subtly cast a major image of a t-rex lumbering towards the drows, which causes them to be distracted, giving the rest of the party the opening they need to take them down.
Mr. Elk uses the distraction to charge at the leader drow which was prepared to strike at him, gravely wounding him. Dandelion flies towards one of the rear drows to strike at it, cutting off their escape. Relic casts a fire bolt at the leader, striking him in the chest, gravely wounding him. As the leader gets up, he casts darkness around himself, before downing a healing potion, trying to escape. The badger goes to town on one of the other drows, with Wolfslee trying to cut off the leader's escape. Kal comes from the side with a reverberating jump, taking out the leader and a few minions, with Penny finishing off the rest with a well placed shatter. With the ambush done and over, the t-rex lumbers through the scene before disappearing amongst the trees.
Dandelion, still in owl shape, tries to do her usual ritual of respecting the dead, but due to her animosity against the drow it boils down to the owl hurling rocks at the corpses in the snow. The rest of the party goes through the pockets, finding a few coins, some poisons and various belongings for someone keeping watch, but noticeably no food or supplies, indicating that they must have a base nearby. Kal, Relic and Dandelion all decide to do some rituals for the path ahead. Kal casts divination twice, asking first where Glasstaff is, but Udall is having a hard time finding him. He does however know that most drow converge near the wizards tower in the center of the city. Dandelion tries to discover more about the surrounding area by communing with the nearby nature, learning that there is a sizable force of drow nearby, maybe 60-70 around them, as well as regular forest critters. There are also many different undeads in the ruins, with a powerful one somewhere in the city, as she can feel its influence. There is also a very strong influence from the shadowfell coming from the city as well. Possibly a rift of some kind. Relic has spent this time casting a telepathic link, allowing them to communicate non-verbally.
They talk about what they have learned through their divination, and theorize that maybe Nezznar is experimenting with dangerous rituals to reach the other planes. Relic says simply that if anyone has managed to create a permanent portal to another plane they should be stopped at all costs, saying that such power cannot be used for good. He talks about “terrible” places, like the Shadowfell and the Nine Hells, much to Penny’s annoyance. She tells them her mother told her that her bloodline comes from the second layer of the Nine Hells, but the rest of the group assures her that good people can come from terrible origins, saying that it doesn’t define her.
Needing to get moving, as they are burning valuable time with the wind walk spell, they decide to approach the tower from below, as they will surely be seen if they decide to enter through the openings in the walls. Talking about how to enter the sewers, Dandelion is shocked at the idea of manholes, saying it’s a weird idea to trap men in holes, just as it is weird that society traps cows in pens, and horses in stables, as they must be bored to tears. She also wonders why men have to enter holes, which causes Penny to laugh uncontrollably. Dandelion doesn’t understand what’s so funny.
Among the Shadows
The party takes cloud form yet again, and sweeps through the forest as fast as possible, with Argus and Ira staying above, keeping watch. The whole city seems rather grim, with a few undeads being spotted among the ruins. After a short while, Relic finds a collapsed temple that has an opening to the sewers, allowing them to enter. The owls tell the others that they are drawing a little too much attention, and decide to take to the skies. Dandelion sends them home, as they will most likely teleport out as soon as they have taken out Glasstaff. With the rest of the party converging at Relic’s location, they enter the sewers as a group, and attempt to find the path towards the tower.
After a while heading towards what they believe is the correct heading, they come across a large group of shadows circling a part of the sewers. Wanting to get their bearings, Penny emerges through a crack in one of the manhole covers above them, allowing her to see through the other side. The wizards tower looms above her, as a drow sentry wanders across a walkway, spotting the cloud coming out of the sewers, but Penny manages to play herself off as a whiff of steam, which fools the drow. When she goes back down, she sees that Relic is studying the movement of the shadows for an opening.
As soon as there is a break in the ranks of the shadows, they make their move, heading towards the tower. Around the corner they find a door with a crack beneath it that they can get through, so they all squeeze themselves inside. On the inside they see that the door was bolted shut, keeping people out. Down a short corridor they see a ladder leading up to a hatch, with a tube, most likely a sewage drain, leading up. Penny decides to enter, and finds a large junction of other tubes. Picking one at random, she emerges in an open cell, and can see a large circular chamber outside it. A staircase leads to the tower above. She goes back to the junction and takes another tube, coming to another cell, this one with a man sitting inside it, chained to the wall, looking right at her.
The Captive
Penny tells the others what she can see, and emerges from the hole, materializing as herself. As she does, she accidentally steps on an ancient skeleton, with the man exclaiming his surprise to see someone else dumb enough to sneak inside a drow stronghold. Penny introduces herself, with the man saying his name is Eldric. Penny asks him why he is in this cell, with Eldric saying that he was adventuring when he was discovered and captured by the drows, and has been in the cell for a few days now. Penny relays all this to the others, who are hesitant to come up. He asks her if she has any food and water, as he is starving, to which Penny obliges. She tries to find her thieves' tools, but the man suddenly throws the food and waterskin back at her, as Penny hears steps coming down the stairs. She tries to hide in the corner, hoping whoever it is won’t notice her.
The footsteps stop outside the cell door, and Penny can hear a heavy sigh, followed by a feminine voice, in broken common, telling Eldric to tell her who he really is, as she really wants him to survive. As long as he can tell them truthfully who he is, and it’s not a conflict to them, they will let him go after modifying his memory. But if he lies, or is after them, things get difficult. Eldric just stares back at the unknown woman, with Penny getting the feeling in her voice that she doesn’t appreciate being in the situation any more than he does. As she realizes that he is unwilling to talk, she tells him that if he doesn’t cooperate she will be forced to call for “him”, which will make the situation much worse, but that if he changes his mind, to ask for Zeerith, and she will come. She eventually can be heard walking back up the stairs, after telling Eldric that she will send someone to provide him with food and water. After a few minutes, Penny is confident that she is gone, and tells the others to come up. While she waits for them, she takes out her monocular and peers throughout the room, seeing Eldric is not hiding his true form, but can see that the room is filled with some weird energy of what can best be described as unnatural shadows.
The party, who doesn’t like Penny being in this situation by herself, decides to emerge as well, each coming out of a different cell. Each of the cells have ancient bones, with one of them belonging to what was once a giant. They all go over to the cell to study the mystery man that Penny has been conversing with, noticing that Eldric is not wearing shoes, and that his clothes are consciously anonymous, not having any identifying marks whatsoever. Eldric claims that he is simply looking for treasure, but is unwilling to tell them specifics, as he doesn’t fully trust the group yet. Kal gives Penny the lockpicks so that she can release him, and as she begins with picking she tries to cast detect thoughts, but her casting is obvious, causing Eldric to reprimand her, but not before she gets a glimpse of him thinking “I hope I’ve told them enough”. Unable to open the manacles, she takes a couple of minutes to cloud herself through the bars.
Eldric, seeing the whole group in front of him, tells them he recognizes them, as he saw them the night they rescued the kidnapped people in Tempervale. He seems to genuinely respect their efforts, and they all agree to come back for him later, not wanting to leave him in the hands of the drow. As relic looks to the top of the stairs, he notices an enchantment that seems to obfuscate both sight and sound from the floors above. Kal and Dandelion want Eldric to get Zeerith back so that they can ambush and interrogate her, with Relic protesting the idea. Before they can come to an agreement, they hear footsteps from the top of the stairs, as someone is coming. Dandelion gives Eldric a sign to ask for Zeerith, as they all go to hide. A lone drow guard comes down, holding a chalice of water, and a napkin with some meat in it. He spits in the chalice, before placing it in the cell, just out of reach, before retreating. As he is about to go, Eldric tells the drow that he has changed his mind, and that he would like to speak to Zeerith. The drow looks at him smiling, before heading up the stairs.
A House Divided
It doesn’t take long for Zeerith to emerge, and those who are hiding can see her glowing blue eyes as she descends. She walks over to the cell, and as she is about to open her mouth, Dandelion manages to knock over a small stone, drawing the attention of the drow, who takes out a sword, ready to attack. Penny tries to cast a charm on her, but she resists the effect, and strikes back at Penny with a painful grasp of dark magic. Feeling a poison enter her blood, Penny manages to resist, as Kal shoves Zeerith to the ground, and puts the immovable rod on her chest, immobilizing her. The drow fills the room with a smoky substance, but Penny dispels it. Relic tries to intimidate from the rear, as both Penny and Dandelion try to convince her, but Kal talks her down by pointing out that nobody can hear her scream down here. It seems to do the trick, with Zeerith asking them what they want.
The party senses that Zeerith relaxes, and so releases her, allowing her to stand. They tell her that they are only here for Glasstaff, as he needs to be brought to justice. Zeerith gives the impression that she doesn’t appreciate his presence either, telling them that she is looking forward to them being done with him. Penny tries to rummage through Zeerith’s pockets for a key, but she slaps her away, producing it for her, allowing Penny to release Eldric. Zeerith tells them that she doesn’t want her people to be hurt, with Kal telling her that they won’t hurt anyone as long as none get in their way, and asks Zeerith to tell them how to get to the top. She gives a description of the layout, telling them that there are two lookouts they cannot get past on the fourth floor, but that she can give them a small window to sneak past, if they are silent. She also tells them to keep away from the room on the third floor, as there have been a few casualties already from drow encountering the monster within.
The party thinks it’s odd that a drow is so willing to give up the information that she is possessing, and asks if Malice is in charge. She confirms that she indeed has the loyalty of most drow, and that Malice is trying to do what she thinks is right, but that she no longer cares about the cost. The party is curious about what she means when she says “the right thing”, with Zeerith talking about the overworlders near extermination of her people. Relic mocks her, saying that he could say the same thing about her, referring to the conflict between the drow and the dwarves. Zeerith tells him that they were just defending themselves, and that they didn’t deserve genocide. There are those amongst the drow that feel the same way, who just want an end to the conflict entirely, without unnecessary bloodshed. Penny asks if Nezznar is in the city, to which Zeerith replies no, but that he will be here soon, and that they have to leave before that, as he is right now one of the most dangerous beings on this plane. Kal asks why they have Glasstaff here, and she replies that he is looking for something, but she knows not what, and that she hasn’t been allowed to talk to him.
She tells the group that she is forced to stay in line, as they have control of her family. She seems frustrated by the situation. Relic asks her to reach out to them if she wants to rebel against Malice, in the hopes of ending the conflict. She will need allies, and if it can mean the end to the war, they can help. Zeerith tells them that she might do that, but they dare not speak of rebellion, even in private, in fear of being executed or worse. She tells Relic her full name, Zeerith Despana, asking him to reach out if they have a plan ready. Having spent a while talking, she tells them she has to return, otherwise they will come looking for her. She will signal them when she gets them the opening.
Ascension
When she leaves, Penny places a programmed illusion in the cell of Eldric sitting and staring into the floor, hoping to buy them some time in case they check up on him. As they release the shackles, both Penny and Dandelion notice a slight flare in Eldric’s eyes, prompting Dandelion to pressure him into revealing what he is. They suddenly hear a familiar voice saying that there is no point in keeping up the facade, as Ranesh emerges from a ring hidden in Eldric’s pocket. Dandelion groans at the sight of the “bad dad god” as she calls him. Ranesh looks at the party, saying it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he has more disciples. He admits that he sent Eldric here as Fie is no longer able, as he knew they would eventually find their way here. He instructs Eldric to go “grab it” while he can, as the party has other things to worry about. When Eldric asks about it, he clarifies that it is a world ending business, and their goals do not align at the moment.
Ranesh gives his goodbyes to the party, with Eldric still being in shock that his patron knows the party well enough to be on speaking terms. Penny casts Seeming to make them look like the drow they ambushed in the forest, Relic recasts the telepathic bond, and Kal casts tongues, allowing her to understand what the drows are saying. Afterwards, they tell Eldric that they will look for his stuff, and tell him if things go bad so that he has a chance to escape. Eldric tells them not to worry about him, since he can take care of himself.
As they ascend the staircase, they penetrate the veil, revealing a large circular room with a statue in the center of it, holding an orb. The entrance to the tower is covered by skeletons who tried to escape from something, but were unable to get out. Above them, on the next floor, Kal can hear the drows talking, and tries to listen in, but it’s difficult. All she can make out is the name “Malice”. There is a grim atmosphere in the room, but the party tries to be as silent as possible, waiting for the signal to ascend.
Penny and Relic decide to check out the statue. Relic recognizes the statue as that of Theonius Grim, often referred to as the “Mad Mage”. He recalls that Theonius was rumored to be dealing in dark magic, but he did a lot of good for the city, so they let it slide. His name is the origin of the word grim, which tells them all they need to know about him. Penny finds a hidden compartment, containing an expired healing potion, some rotted clothes, and a Bag of Colding, to keep food fresh. It even contains some 2500+ year old sausages. Relic takes a closer look, and senses that the orb seems to be of a slightly different shade of stone than the rest of the statue. Looking closer he can see a glyph of warding embedded on it.
Relic asks Penny if she can try to dispel it, casting a silence spell at the top of the staircase to avoid the drow from discovering them. The glyph is powerful, so she has to try a couple of times to dispel it, but on the second time it fizzles away, and the aura that Penny sensed disappears. Relic tries to grab the orb, but it is really well fastened. Kal manages to tear it off however. Penny does not sense that it is magic, but they decide to bring it along, with Kal placing it in the bag of holding.
Waiting around for a few more minutes, Penny gets a message from Zeerith, telling them that they should have about 5 minutes before the guards return. Wasting no time, they head up the stairs, stealthily so as to not draw the attention of the drows resting on the second floor. Unfortunately some of the footfalls of the group are a little too loud, drawing the attention of someone who approaches. A large one-eyed drow with several facial tattoos and religious looking robes emerge from around the corner, looking at who is coming from below. Kal tries to play it off casually, and continues walking, but the drow stops them, asking them what they are doing here, in a suspicious manner. Not wanting to speak, as it would blow their disguise, she pulls out the glass staff from the bag of holding, shrugging while pointing upstairs, indicating that she is bringing it to its owner. It surprisingly seems to work, and the drow retreats to the rest of his group. Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, the party continues upwards.
Distractions
When they reach the third floor unscathed, they can sense the aura of dread even heavier here. In the distance, beyond the wall behind them, they can hear a howling of sorts, as well as arcane sparkling, and can see pale green light flowing out from a crack beneath a door. Having been warned about this floor, they decide to press on, and on the fourth floor they can see daylight coming from both northwest and southeast, as the openings in the tower are visible. The two drows that were keeping guard here are missing, giving the group a small window to look for Eldric’s belongings. In the nearby chest they find his boots, as well as his ring of evasion, sword of wounding and a couple of bottles of healing potions. They pocket it all, and move up before the drows return.
On the fifth floor, they have reached the top of the spiral staircase, and sees that the stairs continue near the outer wall of the tower. They pass a door on the way there, and Dandelion can hear voices coming from within, most likely from another room beyond, but they have no time to waste, and so continue onwards and upwards towards their prey. On the sixth floor, they come across a dark room, where the roof has collapsed. The floor ahead of them seems to be mundane, but just to be safe, Kal messages Zeerith, asking if there are any traps. She confirms that there are some glyphs of warding on the floor, which will warn Faelrin, the inquisitor. Relic casts detect magic, and can see the glyphs on the floor, hiding amongst the rubble. They decide to play it safe and revert to cloud form, in order to avoid them, as they are unsure if they trigger by proximity or stepping on them. As they fly up towards the hole in the roof, they see that the large room on the floor they are on contains what appears to be remains of a laboratory. Realizing they might find something useful, they decide to take a quick glance through it.
Dandelion and Kal keeps watch, while Relic and Penny scour through the rubble. About half way in, Dandelion hears footsteps from above, and tells the others to hide. Emerging from the stairs they can see a nicely dressed drow, not at all prepared for combat wandering past the room they are in. Unfortunately, Dandelion manages to shift some of the stones, but Penny quickly casts some dust of disappearance in the air, hiding them. The drow peers into the darkness, but as he sees nobody, he continues downwards, muttering to himself that he cannot wait to leave this place forever.
The party continues to search, and finds a few diamonds, a phoenix feather, a vial of dragon blood, as well as a chest containing some odd vials with disturbing labels on them amongst them arsenic, blood from human infants and the such. Relic quickly recognizes this as the ingredients to make a lichnee potion. Seems like Theonius was well on his way to become a lich, if he wasn’t one already.
In order to buy themselves some time, Penny uses her creation powers to create a large slab of stone to block off the staircase, with a sign saying that Glasstaff is not to be disturbed. The party flies up through the cracked roof, and is faced with a stone golem, luckily dormant, standing in front of a large vault door. Seeing blood splattered on the wall, as well as on the golems hand, they realize that the drows probably have tried, and failed, to open the vault. The party makes a mental note, hoping to return some time later in order to raid it, but first they have to deal with Glasstaff before anyone notices that Eldric isn’t in his cell any more.
Shattered Glass
Up the final stairs, they notice a similar, but slightly different looking shimmer to the one they saw near the basement. As they sneak through it, being careful not to warn Glasstaff, they can feel the air growing heavy, and Relic senses that time moves slightly differently in this room, making time pass faster on the outside. There is also a disturbing whisper lurking in the background, without any discernible source. As they reach the top of the stairs, they see Glasstaff sitting near a desk, studying his research, not having noticed the party. Around him is a large bookshelf that reaches all the way to the roof, filled with books, mostly ruined, but some worth checking out. In the corners, Relic sees remains of arcane runes, indicating that a deteriorated private sanctum spell is warding the area, and realizes this is why Udall had difficulty finding Glasstaff. It would also make it difficult to teleport out of here.
Kal really wants to scare him for what he has done, and so sneaks up to him, with the rest of the party standing back. Dandelion takes out the staff of defense, ready to give some poetic justice. Kal leans in near Glasstaff, whispering that his downfall has come, as she summons her necrotic shroud. The party sees dark skeletal wings emerging from her body, with Glasstaff being shocked and surprised at the intruders, as Dandelion runs up to him and decks him in the face with the staff. Relic casts chromatic orb at him, with Glasstaff trying to counterspell it, but Penny counterspells him in return.
Seeing that his doom is at hand, he tries to misty step away, but Relic counterspells it. Enraged, he takes out a small stone from his pouch, and tells whoever is on the other side that “They are here to kill me, you have to come here NOW!”. He then turns to the party, telling them that they have to take him away from him, and that he can help. By doing this, he has forced the party to either take Glasstaff with them or deal with Nezznar when he comes. Relic casts enervation on Glasstaff, before summoning Bimble into a mote. Penny casually skips over to finish off Glasstaff with an inflict wounds, but Glasstaff manages to counter it. Kal takes a step back, throwing a brightlance right into him. Glasstaff slumps over, unconscious.
Penny suddenly feels her mark of the Forgotten One in her neck piercing like a burning knife. Nezznar has arrived, and the party does not have much time. She tells this to the others, so they spring into action, as they have precious little time to escape. Kal puts Glasstaff’s body into the bag of holding, not wanting to leave him behind for the enemy to resurrect, as well as all the research notes that he was working on. Relic begins picking out books from the bookshelves, noticing a couple of magical ones, but just takes everything that doesn’t look ruined. Dandelion goes through Glasstaff’s chest, finding a bunch of gold and a cache of healing potions. Penny takes a grim looking book made of what appears to be human skin, as well as a bag of diamond dust. Kal tells Eldric through a message that they have his stuff, and that he can find them in Ravenforge. He replies that he will find them there, as it appears they have already grabbed what he was looking for. On the way out, Relic grabs whatever material components he can find lying around. Sensing shockwaves running through the building, they realize that Nezznar is working his way through the stone slab that Penny summoned.
As the party descends through the shimmer, they hear a large boom as stones fly out through the hole in the floor from below. Penny, coming down the stairs, suddenly sees the ghostly visage of her former patron, Vuthul, standing near the hole in the floor, smiling. She can hear the grim voice of Nezznar from below, shouting “I see you now!”. Kal throws herself at the rest of the party, using word of recall to bring them back to Ravenforge before Nezznar has a chance to stop them. They emerge near the shrine of Udall, scaring a few locals who were there to give offerings, but they are pleased to see the group, clearly recognizing them for their deeds.
Kal sends a few messages, one to Ira, telling him that things got bad, and they have returned to Ravenforge, and that they should make their way back as soon as possible. Dandelion says she will fly out to meet them the next day. Kal also sends a message to Zeerith, telling her that they made it out okay, and that Glasstaff is dead. She thanks Zeerith, and wishes her luck. She gets no reply, only a short cough, acknowledging that the message was received, but that she cannot talk. Shaken by the close call, they take cloud form and return to their home, to wind down, and go through the tomes and items they found in the tower. By taking out Glasstaff, they have hopefully disrupted the efforts of the drow to find whatever they were looking for.