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Previously: Chapter 94: The Blade
Rescue
As Udall answers, Kal wants him to gather all the drow prisoners they wish to leave with in one place. The party looks around at each other as nothing happens. Worried, they continue to ascend the levitating rock, as Kal and Relic both feel the new abilities of the bonded Shards power them up. Penny and Thistlethorn both sense a pang of jealousy that they haven’t acquired any shards themselves, wondering where the other shards might be, specifically the Shard of the Observant and Deceiver.
As the rock reaches the surface, they are for a second scared that they’re going to get crushed, but the Old Stone levitates once more, letting them out. When they exit, they notice that the room looks more disheveled, with several large rocks having fallen out of the walls, hitting the Old Stone and the ground, seemingly reminiscent of an earthquake. Luckily, there is nobody here to witness them ascend, so they step off. As they do, Thistlethorn feels the presence of the young girl in the wayfinder abandons her, leaving behind a small imprint of gratitude. She hears the sound of crystal breaking, and sees that the soul stone is shattered, the wayfinders purpose fulfilled.
Relic recasts telepathic bond, while Kal casts tongues on herself, letting her understand what is being said. As they ascend the pathway and open the doors to the temple, they find it empty and abandoned, with several chairs and benches fallen over, and a few chandeliers in the ceiling shattered. The wooden statue of Vuthul seems to be intact however. Nervous, they leave the temple, finding the streets filled with people, all walking towards the square with the prisoners in cages. The party decides to follow, seeing a drider standing at the edge of the balcony of the castle above, ready to address the crowd.
When the party makes their way to the square, pushing past other drow citizens, they notice that the guards are placing firewood and oil beneath each cage. The three remaining prisoners are being brought down the path from the castle to the square. The guards place them near the center of the square, as drow citizens surround them, waiting to see what is happening. Suddenly, Nezznar’s voice is booming across the city, enhanced by magic.
Friends. Subjects. Slaves.
The time is nearly upon us. Our father has whispered to me in the dark, and I have listened. The enemy moves against us, trembling in fear as they scramble to halt what is inevitable. But they are too late. My sister begins the final ritual even now, and when it is complete, we shall rise. And they shall fall.
The Eternal Night draws near. No more shall we cower beneath the weight of the sun, shackled to the caves like vermin. No more shall we be hunted and driven to the edges of existence while the gods of the surface mock us from their thrones of light. The sky will break, and the darkness will take its rightful place above all. Every city, every kingdom, every coward who once stood against us will kneel in shadow—or perish beneath it.
But shadows cannot tolerate weakness. There are those among us who would betray their own blood, whispering to our enemies, plotting against their kin. I see them now, groveling in chains, hoping that their pitiful lives will be spared. But mercy is a lie of the weak. Let this be a lesson to any who still doubt, any who still hesitate to accept the will of our father.
Watch closely, my children. Watch and learn what fate awaits those who defy the coming night.
Nezznar gestures for the guards to begin the executions, with three inquisitors stepping out from the crowd, walking towards the three drows prisoners, while torchbearers get closer to the cages. Relic immediately casts an arcane gate, making a portal from where they stand to the prisoners.
The drow guards who are holding them down for the inquisitors look at Kal who steps through, looking like a drow, “what are you doing?!” She ignores him, telling the prisoners to come with them if they want to live, with each prisoner giving a nod. Relic and Thistlethorn step through as well, followed by Penny holding the Hearthstone and some diamond dust. Relic holds up the symbol of Lolth for the prisoners in the cages to see, before Kal uses word of recall to bring them back to the shrine of Udall in Ravenforge. Penny sees them all disappear with a bolt of lightning, shooting upwards.
Penny, left behind, holds up the hearthstone, telling the prisoners in elvish to follow her, reciting the words that Thistlethorn taught her phonetically, as she activates it by shattering it, bypassing the one minute casting time, at the cost of breaking the stone. She sees the prisoners turn to smoke, as they are drawn towards her, before she too is thrown into disarray as she teleports them away.
Split
Kal, Relic, Thistlethorn and the three drow prisoners emerge in the night at the shrine of Udall in the Knot park. The prisoners look around, confused, and then see the night sky above them, revealing to them where they are. Relic asks if they speak elven, which they do, so they turn to that so that everyone can understand each other. The group removes the shackles the drow have been wearing, and begins to explain what is happening to them.
Meanwhile, Penny feels that there is a mishap, causing her to be flung wildly away from her planned destination, which she realizes when she lands on a sandy beach, on what presumably is an island. There is nothing but sea around her, and she sees suddenly that the ocean is moving sideways like a river. When she looks out towards the horizon, she sees the island is next to a massive whirlpool, presumably the Eternal Maelstrom, a 200 mile wide whirlpool near the equator of Iozaria. Around her, Zeerith and the other drows are coming to, stretching after being released from their cages.
While the others are working on the shackles of the drow prisoners, Relic feels The Arachnostaff begins to molt, growing slightly, shedding its skin. It’s finally exalted fully, and now fully bonded to Relic. Kal suggests that the liberated drow be brought with them back to their home, and suggests tying their hands just for appearances sake. The drow reluctantly agrees, letting Kal tie them up. Then suddenly, Penny speaks to them through the telepathic bond, telling them that she is in a very far away place, and at the same time drops the seeming spell, so the drow can see who they really are. Thistlethorn asks if there are any trees nearby, so Penny, Zeerith and the other drows head into the jungle to find a sufficiently large enough tree to let her bring them back home.
The trio in Ravenforge march through the city streets towards the nest, but are quickly cornered by a group of guards carrying crossbows, aiming at the drow. They demand to know what is happening, but the trio convinces the guards that they are under their protection, and they are taking them to a safe place. The guards offer to give them an escort, so that it appears to be official, which the party is happily obliged to.
Penny looks around for a large enough tree, saying she will have to go further into the jungle, and during the night, the predators are roaming. She spots a displacer beast which observes them hungrily, but Relic tells Penny that the Arachnostaff has the ability to teleport them, so he will come retrieve them when they get the others back to the Nest. Penny and the drow retreat back to the beach to wait.
Back home, Relic sends the guards back, but asks that they send word for Captain Darius Hargrove, as they wish to speak with him about the situation. The guards leaves them to do so, so Relic leads everyone inside, while he himself steps outside to pick up a doom bloom to scy on Penny. Sadly, she manages to resist, causing Relic to suddenly get many flashing images of his possible deaths, but luckily it leaves no permanent damage. He decides to use his own spells instead, finding Penny, and then teleports to her.
As Relic suddenly appears, holding the new and improved Arachnostaff, is momentarily transfixed by the view of the maelstrom. He has heard of it, but never seen its beauty up close. Coming out of it, he greets the drow, saying, in elvish, that he is here to bring them to safety, with Zeerith making sure to reassure them that he can be trusted. Penny and Relic both pick up a pretty rock for Thistlethorn, before teleporting back home, away from the island.
While Relic has been retrieving their liberated drow, Kal has begun cooking up a meal, while Thistlethorn goes out to speak to Oakenward. He tells her that he is quite lonely with Arin, Rod and the horses gone, hoping that Thistlethorn is coming home. She tells him that there are still some things to do first, but hopes that they are nearly done. She asks if there have been anyone snooping around, to which he replies that he saw two hooded figures skulking around, a man and a woman, looking into their windows. He couldn’t understand what they were saying, but when Thistlethorn tries to imitate undercommon he says it sounded something like that. Thistlethorn shudders, hoping that it wasn’t the death knights, but cannot be sure. When Relic and Penny return with the rest of the drow, Kal calls everyone in to eat.
Everyone gathers around the kitchen table, where Kal has prepared a feast. The drow thankfully digs in, wary of being poisoned, but Zeerith assures them yet again that they are safe. Relic and Penny both give Thistlethorn her rocks, Relic keeping one for himself in case he wants to go back, as an associated object. After a good while, where everyone has been allowed to feast, there is a knock on the door, as Captain Darius is here.
Relic lets him inside, and he is a bit taken aback at the sight of eight drows sitting around the kitchen table. He sits down to join them, starting by thanking the party for helping his friend retrieve their daughter. His involvement with the coverup caused him to get a demotion, but Gavriel managed to reverse it, considering the circumstances. He asks the party what is going on with the drow, gesturing towards them, with the party explaining that for lack of better terms, they’re refugees, and they hope that he can make some accommodations for them, if he could speak to Bertram Honeypot. Darius agrees to do so, with Zeerith promising to tell them what she knows in return.
As Darius leaves, the sun is about to rise, so the drow go outside to witness it, having never seen it before, but they soon retreat when the light becomes unbearable. While they are standing outside, Penny wonders if maybe the book Malice was seen carrying in the murals might reveal the name of Vuthul, with Relic agreeing, as long as it is the Liber Obscurum, one of the artifacts associated with Vuthul. He tells the others that the Liber Obscurum, also known as the Book of Vile Darkness, is a dreadful tome, holding many secrets, and is quite dangerous to even open for the uninitiated, but it might be a good place to start.
Penny casts a sending to Thervan, asking him to come by the house, which he agrees to do, arriving by horseback half an hour later. The drow retreats to the cellar to rest, after the party has given them new clothes from their own closets, which is greatly appreciated by the drow. After they have gone to sleep, Thervan casts telepathic bond at the party, allowing them to speak in private. He is updated on the situation, and they tell him the blade will be able to kill Vuthul, once they learn their name. Thervan is worried about Relic’s arm, but he assures him that it is merely cosmetic, and that he is considering having it fixed at a blacksmith. The blade can kill anybody permanently, but Vuthul will know their location if they do so, so they have to be smart about it.
Kal decides to ask for guidance from the gods, so she sits down to learn more about their quarry. She first learns that the Liber Obscurum is in the possession of Malice, but it is not in the underdark. She also asks about the ritual Malice has begun, asking if it is under an open sky, which it is, but it is not within Rexendell, but south of it, closer to them than to Morrowhall, Relic’s home. This means its in the northern part of Krawdoth, narrowing it down, but they will have to learn more later, as Kal lost her connection to Udall.
Penny asks if she shall send another sending to Nezznar, which prompts everyone in the room to glare at her, asking what she means with “another one”. Penny explains that she wanted to be kind, offering her condolences for his daughter. The party wonders if that was a smart decision, but agrees that it probably led to no harm. In fact, it might soften him up to the party, maybe causing him to have a moment of weakness.
Thistlethorn relays that Oakenward saw some shady people lurking around, and based on the description, Thervan theorizes that it might have been the Dread Enclave, checking to see if the party was still around. Luckily they missed them, but the party really wants to take them out, as it’s become personal after the Battle of Centahelm. But before they can do anything, Thervan declares that they need to rest, so he has petitioned the queen to have her personal bodyguards, Alaric Blackthorn and Lyria Moonshadow, to watch over them for the day while the party rests. The party protests, saying the queen is more important, but Thervan says that it is already decided.
After a while, the knights arrive, and Thervan takes his leave. Kal decides to chide the pair for “abandoning” their queen, but Lyria replies “you really think we’re on guard 24/7?” Kal eventually backs down, with Lyria and Alaric taking shifts watching the inside and outside of the house, while the party takes the day to relax, sleep, and try to turn the day back on the correct cycle. They have various dreams of their past, present and potential futures, having grown stronger by the experiences of late.
In the late afternoon, Thervan returns with a carriage, saying that he has procured a safehouse for the drow, subtle and out of the way, so that they can rest in safety. He assures them that he has people watching over it, and the party seems confident that this is Thervan and not a ruse, so they let the drow into the shaded carriages, off to safety. Soreni and Phyrrae are already waiting there, and Thervan hopes that they can find solace in each other's company until everything is resolved.
In the evening, Penny and Thistlethorn both think they should seek out the last remaining shards if it can help them in the coming conflict, so Kal decides to divine their location. There is interference on the location of the Shard of the Observer, but when she tries to focus on the Shard of the Deceiver, she gets a vision of a small goblin man wearing oversized furs and armor. A very familiar face indeed, it is the drow they encountered that was the leader of the tribe holding the flail snails near the Twilight Peaks. Kal, annoyed, remembers that they have been told that the goblin stronghold of Honk has been plaguing travelers on the nearby roads. The party never thought they were a big enough danger for it to warrant their attention, but now they have to decide if they want to go for that first.
They theorize that Malice might be in possession of the Shard of the Observer, considering they know she has been searching for them, and the fact that they are having a hard time discovering its location. Penny asks Kal to do a commune again, to see if going for the Shard of the Deceiver is worth it, and is surprised to find that no, the deceiver shard will not bring Penny much use at this stage. They decide to go to Thervan to ask for the Shard of the Thief instead, letting Penny bond with that, when they wake up in the morning.
The Final Step
During the night, Relic unlocks another memory of his past life, continuing with the story of his escape from the drow wizard. As he sits around the campfire, they are attacked once more, and are nearly overrun before reinforcements arrives, driving the drow back. The wizard curses Relic, vowing that this isn’t over, and that he will get him some day. As Relic awakens, he realizes that he recognizes the drow. It was the same one that was laying on the slab with Soulkiller piercing his chest. Relic has fought the drow that became Vuthul before.
The party leaves the Nest, heading up to the castle to speak to Thervan. When they enter his office, Chester is sitting there, helping Thervan with ancient history, before turning to the party, greeting them fondly, having massively improved his speech into a more modern dialect. The party is happy to see him, and decides to relay that they might have found a descendant of his, who they met by pure chance in Smoulderharbor. They tell him about Eddie, the pickpocket sailor, who sails on the ship called “The Mermaid’s Ass”. Chester is taken aback, cursing to himself that he should have used protection, but thanks the party for the information. Thervan suggests he go “bother” Bertram instead, as he and the party has some important business to deal with.
When Chester leaves, the party tells Thervan that they are going for the key, and think that Penny should take the Shard of the Thief, to make her more powerful in combat. Thervan again says that the Shards are more protected in their care, and goes to his vault to get it. He returns shortly after carrying two items, the Shard, which Penny immediately bonds, and the two parts of the Key, encased in a glass container, in case they need it, and in case something happens to him. The party thanks him, and is offered to use his sanctum as a place to teleport.
When they stand there, gathered around Relic, Thervan goes to each member of the party, shaking their hand, or giving them a hug, wishing them good luck, hoping that he will see them soon. Relic holds out his Arachnostaff, striking it at the ground, as the party teleports away from Thervan’s sanctum.
The Island
The party left Thervan’s office at noon, and then found themselves on a distant tropical island at sunset, indicating that they have moved across almost half the ocean. They smell the distinct smell of the ocean, and hear the distant noises of seagulls. Around them, the jungle is buzzing with wildlife, and the teleportation circle is nearly overgrown, but curiously, the circle itself is completely clear of vines and leaves. A stone path leads onwards into the jungle, with two large golems resting in the treeline that Thistlethorn spots.
She uses her staff to cast Pass without Trace, while Relic uses a ritual to cast telepathic bond, allowing them to talk in their heads again. They stealthily move up, managing to sneak past the golems without waking them. They follow the path onwards, ending up at a large temple, surrounded by water, and a single stone walkway on top of the water. The place looks abandoned and overgrown, with two statues of Adea and Azuna on each side of the entrance, across the water.
The party starts walking across, looking around at any dangers lurking, until they come across a missing piece in the stone walkway. Relic really wants to repair it, but before he gets a chance, Thistlethorn and Kal both notice movement in the water, as large kraken tentacles emerge, preparing to attack the intruders.