Session 21

A Chance Encounter

Securing the Safety of the Children

The group starts to look for ways in which they can get the children all to Lostgrounds, a sacred desert oasis where violence has been explicitly banned by the gods.

After speaking with several Druids and after using Ajax's connections to the Merchant Guild, the group works out a way for the Druid guilds to bring the children to Lostgrounds by way of numerous tree portals.

Upon arriving in Lostgrounds, Eressil immediately ran off in search of the random animal noises she was hearing in the distance. The King offered his crown and thanked them for ensuring their safety.

Heavy Lies the Crown

Upon putting on the crown, it starts to speak to the wearer, and eventually telepathically to those around it. It shows them a vision of the Children of Verdale. A vision of them coming to a realization that there are many dangers in the world, especially for those who are not strong enough to defend themselves. In this vision, they try to rescue a young boy from a strange bird-like monster. This is the first time, they see Ryje and the Dark Flames that arise from the depths of his anger.

During the conversation with the crown, they learn a few important things

• The Dragon Lord was affected by some incredible magic aura, that would have essentially destroyed him. His soul was split across multiple items to give him time to recover, and these items were handed out to his trusted commanders for safe guarding.

• There are 9 Artifacts:

  • the lord's fate (dice) - originally held by Pornquall

  • the lord's vision (blood red crystal orb) - left in the Dragon Lord's Castle

  • the lord's spirit (amulet) - originally held by Borgen

  • the lord's soul (ring) - originally held by Borgen

  • the lord's creed (crown) - originally held by Rubilla

  • the lord's arm (staff) - originally held by ????

  • the lord's burden (breastplate) - originally held by Lydia

  • the lord's strength (sword) - originally held by ????

  • the lord's dream (music box) - has been buried with the lord since his death

• The Lord's Fate and the Lord's Creed do not really get along. Creed finds fate to be fickle and unreliable.

• Creed completely supports the Dragon Lord.

• Can't tell the location of the Dragon Lord's Castle, until he sees the stars.

• There are 6 Bases of Operation

  • Base Loekii (location Unknown)

  • Base Sumu (Maora Hegnur Swamp) - contains one or more Artifacts

  • Base Jay'el (located at the 1st Starfall) - contains one or more Artifacts

  • Base ek'Af-daeh (location Unknown)

  • Base Dane (location Unknown)

  • Base Selkhet (location Unknown)

• Erwin's Flute is not in Crystalvayne, though Eressil should be looking for it.

Nothing like a Good Drink

The group finally gets a moment of rest and relaxation, later that evening at one of the many Taverns of Crystalvayne. They discuss what to do next and where they will go from here. On the way to his room, to retired for the night, Rhone prays to Dova for Divine Intervention, looking for help in his great time of need. He is hoping for anything that can help him find the rest of these artifacts. The next thing that the group knows, they are teleported the the entrance of a throne-like room.

A Chance Encounter

Upon the throne sits Pornquall with 3 Hellcats of different colors. The first one is wreathed in black and red flames, the second is wreathed in orange and red flames, and the third is wreathed in white and red flames.

In front of Pornquall stands an Elven woman with blonde hair, wearing leather armor, with a metal breastplate and bracers. She wields a shield in one hand and nothing in the other. Beside her stands a Winter Wolf. They hear the following piece of conversation before anyone realizes what happened.

Behind Pornquall, a series a large stained glass scenes. Only 3 of the Stained glass scenes were able to be made in such a short time span. The 2nd stained glass scene depicts a woman with red hair wearing a metal breastplate, bracers, and greaves. A red skirt comes out from under the breastplate. She stands against a dark backdrop. The second scene shows the same woman running forward with arms raised. A Green Sword in one hand, and a Red Sword in the other. The 5th scene shows the woman standing tall amongst a mountain of dead bodies, that look charred and stone-like.

A fight breaks out almost immediately. Ajax goes turns himself and Ilea invisible, while Rhone shoots at Pornquall with his Guiding Bolt. Ilea ran up to attack Pornquall directly trying to take advantage of her newly granted invisibility. Ashe starts to attack the Elf who managed to jump onto the Winter Wolf's back. Eressil casts Moonbeam in the area that Pornquall is standing and starts the change into her bear form, as she notices that Pornquall is turning into a giant Black Dragon, due to the effects of her Moonbeam spell.

As Pornquall changes form, Ilea is knocked back and falls to the floor. At this moment, Pornquall exhales a stream of acid, hitting Ilea and Rhone. The elf and her Winter Wolf companion focus their attacks on Ashe, hitting only once, while nearly every other attack missed the deft former gladiator. The hell beasts run up towards those visible and take a few swipes at them, letting out an ear piercing screech at the same time.

Ajax ends up putting up a wall of fire, hoping to minimize the visibility of the elf and Pornquall. Rhone, shoots at Pornquall again focusing his attacks on the giant dragon. Ilea gets up and attacks Pornquall with her Glaive, while Ajax focuses on dealing damage with his spells. Zen attacks Pornquall and then runs to Rhone in order to heal him. Meanwhile, Eressil makes her way towards two of the Hell casts and starts to attack them. She summons forth her Tubata's Nest focusing on the two Hellcats near her. Ashe continues her assault on the Elf-Wolf team.

Lydia screams to Pornquall, "We need to get out of here now..." and summons a massive Tree with a portal embedded within its trunk. Her and the Winter Wolf, run through the portal, escaping Ashe's grasp. Pornquall breath's out another stream of Acid, this time, hitting Ilea, Zen, and Rhone. Thus killing Rhone, before Zen can heal him, and knocking Ilea unconscious. The Hellcats start to screech louder as a noticeable pulse travels throughout their flame-like bodies.

Another round of attacks go by, as Pornquall takes to the air, and starts to Fly around the room, allowing his Wings to smash into the pillars supporting the roof. At this realization, Ashe invokes the power of her Tubata's Fury, hitting Pornquall, and knocking him out of the air. With his forward momentum, he comes crashing to the ground, still able to smash through several more pillars.

Finally, he makes his way through to the tree portal and escapes. Zen heals Ilea, allowing her to regain consciousness. Then the ceiling starts to come crashing down. Everyone starts running, trying to make their way to the door way on the far wall. Zen lifts Rhone and rushes forward, Eressil makes her way through the door first. Ashe and Ilea run forward, Ashe grabbing Ajax and throwing him forward. This allows Ajax to grab Zen and Rhone, and Dimension Door them through the doorway, Finally Misty-Stepping back, to grab Ilea and throw her forward. Ashe runs forward, grabbing Ajax and throwing him forward, where he stands in the doorway. Ilea runs forward grabbing Ashe carrying her, and slams into Ajax pushing all 3 of them through the doorway, just as the last bits of the ceiling come crashing down, closing off the room.

Finding Aid

The group is finally able to take a moment to catch their breath, only a short moment, as any guards on the premises would have heard and felt the destruction of the throne room. Ilea and Ajax send their familiars to scout, as Zen casts Revivify on Rhone, which seems to have brought his body back to life, but he has not awakened and appears to be in a comatose state.

As they explore the rooms down the corridor, they see a series of windows on the left hand side that overlook a vast desert, and notice that they are within a series of rooms in a cliffside. The first room on the right hand side, contains a series of cages. Within one of them, was an unconscious goblinoid creature. Upon investigating, they find it to be Goblin Gobi. She was captured by Pornquall and his lieutenants. She is unsure how many other members of the Burdened they capture.

As they look for a way out, they believe they can fly to the top of the cliffside to escape. Meanwhile Starfox and ZeeZee, continue exploring, one finding a barracks room that appears to have a Silence Bubble around it, to allow the guards to sleep without issue, while the other seems to be an exquisite bedroom containing giant double doors. Starfox flies through the doorto see a giant solid wall blocking his path, and conveys a sense of danger and fear. After leaving Starfox's sense for a moment, Starfox travels under the wall to see what is on the other side, and sees a vast treasure room, and conveys a sense of happiness and excitement back to Ilea. Realizing the guards are asleep, and having noticed the commotion from the throne room, Eressil, Zen, Ashe, and Goblin Gobi make their out of the windows with Rhone's body, flying to the top of the cliff as a means of hiding themselves.

Eressil flies back down to get Ilea and Ajax, to find them staring at a Prismatic wall blocking the doorway. Eressil successfully dispels the wall. What they see is unlike anything they have ever seen before. They start to loot as much of the gold, gems, and magic items as they can find. When Ilea grabs the large hide breastplate she sees, an alarm spell is sounded within the guard room. Zee Zee informs Ajax and they make their way out. Notable items found include: Armor of the Tarrasque and an artifact of Vesin Thalar, the Book of Form and Function.

After making their escape out the window, Eressil flying in Giant Eagle form, with Ajax in her Claws and Ilea on her back, they make their way to the top of the cliff to meet the others. They are able to rest upon the top without issue, and finally Goblin Gobi creates a portal for them to Dorwood.