Chapter 17: Dead and Deceased
General Summary
Date: 25th to 28th of Kythorn, 1491 DR
The Good Fellas spent three days of downtime in the town of
Triboar, resting and recuperating from the events of Mines of Madness. During this time Bene and Ranvas had managed to revert the curse effects they got from a trip within the mines but had suffered some unwanted side-effects. Nomime became the victim of poisoning and kidnapping, but managed to escape and made a deal with the Black Network in order to locate her father. Virion spent his time gathering tea, stocking up t-shirts and making a friend from the
The Emerald Enclave.
When the heroes finally reconvened there was still some tasks left to be done. Bene and Ranvas wanted to visit Gwaeron's Rest, since they needed some troll blood to battle the side-effects. They hired a local ranger to act as a guide and ventured forth into the sacred forest, with Nomime and Virion accompanying them. They had a chance meeting with a strange dwarf "
Nut" who had lost his brother and was looking for him in the woods. With his aid, the hunt for troll blood was successful, however, the heroes quickly found themselves in danger.
The guide had disappeared during the fight with the troll and Virion told the party he had encountered an invisible monster during his tea-gathering hours. The hunters became the hunted. The forest grew darker and strange events started happening to the adventurers. They were attacked by an invisible monster that snatched Nomime, dragging her through the air. The heroes put up a fight and eventually the creature backed off. The woods had turned into a maze of darkness and even with the survival skills of Ranvas, the hope to find Triboar started to diminish.
By chance or by fate, the Good Fellas had a chance meeting with a woodland spirit, taking the form of an unicorn. It beckoned the heroes to follow it, leading them in front of the monster's lair. Inside they found the captured victims of this monster, but before having the chance to leave the nightmarish creature had wandered back into its lair and thus began the battle against the
Oni of Gwaeron's Rest. The encounter proved deadlier than expected, as the Oni had an ability to turn invisible but after the gruesome battle the Good Fellas were victorious in the end. During this conflict however, Bene Lugosi had lost his life.
Arriving back in the break of day, the heroes had no means of saving Bene's life in Triboar. They decided to talk to the Lord Protector, finish off their tasks within the town and head to Yartar to look for a priest to resurrect their friend.
The Good Fellas met the Lord Protector Darathra Shendrel, informing her of the giant attack in Phandalin and the quest from Sister Garaele. She revealed herself to be a member of
The Harpers and was worried as to why the giants had traveled this far south without her getting a warning from the organization. She asked the party to visit
Everlund to find out answers to these questions and the party agreed. After this Maescia informed the Good Fellas that she got a whiff of something more important and had to leave. She would reconvene with the party eventually.
Nomime had one final task to complete before gaining the information about her father. Thus the party slept through the day and as the sun had set on the peaceful town of Triboar, the three woke up and ventured to the Frost-Touched Frog. They found it to be an abandoned tavern with no signs of anyone living there for years. Nomime suspected the creature might only talk to her alone so she beckoned the others to wait for her outside. Her suspicions were proven correct as a specter of a young woman appeared before her. Nomime needed to find out where the secret entrance to the Lord Protector's Tower was and the ghost was told to be one of the few who knew that pathway.
The ghost wouldn't part with this information without a cost however. Wronged by a lover, she wanted Nomime to act her revenge. Sudden revelations came before the heroes as they pieced out the stories and figured out that the Oni they killed had shapeshifted into the ghost's lover and lured her inside the woods, killing her inside its lair. The negotiations however proved to be unsuccessful and so the three eventually decided to go to sleep to clear their heads.
Come morning the adventurers decided to tackle the situation with a different tactic. As Ranvas retrieved his potions made from the troll blood and Virion met with Zindra, who gave him her elven cloak, Nomime had asked the Lord Protector for her aid. She quickly confirmed her suspicion of the Zhentarim in Triboar, and offered to help Nomime. The heroes were also tasked with dealing with the ghost, in which Darathra offered the aid of her militia.
They confronted the lover of the ghost who happened to still reside in the town. Virion managed to persuade Tosker Wainwright in helping them and the Good Fellas escorted the man to the Frost-Touched Frog. During this time they learned of Tosker's side of the love story and as the ghost appeared, the heroes had managed to right the wrongs and reunite the two childhood lovers once more. Tosker wasn't sure how to repay them, but gave information about Weevil as well as a wagon for free for the adventurers. Nomime also learned of the secret entrance from the ghost, that was located in Ransor's Open Road. With this, she managed to learn of the Castle in the Clouds, which was seen in the Iceshield Lands of the Dessarin Hills.
Buying horses and promising to deliver goods to Noanar's Hold on behalf of the Lion's Share, the Good Fellas began their adventure east, towards the city of
Yartar. After two days of mundane travel they arrived to the splendid city of commerce, filled with red-shingled houses and marble structures.
Daratha had suggested the heroes to visit the Happy Hall of Fortuitous Happenstance, the temple of Tymora that sponsored many bands of adventurers. Thus they climbed the sloped hill to the marvelous marble temple and bought the services to resurrect Bene. To cut the cost, the heroes offered to do a favor for the high priestess.
The heroes gathered around Bene's body in the candle-lit room as one of the clerics of Tymora began the resurrection ritual. During the last seconds of the ritual, the diamond cracked, sizzling black smoke around the room. The cleric gasped in pain and informed that something was wrong. The candles were quickly extinguished and the room was casted into a pitch-black void.
Rewards Granted
- Gentle Repose - spell scroll from the Lord Protector
- 4 red gemstones (300gp each)
- Insignia of Triboar (50pp)
- Wagon from Wainwright's Wagon
- Cloak of Elvenkind (Zindra Winterbow's)
Missions/Quests Completed
- Ghost of Frost-Touched Frog
- Initiation of the Family (Nomime)
Character(s) interacted with
