Session 138: Inys Lloeren

General Summary

14th Sydenstar 836PD   After breakfast and a final debrief in Whitestone, Arthur uses Barty’s calculations and the plant specimen from the Cobalt Reserve to teleport the Unbroken successfully to the floating island of Inys Lloeren.   Before they can take in the majestic views of the sky high leylines, a deep order of “Halt!” thunders across from the isle’s cavernous entrance. A heavily wounded Storm Giant steadies itself as it prepares to hurl a spear of lightning towards the party. Zeni is quick to call on her own lightning to demonstrate her kinship and that the Unbroken come in peace.   The sight of another Stormborn stays the Giant’s hand. Through their innate prophetic abilities, they can tell Zeni and the Unbroken are telling the truth when they explain their mission to conduct a ritual at Tolmon’s Shrine. Thrasturn introduces himself as one of the last surviving Guardians of Inys Lloeren, the others died defending the isle when several planar rifts along the leyline opened, releasing demons and other corruptions onto the floating rock.   Thrasturn warns there are still remnants of the incursions within the isle’s caverns, they are too weak to stop them but he looks to Zeni as a fellow Stormborn to defend this rock. The party travel down the tunnels of the island, they soon find 5 gangly fish headed corrupted fey creatures, Haleshi, performing a ritual around a small pool of water, the Everspring, the magical source of this island’s power. The ritual magic starting to slowly foul the crystal-clear water.   Raphael is quick off the mark to hex the nearest Haleshi to him. Orlando forms a pincer shooting at the Haleshi at the other end of the ritual semicircle. Arthur magically encases the central Haelshi concentrating on the ritual in a Momentary Stasis.   Zeni cautiously hangs back behind Arthur and tries to hurl a Fire Bolt at one of the Haleshi, but they form a watery shield from the pool to block it. Simeon summons the protective radiance of his Spirit Guardians, illuminating the cavern and burning two of the Haleshi.   The Haleshi nearby Simeon reach out with their spindly hands to stupefy him with their touch, but the Cleric resists the psychic sting of their skin. Likewise, two of the Haleshi flank Raphael and attempt to incapacitate him, but Frostweaver’s Heart of Ice allows him to resist as well. However, Arthur and Orlando do not fare as well, and they are both psychically frozen in stupor by the remaining Haleshi, which continue to slash into their still bodies with their claws.   Simeon invokes duplicity to confuse the Haleshi and give them the run around as he continually swaps out with his duplicates to avoid the corrupted fey’s touch. He eventually manoeuvres himself into the centre of the Everspring, covering all the Haleshi in the burning radiance of his guardian spirits. One of the badly burned Haleshi, is given peace from this plane and mortal life as Simeon hastens its demise with a ringing to Toll the Dead.   The incapacitated Arthur internally realises the physical pains of the frontline far outweigh his ego’s pains of being called a cowardly chronomancer at the back. Sadly, that spot had been reserved by Zeni at this moment.   Fortunately, the wise Wizard had planned for any attempts of foolhardiness as with one of the final slashes of the Haleshi bringing him close to unconsciousness, his Contingency activates releasing a preplanned Cure Wounds. The healing breaks him out of the psychic stupor, giving him time to retort with his own painful touch as he Shocking Grasps the Haleshi attacking him, allowing him to tactically retreat.   Raphael continues to engage with his hexed Haleshi, slicing him with Frostweaver before then felling his marked fish foe with the freezing burst from the cold runes of his armour. Another Haleshi is just ready to reach for Raph with their stupefying touch, but Simeon utters a burning Word of Radiance that renders them into a crisp that falls by Raph’s feet.   The central Haleshi breaks out of Arthur’s momentary stasis, and evokes a Storm Sphere that surrounds the Unbroken with whirling air that buffets them, and it arcs a lightning bolt straight at Simeon. But the tricksy Cleric swaps to his final duplicate to avoid the bolt.   Orlando finally regains his senses and breaks out of the repeated stupefying touches of the Haleshi next to him. He repays the debt very much in kind as he shoots off the Haleshi’s green spindly hands, before executing it with an easy shot.   The final Haleshi attempts to retreat but ends with its back against the cavern wall, Simeon breaks its concentration on the Storm Sphere with his deathly tolls. Zeni having been tagged into the wizarding frontline, embraces her right of the Stormborn and charges up to the final Haleshi and fries to death with the Shocking Grasp of her lightning hands.   As the smoke and smell of cooked Haleshi clear through the cavern, the weary frontliners try to stop themselves from fully collapsing. With all bar Zeni brought to their physical limits, the comparatively mildly strained Simeon looks upon his injured flock and remarks, “I have a plan!”.   An exhausted Orlando retorts, “I don’t care”.