The Ice is on Fire

The calm and scenic view I write this from is such a welcome change. Nestled in the wide valley created by the rising Crags to the North, the Surbrin Hills to the East, and the Starmetal Hills to the West, I can just make out where the edge of the Neverwinter Wood peeks through the two hills off north and west. We camped just a bit outside of Longsaddle and I am spending the remainder of my evening sipping on a lovely fall blackberry wine now that I have completed the engraving rituals.
 
Yes, I finally learned the secret of the runes. Blogothkus revealed to me their meaning and how to use them just before we went off to fight the dragon. Of course there was not time to actually implement that knowledge before the fight, as it requires some time to engrave the runes properly. I began with the Fire Rune, as it appeared to be the easier of the two to actually engrave. I decided to see if I could perform it on my eldritch blade. I was surprised as how easily the blade took the rune engraving, almost as though it drank in the etchings I was making with my tools. Once completed I invoked the rune and watched as the faint purple eldritch glow of the blade now interplayed with new fire red rune glowing near the hilt.
The Cloud Rune, being largely one of protection, I decided to engrave into my armor directly. To my surprise this work was far easier to do than the first. My tools’ movements were quick and precise, more akin to a true expert artisan’s than work I had done previously. Just inside my peripheral vision I could see a pulsing glow from the Fire Rune in my blade as I etched with the smith’s tools into my armor. How fascinating! Intrigued by this unexpected benefit of the Fire Rune, I pulled out my jeweler’s tools to see if the same thing would occur. Sure enough, my fingers deftly handled the intricate work with increased artistry as the Fire Rune lightly pulsed. Simply marvelous!
 
Well, I suppose I should backtrack some to explain how we ended up in a picturesque valley with enough peace and tranquility that I could be sipping on blackberry wine in the first place.
 
After defeating Rezmir and her minions, we made our way back to Blogothkus. We had to fight through more cultists, and even a few ogres who were either magically charmed by the cult, or who had foolishly believed they were better off with the cult than with the Giants.
 
Blogothkus was pleased with our progress, but cross that we had not yet killed the dragon. We took just enough time to take a quick meal in the giant guest room, which we had to provide for ourselves – it seems the giants’ hospitality had worn thin. I had just enough time during this meal to truly examine the powerful greatsword Rezmir had wielded. Once I had been holding it long enough and studied the runes on it sufficiently, I tried to bind to it. The sword began to speak to me telepathically, refusing to be bound in a Pact. Damn. Stupid sentient swords. Well, I still managed to learn its secrets, and access its magics, though clearly this blade and I will not get along well. I placed it in the scabbard on my back, and resummoned my pact blade. It was time. Time to face the dragon. And so we went: down, down, down we went into the belly of this floating castle. The dragon’s lair was larger than I expected, but fortunately the effects of the potion of growth I had consumed just before our battle with Rezmir had not yet worn off.
Nuri magically enhanced the speed and agility of Virgil and me, and I called forth the radiant shroud of spirits to empower my blade in preparation. Rhumor opened up with a smashing hit against the dragon. In response a freezing cold cloudy mist appeared where Virgil and I stood. Shocked at how quickly the dragon had reacted, I instinctively threw up my mirror images and backed up out of the frozen cloud.
From there the fight went about as we expected it to… with a few surprises. Not long after Virgil and I engaged the dragon it let loose its horrific breath of freezing cold wind and ice. Even protected as we were the attack was devastating. Then Conrad popped out from the tunnel and turned Virgil into a giant ape! Now we had two enormous sized fighters attacking this huge dragon! We pincered it, landing blow after blow. Rhumor continued to pepper it with arrows, and Nuri and Conrad supporting us from just outside of the great monster’s reach. As Virgil made the killing blow I watched the enormous white mass collapse to the icy floor.
 
The lair was filled with treasure, much of which was buried beneath a layer of ice, some even frozen into the walls. Conrad began the work of melting the ice, while Rhumor and Nuri and Virgil began sorting through and getting as much of the most valuable loot as they could into the packs and bags. I began beheading the beast – those horns, teeth, and scales could be very useful later. About that time the entire castle began to list…badly. Something was wrong, very, very wrong.
 
Running back up topside to figure out what was happening a sad story unfolded before us. This giant flying castle made of ice was on fire. Apparently the cult had sent reinforcements while we battled the dragon and had attacked Blogothkus and his men. It did not appear that any had survived. We thought to try and regain control of the castle, to prevent it from crashing, but not knowing where the control room was made that plan difficult. Searching for a beacon of magic that might be the control tower using a spell did not help – the entire castle was magical. Then I tried detecting the thoughts of the one who guided the castle – Blogothkus’ deceased wife. To my surprise it was Blogothkus spirit’s thoughts I found instead. His death must have forced her spirit from the castle, and the spirit of Blogothkus was furious – and was now actively directing the castle to crash itself. It was clear there would be no reasoning with the enraged spirit.
 
We ran to the wyvern stables and made our getaway using the last three remaining wyverns. We circled long enough to get our bearings, watch the castle crash into the Sword Mountains like some meteor falling from the sky, and made the decision that it would be best to return to Waterdeep. Our first stop to make camp on that journey would be just north of Longsaddle. From my time in Luskan I’d heard tale of the folk of Longsaddle, and it seemed a reasonably safe area to stop, and was within reach of the travel distance of our wyvern mounts. Wyvern mounts. What a splendid thing. We shall have to better learn how to care for and control these beasts. They make a truly great way to travel that is both fun and efficient. Perhaps Conrad can give us all pointers and instruction. If nothing else we have a few days of traveling with them to get to know them better, and for them to get to know us better.
 
And so, here I sit, just north of Longsaddle, admiring the picturesque views, sipping this lovely wine, recounting the events of the past day and contemplating all of the ways I might use this new boon to my craftsmanship. Periodically I would look over at the mighty sentient greatsword, which I had handed over to Virgil, and lament that the sentient blade could never be mine. Then I would recall the shop in Waterdeep that I had left a substantial amount of gold with to hold a mighty weapon in reserve for me should they acquire one. With any luck, they will have found something suitable… and with a little more luck it will not be outside of my financial means.
 
I also must now ponder the fact that while the master of Skyreach was, in fact, a Cloud Giant, and was able to help me understand how the runes work… this was not the castle from which the runes came. Blogothkus knew not exactly where the castle would be, but said it was rumored to have crashed into the Sword Mountains-this aligns with the little lore than the wizard Isaac Burrows in Baldur’s Gate had shared. The masters of that castle were the Kurrus-tay family, who were evidently both powerful and wealthy. I believe it might be worth trying to find the castle. The how of that of course… that is another matter. The fact that I discovered broken pieces of their castle in the catacombs under Luskan could mean any number of things. Perhaps it was attacked, and these pieces fell to the ground far from where the castle crashed. Or, perhaps someone discovered it already and carried these pieces off. Perhaps a survivor of the castle took them before the castle fell, and somehow they made their way to Luskan…. I wonder if that ridiculously fragile and fancy telescope in Naertyr would be able to locate the Kurrus-tay castle? That might be worth making a return trip for. I am sure Nuri would be thrilled to see her lizardfolk friends again and it may aid us in more precisely locating Virgil’s lost friend if it can also peer into other realms. With my newly enhanced skill with tools I would likely have a much better chance of using the thing successfully.