Castle in the Sky, I Can Fly Twice as High

Skyreach Castle. We made it. I still can’t really believe I am here. The one place I most wanted to go to, and my journey in tracking down the Cult of the Dragon has led me to that very place. Perhaps the gods do take an interest in mortal affairs after all.
 
Thus far things have gone better than I could have hoped. We met with the master of the castle, the Cloud Giant Blogothkus, who was indeed unhappy with the tenuous alliance he’d formed with the Cult. Blogothkus agreed to order his ogres and giant-kin to refrain from attacking us, but made it clear it would be up to us to clear the castle of the Cult’s presence – at least the leadership, and of course the dragon.
 
He also agreed to provide a place for us to rest safely, which was desperately needed, and provided information about the whereabouts of the various Cult leaders and allies.
 
We took on the vampire Morgia first, before even heading to our room for sleep. One of the biggest problems in fighting the vampire revolved around its bizarre location at the top of a tower that was in such sorry state as to make it quite difficult to even get to the vampire’s lair. The other difficulty of course lay in defeating the vampire in such a way that it did not die and would answer Virgil’s questions about his missing friend. We did manage it, but it was a difficult battle. Rhumor took a fall from the tower balcony that I was certain would kill him, I cannot imagine how he survived, but he did. Conrad darted all over the place trying to avoid getting slashed to pieces by the vampire’s thralls. Nuri ended up being charmed by the vampire. Virgil and I just kept hitting things until they either died or acquiesced. The key to getting a vampire to talk is apparently to hold it in the sunlight until its skin nearly melts off completely. A rather grotesque but effective strategy.
 
After our successful vampire vanquishing mission we made our way to the room Blagothkus had promised us, which we were told we could not leave until they came to get us. This gave me some much needed extra time to brew a potion of growth, which came in most handy later on.
 
After the giants fed us some breakfast we headed out to find the Red Wizards, in the hopes we could convince them to abandon their allegiances to the cult. When we found them it turned out to be none other than the Rath Modar we had heard about, and Azbara Jos, whom we had traveled with in the caravan. Unsurprisingly they refused this line of thinking, confident in the Cult’s ultimate victory. Once the fight began Rath was quick to flee, which was, at once, both relieving and frustrating. The coward did not even try to save his associate. Azbara put up a good effort, even managing to call other cultists to his aid, but it was far too late for him.
 
Azbara’s cries for help were met by the appearance of Rezmir herself, along with guard drakes and several cultists. Seeing Rezmir I strode through the fiery inferno that had become the Red Wizard’s doorway, courtesy of Conrad, and quaffing the potion of growth as I went. The ensuing fight was brutal. Virgil, having run directly into the fray as well, was surrounded by drakes, cultists, and Rezmir and was getting absolutely torn to shreds. Rezmir’s blade was a wicked thing, whether inherently or through the use of her own magic, I am as of yet unsure. All of us were more exposed than we would have liked, but there were not a lot of options available to us without risking even more of their allies being called in for help. Conrad sent a tremendous wave over one group of cultists, and Nuri electrified another group. Rhumor was busy planting arrows in everyone, and Virgil and I continued to slash away at the many foes surrounding him.
 
We emerged bloodied and battered, but victorious and all of us alive. It is with great trepidation that I await the time for examining this powerful blade the black half dragon warrior wielded. And the mask… she was wearing a black dragon mask that was far more ornate than anything we have seen cultist’s wear before. We were told some time ago that Rezmir was a Wearer of Purple…she was one of their top ranking leaders. I believe we may have just struck our first real blow to the cult here. If we can destroy the dragon and prevent the treasure hoard from making it to the cult, it will be a significant blow to their goals indeed.
 
All of that fighting really worked up an appetite. I wonder if we could convince the giants to provide lunch…