Session Four: Standoff against Malachoz

We wake up to find that Callun left around 3am with a bunch of drow. We didn't notice until about 10am. We decide he must have wanted to do something on his own, so we let him be.
 
We learn about the adventurers guild and learn we can take quests to earn money. We decide to join. We decide to name ourselves the Grimoire Hearts. the Guild leader has a letter for Faenore. It says:
 
"My deepest gratitude goes to you. Forever I had been alone and someone as kind as you has helped somebody like me, in such a desperate situation. I thank you and I owe you. I grant you a boon, if you ever seek me out. ~ Malachoz"
 
We leave the board. Leland and Tempest want to go to the Shadows Edge Apocathary to see about making Leland a mentor there. Faenore and Lyra say they are gonna go help reunite some lovers but instead to stay behind and follow Leland and Tempest to see if they get lost.
 
Leland and Tempest stop by Black Castle and get some mini burgers for lunch. They get directions to the shadows edge apocathary from the dwarves that work there. After walking by several shops with folks trying to lure them in, and street performers, and being tempted by lovely ladies of the pleasure palace, they made it to the apocathary.
 
There is a large red jar n the window as they walk in. Leland recognizes that the red jar means that there is a sickness going around. This is to keep this information from the tourists in the city, but let the locals know what's up.
 
They walk in and see a few children sitting inside drinking milkshakes. There is a man in the corner talking to a woman working behind the counter. She is the pharmacist here and is dressed in all white. It seems like he's trying to hit on her. She seems quite uninterested.
 
Tempest walks up to her and tells her they are here from the adv guild posting and that Leland is interested in their offer to be mentored about herbs and alchemy.
 
The gentleman starts talking to Tempest and calls him out as a tourist. Tempest tries to get the name of the gentleman, but he just says he's no one of consequence.
 
Leland talks to the lady behind the desk asking about the job about that is open. She says she'll go see what kind of mood the doctor is in. While she walks away, Leland and Tempest both interact with the man that was hitting on the pharmacist. He inquires about Leland's scar and they talk about it for a moment before the mystery man leaves the building.
 
Before the man can leave, Tempest asks if he knows anything about Arud's Dagger. The man tells them he'll be at "Melodies' Respite" and they can meet him there later if they want to talk about it....after they buy him a drink, and then he leaves.
 
The pharmacist comes back with the doctor. Leland talks to him about learning about alchemy. Leland finds a book in the doctor's library about explosives. He skims through the book and finds information on salt peter an organic earth based alkaline substance. He talks about elements that are highly explosive when exposed to air or water. Moisture in the air will set it off. Salt Peter is one of these things. It's highly volatile. The docotr tells Tempest about a special fire called "Alchemist's Doom" It's an alkaline metal that once it touches the air, it explodes in all directions. It is a gel derived from bone meal. (Napalm) and sticks to your skin if it hits you.
 
The doctor loans Leland a book about this Alchemist's Doom. Meanwhile, the pharmacists sees Faenore and Lyra outside spying on their friends laughing. They learn the red jar is to signify a syphilis outbreak going on, so just keep your pants on and you'll be fine.
 
Meanwhile, Leland inquires what job the apocathary has for the Adv. Guild and gives him a list of ingredients he is looking for. Cocoa leaves, poppies, Psilocybin, Agave, mint, etc.
 
We then head over to Melodies' Respite to talk to the mystery man. and this is where we end.
 
CONTINUED.....
 
We get to Melodie's Respite. There is a very talented bard playing there. It's a good time. We find that battle of the bands it full, BUT we are down as as side act, just in case another act doesn't show.
 
Leland and Tempest play with poop at the table trying to set it on fire. A fellow named Eems sits down next to us. He's the first mate to captain Nightwood. The man of no consequence that we met at the apocathary.
 
He invites us on a boat trip in about a week, where we may get some information about Arud's dagger. They believe it is at the bottom of the ocean. This area is protected by a dragon where the dagger is.
 
For now, we decide to go to Madam Leblanc at the Cursed Curiosities. On the way we stop by the Harvest Bazaar and get some Roasted Corn from the Farmer's Market there.
 
We get to the Cursed Curiosities shop there. It is filled with peculiar eerie objects with small shrunken skulls, ancient talismans, cursed relics, forbidden artifacts, and other such enigmatic objects.
 
We get a tarakka reading from Madam Leblanc. It looks like Tempest and Leland are going to be betrayed by the one they care about the most. Is it each other?
 
She tells Leland that he shouldn't drink, and he's going to get tired of somebody's shit and leave them.
 
Leland buys some bay salt for his explosive recipe. Lyra buys some Tarakka cards with faeries on them.
 
We head to the docks, because Tempest doesn't trust pirates and wants to find a boat of our own to go out and try to find Arud's dagger.
He finds someone willing to rent us a small boat for 10 GP. It actually belongs to Captain Nightwood, but we convince him to take us out now for 5 GP instead of a week from now. We are approached by a beggar that Tempest gave gold to and he pays to go on the ship with us. His name is Abilen.
 
We get to our destination, and Tempest decides to dive in. Abilen tries to stop him, but he doesn't listen. Then Abilen transforms into a bronze dragon. He takes out the masts of the and as he flies away, Lyra uses command and says "Freeze" causing him to fall into the water.
 
Abilen starts to swim towards Tempest. Lyra dives in to try and help. A larger ship approaches and we learn that Captain Nightwood is actually on that ship. It turns out that Eems stole this boat, and now he's in big trouble.
 
Lyra tries to get Abilen to stop, but he jsut swims past her as she grabs on to his scales. Tempest makes it down to the sunken ship and finds Arud's dagger.
 
Meanwhile, on the surface, Captain Nightwood's men are trying to commandeer the smaller boat our comrades are on. With archers pointing arrows at them, they decide to stand down. They see that a woman walks out and down a wooden plank. She looks like an older orc. Eems pisses himself as she asks how they got this ship. Is this Captain Arud?
 
She asks which one brought the dragon, and Faenore kicks Eems forward. Captain Nightwood tells them that this bronze dragon thinks that we all are breaking the law, and once it has determined this, there is not debating with it.
 
Beneath the surface Lyra tries to stop the dragon, and he swipes at her knocking her unconscious. He then looks at Tempest and asks for the dagger back. Tempest tries to explain that we need it to stop Malachoz, a demon. Abilen considers this and lets Tempest keep the dagger. Tempest grabs Lyra's unconscious body and swims it to the boat. We learn that this is Captain Arud. She asks Tempest for the dagger. He tries to lie and say he gave it to the dragon, but she sees through his lies.
 
He gives it to her and opens it and pulls out a piece of paper. Inside there is an incantation to open the way to the Veiled Catacombs. We notice that Arud's necklace is glowing. It glows brighter as she holds it towards Leland. She asks who he is, and he says "I'm a dwarf" and she responds, "You are more than that."
 
Leland knows that the necklace she is wearing is of dwarvish creation. She gives it to Leland and tells him to take it to his father. They give us a ride back to land. They don't talk much to us, but we get back to town. As they depart, Eems gets left on the boat that doesn't sale to fend for himself. Lyra offers him her necklace of water-breathing, but Faenore gives him the stink eye and he refuses.
 
We get back to Beaumar and go rest at Lyra's house. Lyra tries to tell her mom of their adventures, but isn't believed, and her friends do not back up any of her claims.
 
We remember a song that leads us to the Whispering Willow Grove. We believe we can find what we are looking for there. We head out to there the next day. When the wind blows, we hear whispering in the air from all around. Here Faenor says the incantation.
 
Bubbles start rising out of the swamp water. The bubbles are so frequent they become loud, and the ground begins to rumble. A stone starts to rise out of the center of this pool. It becomes wider and wider until it opens up into a cave where we can hear whispering. The whisperings we hear promise us our greatest desires. Lyra's greatest desire is to be with Faenor, and she is worried everyone else can hear her desires (they can't), but she thinks the only way to stand a chance with Faenor is to go inside of the cave.
 
We head down the staircase. There are a lot of bones here. Tempest gusts them away making out presence known. Lyra shouts out since the Jig is up and hears a child's voice. Tempest tells her that it's a trick. There is writing all over the wall. Lyra tries to ritually cast comprehend languages when the cave starts to sink. They see 2 glowing eyes and Lyra recognizes them as Malachoz's eyes. She immediately runs in and Faenore goes after her. Leland pushes Tempest in and they both follow as well. We get through a hall of magical darkness. There is a trap of hands that start to pull Lyra through the floor but she is able to escape.
 
The group tries to rescue a guy chained to the wall by hands, his innards are hanging out and his arms and legs are broken and bleeding. He cannot be killed and is being tortured.
 
We talk to Malachoz, and he says that he feels his mother coming here. The storm we saw earlier is her presence here. HE has never met her and knows not what her intention is, but she is here because of Malachoz and she wants vengeance
 
She was locked away on a forgotten island by the name of Valarandor. A mythical lost city. It was founded by the king of Great Spear. It seems she was found by some adventurers, and the enchantments that kept her locked away and weakened were broken. She had been there 1000 years and now she is free.
 
Malachoz reveals he had been in his prison a couple of hundred years. He's not sure.
 
We learn he is preparing for when his family try to reclaim a shard of the sundering. Faenore asks if his boon from Malachoz can be for him to tell her what he knows about the Sundering, and he agrees. Here is what he tells her:
 
 
:::::Shards of the Sundering::::
 
He tells us about the Abyss and how it is where it is a place of infinite layers where demons live. It was formed when the Oberith , entities of unfathomable evil from another universe consumed and destroyed everything within their own universe. The Oberiths that remained fashioned all of their anger and hunger into a single Shard of Pure Evil. They took that shard and used it to pierce the veil between universes. It was in many hands, but eventually it fell into our universe, and those that tried to obtain it found it ever elusive as it continually sunk deeper and deeper and deeper into the Abyss. Theresnon, an elemental, in order for the Oberiths to move into this universe, they needed the the shard to be placed in the astral plane. Therenson was supposed to do this, but instead used it's power for himself. Therenson was a fool, because the Oberiths came anyway.
 
Basically a couple of shards split off from the shard of pure evil. Asmodeus has one in his staff and another one into a black diamond. That black diamond was thrown and split open our world. This is what is causing the rift in our world. As it crashed down, it separated into 6 pieces. Anyone who can obtain one of these pieces will have immense power. Malachoz is raising an army so that when they find a shard piece they will be ready to take over this land.
 
His mther used to have all 6 of these shards. They were in her black diamond. She was the one who threw it here. He doesn't know why, but when she did, it split open the earth. In the middle of the ocean, there is a large black rift that separates this continent from another continent. Anyone who goes into the rift disappears and does not return.
 
When the shard of pure evil fell into the abyss, a small piece ended in the fey wild in a mountain where it remained. The fey wild itself as if were trying to shield itself from the evil began to coalesce a diamond around it, creating this. He think this could be why his mother is back. Faenore points out that helping his mother would not be in his benefit, and he just smiles slyly.
 
He had a lead that a shard was on crescent isle once, but they could not find it there.
 
 
Faenor asks Malachoz about Aurendille. He does not like Aurendille as he is the one who imprisoned him. We ask him about the key he wanted us to deliver to the veiled market and he just tells us not to worry about it.
 
When we go to leave, we find that we are trapped. He says that we know too much and can't let us leave. More of the little demons we killed earlier start showing up. We can't actually kill them here. Two dog like creatures join him. He wants to fight us and kill us.
 
We try to persuade him to let us help him find the shards. He think us incapable at first but we explain we were able to find him in a single day, that maybe his underestimating us. He needs some kind of collateral.
 
Lyra offers to make a blood pact. She wants to write up a contact for herself even though that will mean nothing to him. Vor writes up the contract and it more or less says we have to find the shards or Lyra has to marry Malachoz. She Malachoz goes to slice open Lyra's arm, and Faenore sets the contract on fire in that moment.
 
As Malachoz prepares to kill us all, Lyra cuts open her own arm and puts it against Malachoz's saying she knows written contracts mean nothing to him, and the pact remains.
 
Malachoz then tries to kill Lyra's friends anyway. We fight and Malachoz charms Lyra and tells her to protect him. She then tries to stop her friends from harming him, but also him harming them. Tempest accidentally throws acid on Lyra in an attempt to attack Malachoz. This allows her to shake off the charm spell.
 
She insults Malachoz, and Faenore kicks his ass. He becomes very angered and tries to kill Lyra. He would have succeeded, but Faenore was able to save her stopping most of the damage.
 
We end up defeating him due to Faenores ferocious attacks. The cave starts to crumble and the demons start to run into the walls. We find a way out and escape.
 
On our way back we see Aurendille and tell him we've sent Malchoz back to the Abyss, but he'll be back in about a year. The storm subsides and we report what we know. We now have 2 years of down time to prepare for level 3.