'You can thank me later, I'm about to show you why I'm responsible for all of Drahz's fame and success.'
- Harcourt introduces himself to Fen post-pact.
Fen found himself interrupted in his meditation by the heavy, strong and imposing figure of
Drahz Grymhook standing before him.
After exchanging pleasantries in which Drahz terrified Fen within mere seconds, they came to the crux of the matter, Drahz had arrived to claim
Reaper the hound from Fen one way or another. Fen showed complete passionate commitment to ridding himself of the hound and was immediately committed to doing whatever was necessary (short of death). This boiled down to three options:
- Drahz could kill Fen and strip him of the reaper dog that way.
- Fen could find a patron to take the place of the reaper dog, putting Fen into a potentially dangerous predicament with a new patron.
- Drahz could take Fen to the Abyss to face the Lady of Pain and her judgement in a trial to seperate the elf from the hound.
Fen thought on this for a while before proposing his own plan; he wished to take a patron but he specifically asked if that patron could Drahz himself, with Fen seeing his own lack of direction and chaos in his life as possibly being remedied. With that, they struck an agreement in which Fen would complete the will of Drahz in the material plane and would also, if asked on, protect
Ardeth but, in return, Fen would be given power from Drahz and would be freed from the reaper hound.
Drahz then used a cruel, curved knife, to mark Fen's palm in retribution for Fen sacrificing blood to free a demon earlier in the campaign and he claimed Fen's reaper hound as Fen felt his soul and body return to his own control.
Finally, Drahz gifted Fen with a rough looking necklace and instructed Fen to give it to Ardeth when he saw her next.
With their pact agreed and Fen's palm scarred as proof of his pact with Drahz, the hobgoblin disappeared, stating that Harcourt would be their messenger and intermediary in the future moving forward.
As Drahz left, Fen, mere moments later, felt a blazing pain across his body that exhausted him and reduced his hp. As Fen felt this fiery pain sear across his body, he watched as his demonic skin was stripped back more and more and his wings were scorched from his back, falling in an ashen heap upon the ground from which a one eyed imp rose and introduced themselves as Harcourt; Drahz' representative and (alleged) mentor figure.
With that, mechanically, Fen took a level in warlock and lost a level in wizard and found a new clarity as he collapsed to the floor in a deep exhaustion.
The next morning the party gathered themselves and Fen explained what had happened the previous night (justifying his clear heavy exhaustion) and the group visited
The Oddities of Slavca , a store owned by a half-orc, half-gnome named
Slavca who sold the party a variety of wares and seemed to get along well with Thordak specifically as they conversed in orc with one another.
Stocked up, prepared and ready to leave, the party visited the
Oar's Rest skydock and booked a midnight skyship trip to
Blackstone in which they met the captain of the ship and the two other shipmates. The party immediately realised that something was wrong as they clearly saw the ship had been used for smuggling in the past and the captain boldly and confidently offered the party a drug they claimed to have curated that offered the party protection from exhaustion, starvation or dehydration for several days.
The party started their travel to Blackstone, reassured by the crew that the party would reach Blackstone in a number of days.
As the skyship flew over The Utrunks clan, Thordak and the party looked down as Thordak commented on his continual mixed feelings around the clan; though the party also noticed, amidst the scarred and scorched buildings, a single newly built building with groups surrounding it, hung by their necks.
In that moment, as the party watched, they heard a voice carry on the wind towards them as
Vola revealed they knew the party were watching as they had been shown their coming. With that, a storm started to brew and strike the party... hard.
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