General Summary
The Heroes Banquet
On the evening of 24 Felim 5A 352, Durak Hamarhart, Corxim Loofallue, and "Lunchmoney" Snuggleshine, visited the Gilded Gnoll tavern on the first level of the city of Endor, the First Mountain. As this was during the Heroes Banquet holiday, the tavern was decorated in greens, yellows, and reds, and many patrons were celebrating with the many tables of food and large kegs of ale. They ordered drinks from Bonnie, a staff member of the Gnoll, and while they waited for their order, they discussed their recent exploits against the bandits and their future plans. They noted their apparent synergy as allies. When Bonnie returned with their drinks, one of the minstrels of Mithrilback performing at the Gnoll introduced themself as Jozor Wildfingers. Durak and “Snuggles” recognized the minstrel, being fans of the group. Jozor had heard they were the ones that cleared the bandit camp and wanted to hear the story of the quest. The party discussed their recent activities with Corxim exaggerating the number of bandits they had fought. During the conversation, “Snuggles” noticed a becloaked, luminous woman with glowing red hair at another table in the tavern. As the woman was looking at a silver hand mirror, their eyes met. “Snuggles” approached her and offered to share a drink with her. The woman offered to share a drink with all three of them and “Snuggles” beckoned the other party members over. When they joined her at the table, the woman gave her name as Maalik. She asked if they were for hire and offered a bag of gemstones and jewelry. Corxim was intrigued by the offered payment, but Maalik said there were too many eyes and she wished to discuss her offer elsewhere. In the alley behind the Gnoll, Maalik explained her offer to the party. She had sought out the three of them specifically. There was a shipment she was expecting on a gnomish ship from Santeem called the Harolaud, due to arrive in Endor Port in a few days’ time. The ship was lost near the Red Rocks and was carrying an object “of great importance” to her. She wanted them to go north and retrieve it. She indicated the item was kept in a black box with gold lettering. Inside was a green crystalline item with a glow of energy in the shape of a 2-foot-wide ring. Maalik did not believe the crew would have any other similar items in the ship’s hold. Maalik said she had other tasks to attend to in Endor and could not go retrieve it herself. She offered to pay the party 300 gold pieces each for the return of the missing item. “Snuggles” asked for half the promised payment up front, but Maalik said if her terms were not agreeable, she could easily seek out new adventuring parties instead in the wake of the Heroes Banquet. The party agreed to Maalik’s terms and planned to head northward in the morning, as it was already very late. Maalik suggested the party find their own means north and head towards Fort Johanna, where they could easily access the Red Rocks Bay. Maalik then took out a small bag of coins, kneeled down to Corxim, and pressed it into his hands and suddenly kissed him. The kiss left her dark lipstick on Corxim’s face and Maalik headed inside before the party said anything further. They planned to head out in the morning. Durak and “Snuggles” got a room from the Gilded Gnoll from a patron that had just lost their room in the adjoining inn. Durak and “Snuggles” retired to the room right away, and Corxim instead headed to the under-levels of the city to seek out a brothel. On the second of the under-levels, he found the Beard and Bush brothel and rented a room for the evening to sleep in.Northward on the Iron Highway
On 25 Felim, they regrouped in front of the Gnoll in the morning. Inside the bag from Maalik was 75 gold coins, which the party split. They quickly headed to the Pavilion where Durak bought a standard healing potion and a second shield (he had forgotten he already owned a shield). Durak knew that Clan Ironguild would likely have carriages for rent. They approached a carriage station near the entrance to the city. They spoke with a dwarf named Andinir Brightdale and negotiated for roundtrip transport to Fort Johanna. Andinir seemed to recognize Durak’s Hamarhart clan, as both are subclans of the larger Clan Ironguild. The party boarded Andinir’s covered carriage, which was pulled by two draft horses. They left out the Doors of Goldroar to the snowing morning countryside. Their first several days of travel passed uneventfully. As they continued northward on the Iron Highway, the weather continued to worsen, changing from light snow to thick sleet and wind. The storm clouds seemed to be coming consistently from the north in the direction they were headed. On 28 Felim, the party passed through the town of Lakanaba in central Endor. The town was shuttered and shut for the late winter storm hitting the town and the worsening clouds to the north continued to darken and snow and sleet without stop. On 2 Madaet, on the road towards Fort Johanna the party was met by a mated pair of owlbears that attacked them. The larger male rammed the cart and attacked Corxim and “Snuggles” while the smaller female attacked the draft horses and Durak. Durak was severely hurt and his armor was damaged, and Andinir cut free one of the draft horses. The horse ran from the battle and the smaller owlbear chased after it. Together, Corxim and “Snuggles” defeated the male owlbear and Corxim slew it with his daggers. “Snuggles” noted that it was unusual for owlbears to be active and not hibernating in winter and outside of their usual terrain. There were signs of previous damage on the owlbear and there were burn marks on the feathers. Corxim partially repaired Durak’s armor and they continued on northwards. That evening, they arrived to the outskirts of Fort Johanna. Outside the settlement’s walls, the party found a dwarf cleric, Dulimund Dourwrek, tending to a severely wounded orc farmhand. The orc had fought an owlbear that threatened his flock. The party assisted Dulimund as he magically healed the orc, and Durak gave the orc his health potion. Dulimund informed the party the winter storm has been constant since the day of the Heroes Banquet and seemed to be coming from the bay to the west. Dulimund believed that Sehakora, The Maelstrom, the Goddess of the Seas, had been angered in some way and was the cause of the blizzard. The orc pointed out an offering that he was to give to Sehakora on her recent holy day, a small whittled wooden ship. Corxim offered to take the ship and present it to the sea on his behalf. Deterred due to the weather and encroaching night, the party elected to help the orc gather his scattered sheep flock and stayed in the farmhouse for the night.The Harolaud
On 3 Madaet, the party decided to walk westward through the wilds to get to the coast. Andinir told them he would wait in Fort Johanna until they returned. On the coast, they found the entire bay unusually frozen over. They tested the thickness of the ice and it supported their weight. In the distance they saw the orange glow of the Red Rocks and “Snuggles” spotted a silhouette of a ship unmoving in the bay. They headed into the bay towards the silhouette. On the ice, red motes of firelight approached the party. When they got close, the motes lashed out and attacked the party, seemingly drawing energy. With each contact the motes grew larger and more were attracted to the party’s presence. Durak led them through the horde of motes towards the ship. As they got closer, the party could see the Harolaud was heavily damaged and frozen in ice that seemed to be crushing the ship. There were severe breaks and cracks in the exterior and there was a red glow emanating from inside. Additionally, the front bust on the prow of the Harolaud was a depiction of the Goddess Sehakora. This bust was faintly glowing the color of moonlight which was seeping into the ship. The party quickly climbed on board and the motes seemed deterred from following them. On the deck of the ship, the party saw burn marks and the bodies of many crew members. Corxim investigated the bodies which seemed to have been sucked dry of their energy and left frozen on the deck. Durak found the entrance to the lower decks and broke the lock on it and the party headed deeper into the ship. They found more bodies and the cargo seemed to have been placed to block the entrances to the bottom cargo hold and form barricades. “Snuggles” and Durak cleared the way and they could see the red glow was emanating from the bottom deck. When they descended, they saw a large fire mote drawing the energy from a gnome who appeared to be the captain of the Harolaud, who held a black box with golden script. The fire mote grew larger, and the box burned away and revealed a crystalline green ring matching the description Maalik had given. The pale white energy from the ship’s bust seeped into the lower hold towards this object. As the energy of the mote, the green ring, and the bust combined, the mote grew to a huge elemental and the ship exploded, which sent the party flying out to the ice. The elemental seemed to be tethered to the broken bust of Sehakora and grew larger with each moment. Corxim and “Snuggles” shot the elemental with their bows to little effect. The elemental attempted to strike Corxim but Durak blocked the attack with his shield. “Snuggles” used a Thunderclap spell to good effect, but in response he was hit badly, set on fire, and knocked unconscious. Corxim retreated to help “Snuggles” and Durak ran towards the broken Sehakora bust. Durak used his Warhammer to smash each of his shields into and through the ice sheet, which broke a hole beneath it and the bust began to sink. The fire elemental was dragged with it and as the ice shattered, Durak was flung into the water. The elemental was extinguished in the ice water, sending steam that clouded vision for Corxim. Corxim pulled “Snuggles” farther away from the breaking ice and saved him from being submerged. Under the water, Durak saw the elemental core sinking, seeming to be actively crushed by the water around it. He saw the energy from the bust dissipate and grow dark. He also saw the green ring and behind it Durak saw a set of Dragon-like eyes and pair of pale white horns in the shape a crescent emerge from the dark water. The entity watched as Durak removed the chest piece of his armor to stop him from sinking and swim forward to grab the green ring. As he did so, he felt an overwhelming rage from the entity. From his Zenethia symbol pendant, he felt a smaller but defiant energy that made the entity faulter. Then in a rush of water, Durak and the item were ejected out from the water and back onto the ice. On the surface, they saw the ice actively pull the remains of the Harolaud under the surface and the ice sheet continued to rapidly break. They fled from the bay to the coast. Once there, Corxim took out the wooden offering to Sehakora and unceremoniously dropped it into the water where it quickly sank. “Snuggles” led the party to a nearby den, and he determined it was an owlbear den. There were signs of burns all along the surfaces of the den. Inside, they started a fire to dry their clothes and rest while Durak and Corxim attempted to discern the properties or purpose of the green ring. Though they determined there was an element of holy energy absorbed into the ring, they were unsuccessful in determining its purpose or function.The Road Back to Endor
In the morning on 4 Madaet, they found the storm in the region had broken and it felt like spring would soon be upon them. They returned to Fort Johanna and rejoined with Andinir and pay him for the return trip and for the horse that was lost, and they began their journey southwards back to Endor. During their travel, the party discussed what they would do with the green ring. Durak did not believe they should give the item to Maalik without knowing its nature as the item seemed powerful and dangerous. They reached Endor on 9 Madaet. Once they returned, Durak brought the green ring to his family’s home to hide it. The party planned to seek the guidance of the priests of the Temple of Zenethia to try to discover its purpose. At some point during their journey back to Endor, Maalik was in an empty room in an inn. She removed her gloves revealing a tattoo on the back of her hand of a sun in a triangle. She placed her hand on the back of her hand mirror to seemingly activate it and magically scry on the party, using a napkin with a lipstick kiss on it as material. During this, she spoke to an unseen figure, saying “I don’t think this is going to be a problem. I’ll take care of it; this won’t put us behind.” She also said “it was too volatile” and “the shipping lane was too close to the Red Rocks.” She ended by saying, “he can wait.” She then set the napkin ablaze and left the room.
Report Date
06 Mar 2022
Primary Location
Secondary Location
Related Characters
24 Felim 5A 352 to 9 Madaet 5A 352