Session 1 - The Adventure Begins
General Summary
It is the 32nd day of Duscar, the very last day of the year 1499 of the Common Era. Tomorrow is New Dawn, the beginning of the new year. For one reason or another, Feebs , Gunkyn , and Sylbella find themselves in the throne room of Ghor Dranas , the capital of the Kryn Dynasty . Naturally, since the Dynasty was founded by Drow who escaped the Underdark, and the fact that Ghor Dranas itself is a ruin, the city proper is all underground. Despite this, it is very well lit with lamps imbued with permanent light spells - a quite ingenious design as each has mechanical shutters when necessary to douse them.
Many courtiers and petitioners have gathered and await the Bright Queen, Leylas Kryn's appearance. The hall is beautifully decorated for New Dawn.
As Feebs stands proudly next to his mentor, who was summoned here via letter. He, as her dutiful and loyal apprentice joined her, at her request. Across from him stands a pair of Firbolg - exceptionally tall Firbolg. Feebs has seen Firbolg before and know they tend to be much taller than humans but these two must be near ten feet tall! To his left, upon the dais is an Elf with fair skin, silver eyes, and blue hair - a stark contrast to the many Drow who live here. The elf switches between playing a variety of instruments but seems to favor one in particular - some kind of brass horn that you are certain when sound horrible in the hands of anyone else but he plays it beautifully!
Sylbella stands somewhat nervously and impatiently with her uncle awaiting to get an audience with the Queen. She looks around the grand hall at all the other petitioners wondering how long it will be before the Queen appears. Across from her are a fair skinned elf accompanied by a … Goblin? Both carry rapiers at their side and have an air of respectful dignity. To her right, upon the dais is one of the most talented musicians she thinks she's ever heard play.
Gunkyn arrived here very recently at the invitation of the Queen and at the prospect of being the featured entertainment for the upcoming New Dawn festivities. At the moment, he finds himself in the throne room of Ghor Dranas watching the various courtiers and petitioners await the Queen's arrival. There are some that stand out more than others, an elf and her goblin companion and a pair of Firbolg. He decides to step onto the dais and start entertaining the crowd which seems very well received by all.
Finally, after what seems like a long while, a pair of doors that are notably guarded opens, horns blare out gaining the attention of everyone and a herald speaks out "Here ye! Here ye! All those present here, hail and welcome the Bright Queen, the Elder Umavi and protector of the Dynasty - Leylas Krynn!"
Everyone sees her enter, a regally dressed Drow female. She very much has a royal bearing and dressed all in white in what can only be described as part royal gown, part armor and everyone bows as she walks past, and she nods and smiles in return. She moves slowly but purposefully throw the crowd and you can see that were it possible she would happily speak to each one.
She ascends the dais, lightly shaking the hand of Gunkyn, the blue haired elf bard and thanking him for keeping everyone entertained while they waited. As she sits upon the throne, the herald steps onto the dais and announces, "The Bright Queen will now hear those who would petition her."
One by one, various petitioners are called forth, including Gunkyn, then Feebs’ and his mentor and eventually Sylbella and her uncle. After making their various greetings or requests they are all lead to an antechamber down the hall from the throne room.
There they are all made aware of their real reasons for being asked here. Taynor Stoneblossom, a lead archeologist has found something – or more accurately his niece Sylbella has. It is the archeological find of a lifetime. The long lost fourth volume of the Catalogus Artium has apparently been found, albeit with several pages missing.
Leylas announces that this is in part why Sylonidis and Feebs were requested to come here as she had intended on sending them to the dig site but since Sylbella has already found the book, now she needs them to join the expedition to find what she is really searching for – the fabled Amulet of Souls. To find it, they will need the information in the other three volumes of the Catalogus Artium, as well as the missing pages from the fourth volume.
Two days after celebrating New Dawn, a group including Sylbella, Feebs, Gunkyn as well as a Half-Orc Echo Knight Fighter named Gikhesh, a Drow named Mothalden, and a small group of scholars set out from Ghor Dranas. Journeying to the coast they take a ship to as close to The Wilds as they can get and land at small village called Hari.
Feebs has been here before during his journey from Archway Valley to the Fey Lands with Sylonidis Sarmarhallan. Then the village was quite alive with trade but when the group arrives, they find that it was recently raided by orcs and so many of the shops are empty and the buildings damaged. They are lucky to be able to purchase a couple of vardos and achaierai to pull them.
It is now the 7th Day of Horisal as the expedition sets out from Hari across The Wilds toward the Library of the Cobalt Soul. Feebs, believing the Orc that raided Hari must be the same that destroyed his village over a year and a half ago must be the same ones keeps an ever-vigilant eye on the horizon in all directions.
Travel through the dessert is slow and hot and boring. Sylbella is not happy with all the sand and heat and longs to be underground digging. Gunkyn does his best to keep spirits up by playing but is cautious about getting sand in the workings of his glaur.
Just a couple of days into their trek across the dessert, a massive sandstorm appears. Gikhesh orders everyone to gather their personal belongings especially their packs with spare water and food in case they get separated from the group.
Within minutes, the caravan is engulfed, the vardos overturned and the achaierai run wild in fear. Feebs finds some rope and gets Sylbella and Gunkyn to tie themselves to him, so they don’t get separated from each other at the very least. By now the winds are so bad that they cannot see any of the rest of the caravan. They hunker down as best the can to wait out the storm recalling that there was a mountain range to the east they were trying to get to ahead of the storm.
Finally, the storm subsides and as they look around the three find they are alone in the middle of The Wilds. There is no sign of the rest of the caravan and the storm has destroyed any chance of spotting tracks. They begin walking towards the mountains hoping that is where everyone else has headed, if they even survived.
After several days of walking, they exhaust their meager water and food supplies but continue onward. Exhausted by the heat and lack of food and water they eventually stumble (quite literally as Sylbella trips over a stone) into the ruins of an ancient city buried in the sands.
The stone blocks of the city had toppled and cracked with the passing of time. Sand had covered most of the buildings. The stones that remained uncovered had been scoured smooth by the blowing sands.
In the center of the city towered a step-pyramid. It had five step-like tiers, each 20' high. The bottom-most tier was almost completely covered with sand. On top of the highest tier were three 30' tall statues.
The statue on the left was of a strong, bearded man holding a sword in one hand and a lightning bolt in the other. The middle statue was of a young girl her body and limbs merely wavy strands that caress and create the edges of the shadows around her. The child held a wand in one hand and a handful of coins in the other. The statue on the right was of a beautiful woman with a wild, tangled wreath of hair, leaves, and vines. In her hands she held a shepherd's crook with a wreath of grass and grain attached to it and a sword in the other.
On the south side of the pyramid, a ramp with stairs led from the ground to the top of the highest tier. A quick search of the ruins revealed no source of food or water, so you decided to climb the pyramid. In the side of the ramp, level with the floor of the top tier, they find a secret door.
The slab of stone that hid the secret entrance to the pyramid is now held open by the dead body of a hobgoblin. The body has a large crossbow bolt sunk deep in its chest. The hobgoblin has been dead several weeks.
Rewards Granted
Starting Level: 3
Ending Level: 3
Missions/Quests Completed
Character(s) interacted with
Taynor Stoneblossom - Sylbella's uncle and mentor.
Sylonidis Sarmarhallan - Feebs's teacher and mentor.
Leylas Kryn - Queen of the Kryn Dynasty
Gikhesh - a Half-Orc Echo Knight in service to the Kryn Dynasty
Mothalden - a Drow sent on the expedtion by Leylas Kryn
Aebert - a constable in the village of Hari with whom Feebs converses.
Related Reports
In Game Date(s): 1499 CE 32nd of Duscar (1499-32-11) to 1500 CE 12th of Horisal (1500-12-1)
Comments