Chapter 6 - In the Forest of Beton

General Summary

The party received a message back from the wizard Slytoff Han, who told them to continue their quest and hurry toward Beton to stop the Knights of Black Dragon. Thus the party went forth toward a wizard tower in Anfeld, contacting the elf mage Ciopre who charged them 25 gold to use a portal to get to Miweck. The party was then transported to the Miweck observatory, and stopped by a local Dwarf potion seller named Burgen Redfall. They bought potions of healing and Dragon's Breath to prepare for their trek toward Beton.
Travelling down the road from Miweck, the party was waylaid by bandits from the organization named the Scarlet Scarves. Myrick was the leader of this branch, and he told the party to hand over their goods. The party failed to negotiate, so the Scarlet Scarves opted to try and kill them and take their goods. However, the party fended them off, and captured one named Morris and tied him to a tree to show a lesson to the Scarlet Scarves not to mess with the roads of Lysandus.
When they arrived in Beton they met a guard named William who filled them in on recent wyvern attacks in the area, coming from the old woods near the town. He talked about a boy named Boris who was stung by a wyvern and had to be healed by a local cleric lest he die. The party noted the danger of the wyvern's venom, but then opted to travel to the forest in the morning.
In the morning of the 18th the party was led by Thelberg, who was uncovering more memories of Qenlynn Millerstone. She went to the entrance of the Old Oak woods, marked by a stone and scratched marks, and told the party that it was the same way Qenlynn went through. The party entered. They followed a small creek, and noticed about a mile in that there were dead bodies of Dragon Knights scattered around. They investigated the bodies but found no cause of death, and no sign of attackers. Just as they finished investigating, however, they were attacked by the trees nearby, which had awakened and began to slam the party with their branches.
The party used fire spells to destroy the awakened trees relatively quickly. Kade became suspicious of the woods, and ran through a few options with his elven background: these were either elf woods, the work of a fey, or the worst possibility: they had trespassed into Entwoods, which means if there are awakened trees here, there would be an Treant nearby. Soon, the party heard thunderous steps, and Kade commanded them all to run, for he knew the danger of the Treants. Suddenly, the Treant cried out thunderously,

"I THOUGHT I HEARD YOUR VOICE. SO THE DAUGHTER OF THE DRAGONS COMES TO PERVERT MY FOREST AGAIN! YOU WILL DIE, QENLYNN MILLERSTONE, FOR THE GREAT TREES YOU HAVE BURNED AND CUT!"

Old Oakley by Dungeondraft, Roll20

The party could not outpace the Treant named Old Oakley. He cornered them and confronted them with threats to make them return to the earth to nourish the forest. He told the party of how Qenlynn and the Black Knights burned and chopped the forest once to create their battlements, which greatly angered him. However, with Ethis' persuasion, they convinced the Treant that Thelberg was merely a clone of Qenlynn, but one who has decided not to oppose him. Thelberg told the Treant that she had denounced the life of Qenlynn Millerstone, fighting for Lysandus and it's citizens instead of for Tiamat. The Treant agreed, allowing them passage if they could root out the Knights of Black Dragon to keep the forest protected.

Beton Ruins by Dungeondraft, Roll20

The party then continued, eventually leading past the stream toward what appeared to be some ruins. On top of them, two wyverns waited. The adventurers braced themselves, and Aethelflaed charged, not afraid of the wyverns and their poison. She was badly wounded from the poison stings, however, and the rest of the party struggled to fight them off. After a very grueling battle, the party defeated the wyverns and rested, knowing more was to come.
They went in the ruins of Beton, and were spotted by two Dragon Knights and a wyvern. The Dragon Knights denounced Thelberg as a pretender to the "dragon king" and sought to destroy those who challenged the knights. The party was beaten brutally by the knights and wyverns, and Aethelflaed nearly came near death if it was not for Kade having her drink a potion. She was still knocked out by the end of the fight. Then, Ethis detected a fiend in the area. Thus he readied his Morningstar and slammed the doors of the next room open.
There, they found the skin of William Wyvern floating in a pool of water, with a great Adult Black Dragon standing over it, along with a red Abishai with him. This black dragon was William Wyvern. William laughed, stating that he pulled the wool over the party and that he never intended on reviving Qenlynn, as her Abishai soul was already lingering with him. The abishai Qenlynn smiled at seeing her "daughter" Thelberg and remarked her disappointing on the side she chose.
William Wyvern told the party his entire goal was to ascend to the form of a dragon, as he believed Lysandus had shown a point of weakness in the destruction of Canmoore. He believed himself worthy as king instead, and so he plans to usurp the King of Lysandus himself. He then flew through the roof, while Qenlynn mocked the party. She mentioned the only reason Thelberg has even sided with them was that Riley Woodhame learned of her clones and tried to destroy them all, and injured Thelberg before she was finished maturing. But then he was trapped in the Nine Hells. She revealed to them that they will be unstoppable with Fatebender stuck in the stone.

"And it will never be removed, for the Champion of Vanu-Am still lives. He is trapped by our great lady Tiamat, forever fighting her armies alone as her prisoner. To rescue him will prove certain death. I, for one, quite enjoy his fate, for all him and the troublesome Dragonblazers did to me. HAHAHA!"

Then, Qenlynn Plane Shifted back to the Nine Hells, dragged by the chains of Tiamat back into her servitude. The party was shocked. Then, Kade turned to Ethis, and asked, "Do you know how to go to hell?"

Date (in world)

August 15th-18th, 5750.

Report Date

06 Mar 2021

Player Characters

Kade Krueger is a high elf artificer who hailed from the city of Avenve before moving to Lysandus. He served as a city guard in Wydon, but now he will see more life of adventure than he ever expected...

Ethis Montaran is a Paladin of the Watchers, a loyal knight devoted to keeping demons and devils away from the material plane. He is brave yet uninterested in the affairs outside of his oath to demon slaying.

Cecil Kurtz is also from Gothai and a human cleric of the light. Who he follows remains a mystery, but he has been granted divine power to protect his allies and cut into the darkness of his enemies.

Aethelfaed Dragonbane is a half-orc Monster Slayer Ranger. She current works for the Knights of Dragonbane and proclaims that Wulfric Dragonbane was her grandfather. Though not as ferocious as he once was, her sense of justice and prowess remains ever true.

Thelberg was once a normal woman of Gothai, a merchant passing through, until stricken with the curse of Lycanthropy. Now cured, she is stricken with another strange transformation: the awakening of draconic blood within her, which has given her access to powerful magic spells.