Arkomir writes...
Glade's Tower Reborn
In the morning, the area below the tower looks even better than the day before.
Kaelin Thatch has been hard at work and it appears to paying dividends already. During the morning,
Aleesia Dawnseeker and
Thrain Stoneforge return to the island. Thrain busies himself starting to get ready to start the repairs. Aleesia fills us in on how discussions have been going with
Esward Moulton. The
Duchy of Mirellion will be purchasing a house in the town and Moulten agrees to them having a presence on the island. We show her all the things we have found in the room upstairs and after some discussion she agrees to let me read the Manual of Bodily Health. However, she thinks that Luna would have better use of the Tome of Understanding. We negotiate an exchange to get a visit to Mirellion as guest of the
Mirellia, The Eternal Duchess.
We let Aleesia know that we suspect that a member of
The Cleansing Wave may still live and we will continue to seek them out. She seems surprised by this and she then asks why we do what we do After we tell her, she seems satisfied with our answers. Dharra asks about the lost Elven cities. She gives us an account of when this happened which was before the time of the dragons, giants and fiends came to Kurabil. The
Aboleth we fought said it knew where the Lost Cities were. There may be a chance that some of this knowledge may have been transferred to
Katya Shadowash or
Esabel Chantry. Knowledge of the Lost Cities is at times considered a myth and at others a cautionary tale. Dharra hands over the Tome of Understanding to Aleesia and I will continue reading the Manual of Bodily Health.
We get word that there are a couple of boats for sale. We start negotiations with Cadinus to purchase a fancy new boat and after some haggling, we buy a new boat for 1400 gold and passage to
Darin's Fall for ourselves and those who wish to go. When we get back to
Belhaim, we find that
Hanirash has left the city. He has headed straight into an investigation elsewhere in the North. We talk to Moulten about this and gauge how he feels about it. Hanirash helped Moulten talk to
Elsa Valtervold Landry about her involvement in things. After further discussions, it was advised that no further case needed to be answered and she has also left the city. He is also happy about how his discussions with Alessia are going. In discussion with Moulten, he is happy for us to gift the half-plate armour we found to Grunnhild. The rebuild is going well in
Belhaim and
Alden Dewfoot will continue to serve the town, but on probation.
Over the course of the day we catch up with Holly and Aleif. We also hear that when Hanirash left he was headed to a town on the coast that was ‘wiped out’. We send him a message asking about it and if he needs help. He replies that it is on the coast and is remote. If he learns of any connections to what we discussed with him he will let us know. We commission an artisan to carve a figurehead for the boat of
Bella with outstretched wings. We name the boat ‘The Lady of Freedom’
Confluence Attacked and Funi Falls
Whilst in the tower we hear a thump from down a hallway that appears to come from the library. We run to the library and see one of the desks in disarray. Standing up from behind it, is
Kezahr. She is holding a staff and looks distraught and injured. The staff she is holding is
Funi's.
Kezahr turns to us and says; Funi’s dead, we were ambushed. There was an attack on the city of
Confluence, undead were rising in the south. They were ambushed by a creepy halfling and some undead. A figure in a black robe appeared and killed Funi. Kezahr used Funi's staff to get away and the transport back here. Dharra sends a message to
Luna of Mirellion saying we need to travel and quickly.
She responds saying to meet us at
The Lonely Forest tavern in the square. We gather what we need to fight and head down to meet Luna. Dharra sends a message to Thiccoul as well as we move down to the Triways. We also ask Moulten for any healing potions and he hands us a superior healing potion as we continue heading to the tavern as fast as we can. On the way we quiz Kezahr for as much information about what we are facing. As we exit the tower Kezahr intones an incantation and touches my shoulder, giving me resistance to psychic damage and some advantage saves. We arrive at the tavern and meet up with Luna and she says she can transport us to
Confluence. We gather together, Luna casts her spell and we walk through a portal in a tree and transport!
We arrive in Rapid Spray Park in
Confluence. There are some scared stownsfolk huddled nearby and Kezahr motions for us to leave the park via the bridge to the East. As we round the corner of some buildings, we see some undead folks lurching about the square. We also see Undead Funi with the shadowy creature whispering in her ear. As we come round the corner, she turns to face us and we see the full horror of what she has become. The shadow creature kisses Funi’s cheek and there are now four of her. We enter into battle and manage to despatch these foes. As I finish off the3 undead form of Funi, she says in my mind, 'thank you'. As she falls, the ground in the square flashes with sigils and a 60 feet sphere of darkness envelopes us with a concussion wave. After numerous death saves and some quick thinking, we get out of the death circle, just.
Fafnir confirms that the shadow creature feels like the thing that broke into Glade’s Tower. There may be a connection between this and the thing that was trying to get into the Academy. Funi’s spell book and jewellery were both gone as we were fighting her as well. The
Academy of Arcane Arts and Letters does not appear to have been attacked at this stage. We try to retrieve Funi’s body but the death circle rips Luna’s air elemental apart so we will have to come back to that. We try sending a message to
Pozohr The Flame as we head toward the Academy. We receive a response from him saying that he is at the southern wall and will see us soon. With that information in hand, we make our way toward the academy to meet him.
There is an elevated guard presence here but we manage to gain access to the Crown. We stand near the front gate of the Academy to wait for Pozohr. The person in charge of defending the Academy would be
Nueleth Zylbalar The Change. She is the executive of the Academy. We try to gain access to the academy and to speak with her. After a couple of minutes, Pozohr and
Captain Ella Figgis fly in and land next to each other. We offer our input as to what may be happening and that every effort should be made to secure areas of knowledge. Figis and Pozohr want to see the death circle in the square so we lead them back to there. Pozohr investigates the circle whilst Figis examines the bodies of the fallen. Pozohr and Kezahr confer and then investigate the circle and confirm that it is indeed a powerful spell, but should dissipate after a while. A guard appears and has a quick chat with Figis who turns and tells us that we are all summoned to speak with the
Elector Vaihl Taddarev. As we turn to go, the circle dissipates. We quickly gather up Funi’s body and carry it back to the Crown with us. We tell Kezahr what Funi transmitted to me at the end and she has thoughts about things but they are taking some time to coalesce.
We all fall back into some sort of line and head back up to the Crown. We make our way around to a side entrance of the Temple of
Corellon. We are ushered in and directed to a small stair near the outer structure of the temple, toward the back. The stairs wind up 2 or 3 floors and we find ourselves at the top of the temple near the rear, sort of inside the roof space. Beyond a doorway we are in a room with a circle of chairs and some refreshments. At the end of the room is
Elector Vaihl Taddarev. A goliath,
Baerk Studder, is standing behind him, as well as
Olivia Longriver from
Fendetraves Arcanum.
Ysabelle Dappleheart, the Priestess of Corellon is here as well along with other some other priests. There is a also a fairly well armoured priest of Kord. An eleven woman, a dwarf and a young Tiefling woman round out the assembled folks. The Elector starts his interrogation of us and the events of the night. We tell him of all that we know of the events that have transpired and also lay out that there may be links to other events in the region. There is mention of allies and help is this hour of need; we dont think its war, but forces are gathering. Pozohr offers his aid as advisor to the Elector now that Funi is dead.
This informal suite of advisors on magical danger is formed in the hopes we can share information. We are asked to let Belhaim know what has transpired and what this council has agreed on. The Elector will draft a notewhich will be delivered when we leave tomorrow. In the meantime we will stay at
The Lively Grotto tonight before heading back to Belhaim. The elector dismisses us and this council starts to leave. On our way downstairs I ask Ysabelle's advice to destroy the symbol of
Gruumsh. She advises that I should keep my sword close, use a wizard, sanctify the space and then potentially use the magma forge to melt it. Dharra and her connection to
Moradin may be useful in this process as well as
Moradin is also not fond of Gruumsh. Dharra speaks to Figis about inspecting the entrance below the Academy in the sewers we found with Funi to check if it is still closed. Figis will assist us in gaining entry and come with. We send Essa and Luna on toward
The Lively Grotto for them to get some rest and secure some rooms.
We wait nearby for Figis as we leave the temple. As we do, we see
Thicoul Stormwalker,
Isadora Giordano and
Katya Shadowash are here as well ao we go and say hello. We fill them in on recent events. Thicoul and Isadora are on their way to speak to the Elector now but will be staying in the Crown tonight. Thicoul will try and see if anything can be done for Funi’s soul or if any information can be gleaned. We head to the sewer entrance and wait for Figis. After unlocking it, we head in to make sure that things are still safe and secure. After a few wrong turns, we make our way back to the space we are looking for. The room is intact, but the entry point back into the academy has been sealed off by Funi. We head back to Figis, and thank her for humouring us. We have a chat to her about Pozohr and what his intentions might be. She says that she will stay on her guard but has no reason to doubt him. He is powerful and strong and that can be a heady cocktail. She also says that she found a note in Funi’s appartments. It tells of a darkness that has finally overcome her and that she hopes she has served the city well. We reiterate our aid to the city and bid her goodnight and head back to the tavern. On the way we stop by the Black Boar where Thicoul and his retinue are staying. We leave a note for him and will see him in the morning. At
The Lively Grotto, we find Essa and Luna in the taproom.
Fastolm Rumblefoot greets us and we organise some food and rooms. Dharra performs and she does a slower set as the room has a weird energy.
Friendships Reforged and a Verdant Attack
I excuse myself and head down to the Riverview Orphanage to see Figis. The streets are quite empty and I find my way to her place pretty easily. As I get to the top of the stairs the door opens and Figis is in the doorway. She invites me in and we sit and share a drink and talk about things that have transpired and our pasts. It feels like we are repairing our relationship in the process. Our talk turns to Funi and we share stories of her and we comfort each other. After a long talk about a lot of things, I head back to
The Lively Grotto. Fastolm greets me in the taproom and shows me which room I am staying in. I head upstairs and only get a short rest as Dharra wakes me and says that
Verdant Isle is under attack! We gather our things quickly and wake Essa and Luna. We need to travel back to Verdant Isle and fast!
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