Episode 63 - Winter is Coming

General Summary

Malindil Stormblade regained her composure and lowered her weapon. The guards did the same. She then apologized, pointing out the stressful situation they were in due to the constant assault from the siege of the demons outside their front door.
The Guardians identified themselves. Malindil knew who the Guardians were, as were all members of the Winter Council. The Guardians of Golarion had helped the elves of Crying Leaf to reclaim Celwynvian, which all of Kyonin was appreciative of. However, Malindil still wanted to know why they had come to Thorn’s End.
That information would come, but first, the Guardians wanted to know more about Lasdolon. “My brother is dead,” Malindil said. “I watched him die before my eyes.” She then steered the conversation back to what had brought the Guardians to Thorn’s End. Reh and Rooker repeated their classic "End of the World" performance they had performed across Iadara.
The guards appreciated the performance but Malindil seemed unmoved. Further explanation was necessary. The Guardians outlined how Lord Villastir had run interference when they had tried to warn Queen Telandia that the kingdom, and maybe more, was in danger. They also mentioned how their “allies”, the Shin’rakorath, had attacked them while they slept.
Malindil told the Guardians that she was the liaison between the Winter Council and the Shin’rakorath. If they had been ordered to move against the Guardians, the order would have come from her. And it hadn’t.
Lord Villastir was the nobleman who worked with one of the other members of the Winter Council - a powerful wizard named Hialin.
Coincidentally (?), Hialin had called a meeting of the Winter Council for today. This was odd because the members of the Winter Council had not spoken to each other for years, not since “the incident.” They had sequestered themselves away in various parts of the stronghold. Malindil kept tabs on the other members through her guards.
Hialin had been in charge of keeping the Maleficus Spike charged daily. Since the spike kept the demons out and kept all of them alive, she knew he was still doing his job on that front.
Malindil suggested that they find Hialin and speak to him in private about the accusations. Malindil was seething that the wizard may have been using her own people behind her back.
They stopped at the Great Archive, as it was one of the places Hialin spent much of his time. Kuuro was able to bypass the magically sealed lock to gain access. Hialin was not there. However, on the central table were piles of notes, scrolls, and texts. Malindil recognized the writing as those of her brother Lasdolon. Reh, Rooker, and Hugo were able to decipher the writing. Lasdolon’s notes revealed that he had discovered the procedure for creating the Earthfall runes. However, the notes were incomplete. Hialin had been trying to fill in the gaps and determine how to duplicate the magic required to call down stars from the sky. In particular, his annotations seemed to be focusing on how to expand the magic not merely to something that would devastate a city or nation — but an entire planet. It was clear that his notes were doomed to failure. What was here, though, was enough to inform a person on how best to destroy or otherwise thwart the glyph-based magic that caused these devastating events.
The Guardians pointed out that Lasdolon had already used the rune on Devil’s Elbow as a trial run for something larger. Malindil confessed that her brother had been troubled ever since his wife Loriana had been killed by the drow. Lasdolon had led Kyonin troops against an attack on a temple in the Darklands when Loriana was struck by a crossbow bolt, tipped with a powerful demonic poison. Lasdolon ordered his men into the temple to retrieve the antidote, but this would most likely have ended up with their deaths. The drow used the moment of hesitation to press their own attack and the Kyonin troops were forced to retreat, leaving Loriana behind. Lasdolon had to be restrained while he listened to his wife streaming in the dark, suffering, calling out for the gods to help her… and calling out to him. Lasdolon recovered his wife deformed dead body the next day, and in a rage began killing his own troops. He was restrained and arrested. But rather than execution, he was released to the Winter Council who used him on dangerous recovery missions. The recollection proved to be too much for Malindil and she walked away, struggling to maintain control of her emotions again.
With Malindil distracted, Hugo read Lasdolon’s Journal. It mentioned the discovery of the Throne of Tharzduun in the Darklands, which was most likely the location more commonly known as the Throne of Darkness or Throne of the Abyss. He also had made notes about his wife’s death and his motivation to make them all pay, elves and gods alike. Those notes were before he obtained the Eye of the Abyss.

“My beloved Loriana did not deserve to die like that, suffering and alone while those who were sworn to protect elven lives cowered like frightened dogs. And where were the gods? Where was Desna when Loriana cried out in the dark, the corruption twisting her body and torturing her soul? The gods, like the elves, simply sat back and watched her die.“

Also in the archive was a tome bound in thin stone covers much like several of the books back in the temple of Tharzduun. The tome was a history book of sorts. There was a leather strip of a bookmark in the middle of the book, annotating the notes regarding a sword called the Claw of Tharzduun. There were two sets of handwritten notes in the margins beside various passages. Older notes stated that Lasdolon wanted to find it, that it would make a good pairing with the Eye of the Abyss. A newer note in a more erratic font said that he had to find the claw and destroy it before someone else found the claw and tried to use it to destroy the Eye.
They next stopped at Hialin’s Laboratory. Clearly an arcane workshop, the room was filled with materials used for testing the properties of magic items and potions. The center of the room was dominated by a long table topped by a magnificent alchemist’s laboratory, which immediately caught Hugo’s eye.
On the far side of the room appeared to be a table with a tarp thrown over the top of something. Beneath the tarp was a metallic humanoid figure. Its arm had been partially disassembled, and a panel had been removed in its chest. Various leads were sticking out of the hole, and a grey fluid was puddled beneath the body. Inspecting the creature’s chest revealed a pyramid-shaped void. Something was disconnected from the various leads and removed. Notes indicated that the construct had been something Lasdolon had found during one of his exploration missions.
On the edge of the workbench was a large square of black fabric. Spread out across it were several triangular pieces with tiny wires and a tiny starstone diamond. Hialin had a small stack of notes beside the pyramid pieces. He couldn't believe something so ancient could be so advanced. He knew it was more than just a power source but he couldn’t access whatever had been within.
Rooker and Jobu were able to recognize that the construct was ancient, and had an origin connected to the sa’har order. As an attempt to create a power source, Rooker and Jobu attached his chakram to the chest. He was able to cast spells into the device which powered the robot for a short time.
Malindil took the Guardians to Hailin’s personal quarters. The room itself was a mess. The wizard Hailin was slurping noodles when he answered the door. Hailin had little use for the Guardians and was dismissive to Malindil. He accused her of having a relationship with Arlindil, the druidic member of the Winter Council. He then commented about her brother, which sent Malindil storming out of the room to avoid striking him down.
A gong sounded throughout the stronghold, announcing the commencement of the meeting of the Winter Council. The Guardians accompanied Malindil in the Council Meeting Room. Two figures sat at the long head table - the druid Arlindil, and Perelir, a cleric of Calistria. Malindil sat down beside Arlindil. Hailin stood to the side and began the meeting.
The Winter Council began discussing, then arguing about the future of the Winter Council. Arlindil claimed that the Winter Council was dead and that they should abandon the building to Tanglebriar, and throw themselves before Queen Telandia for mercy. Hialin saw the other elves as symptoms of the Winter Council’s failure, and that he alone was honoring Auramesties’s memory. He took particular delight in mocking Malindil and Arlindil’s relationship, saying that their antics did not belie a proper member of the council, who should be above the distractions of the heart and body. He also dug barbs into Malindil, reminding her that it was her brother Lasdolon who killed the former leader of the Winter Council and fled.
Hialin then admitted that he had been looking into Lasdolon’s notes and felt the solution was there. The elves had become weak. He, however, had the strength to do what was necessary. He would use the Earthfall runes to strike down the entire planet. He and his select chosen would evacuate using the Sovyrian Stone portal, coming back in a decade to rule over whatever life was left and rebuild the proud and noble Elven Empire the way it should have been.
Hialin then cast Stone to Flesh on the wall surrounding the Maleficus Spike. In one quick motion, he pulled the spike from the wall which brought down the protective barrier surrounding Thorn’s End. Demons began flooding in, and the sounds of combat echoed through the halls.
Hialin changed as well, revealing the darkest secret of the Elves - when one of their own become truly evil, they can succumb to the Dark Fate and turn into a Drow. Hialin transformed into a drow and attacked.
Malindil collapsed in terror. Her brother had fallen to the Dark Fate, as had Hialin. She now feared she would be next. Arlindil rushed to her side to both protect and console her. Perelir moved to aid the Guardians.
During the combat, Reh took her pyramoid and placed it in the chest of the robot that had followed them. It then used telekinesis to pull the flying Hialin to the ground. Chakos Vrinn, the elven consular living within the pyramoid, now had control of the construct.
Once Hialin had been defeated, the Guardians fought back several demons before Reh was able to stab the spike back into the wall. The demons shrieked, burst into flames and melted away.
Before they could recover, heavy metal footsteps and a voice interrupted their celebration. Matan’sa stepped into the room. He told Reh and Rooker that they both had something that Lasdolon wanted. They would hand the items over, or Matan’sa would gladly take them from their cold dead bodies.

Rewards Granted

XP

230,679 + 30, 720 = 261,399 XP!

Loot

Already sorted and distributed.

Missions/Quests Completed

Discovered that Lasdolon, originally an elven general for the Kyonin army, was also a member of the Winter Council. After his wife was killed, Lasdolon wanted revenge on the elves for not saving her, the gods for forsaking her, and the drow for poisoning her. Once he came into possession of the Eye of the Abyss and through his connection to Tharzduun, he now had the means to take his revenge on everyone - mortals and gods alike.
The Winter Council was once a powerful force that guided the royal family in leading the elves. However, in the past few hundred years the Queen has chosen her own path and the Council now fights to control the kingdom.
The Guardians recovered notes that could provide information as to how to destroy the Earthfall rune.
Kuuro studied the appearance of Loriana, Lasdolon's wife.
The Throne of Tharzduun was a location of significance to Lasdolon. It was rumored to be one of the locations where the veil between the Abyss and the Material Plane was thinnest. Possibly one of the contributing forces to the corruption of the elves in the Darklands.
The Claw of Tharzduun was a weapon that could potentially destroy the Eye of the Abyss.

Campaign

Second Darkness

Protagonists