Cynasnodelop Walnaweiss
28
Sterling takes Waah on his back, since she was returned by Clystrin. He tells Mal that things have changed, but they will discuss later. He says a prayer, and gets 10 temporary HPs! We continue into the dark tunnels of the citadel.
We have to start by going around the lair of a death dragon., and then we find a 30ft shaft to continue on our path. We see Leedara, the blue elf in there. She is smiling. I ask how she got here, and she is cryptic about this, and congratulates us. She says that Lord Soth lurks above. He is using the cataclysmic fire to animate the dragons. I ask how we can stop the fire? She says that we can't stand against him in battle because he is peerless, but in the chambers ahead there is a hidden elven relic, and those who view the mirror see glimpses of their past. She thinks that this could distract Soth, and that would give us a chance to extinguish the fire. That is how we would take away the power of the citadel, and cease the animated dragons.
How do we quench it? She isn't sure. She knows that the flames were created by the gods, so the power of the gods should be able to stop it. I ask how she knows so much about this? She has been watching us since Vogler, and then she fades. She was one of the attendants of his wife, the priestess Isold, whom he slay. She distracted him on his quest, and so she has been cursed to live as a ghost. She is also a curse on Soth, and wants to stymy his ambitions. Mal says that if we succeed, then the citadel will fall out of the sky like a rock. We all acknowledge this, but it is something that must be done.
She says that the flame are all where he can see out to fly it, not in the basement. But it sounds like Arinona has something to help us during the fall. She fades away, after telling us she knows nothing about dragon eggs, or any sort of promise made to dragons by gods. We have 2 ways, one by a small tunnel, that leads to a chamber with a raised dais and an alter, and I cannot hear anything. Nothing is moving in there. It is a crypt, and it looks like there are crypt alcoves that have been bricked up along the wall. But it turns out, there are some skeletal knights and a skeletal minotaur!
At least these guys are not powered by the violet flames. Mal goes onto the dais, and turns out it is for Chemosh, god of the undead, and is unable to climb it. We defeat these undead, and now there may be something to do with the dais. As this was the temple to Takisis, I don't feel too many qualms about investigating the crypts. In one of these, I find an intact leather armor. I try on the armor, and see what happens. I love it!
Next, I check out another crypt, but nothing of interest in there. Now is time to open the smaller door, which had a bunch of disintegrated robes in there, plus more broken things. I look, but find nothing of interest. In a pile of clothes, there is some black material that is not falling apart and gross. Mal finds it, and shows us. It is a portable hole, or better, a hole that leads to a storage room. I go ahead and put my old leather armor in there.
Behind the bigger door, there are 3 statues adorning the walls. One is a man reclining, and on the south a woman is reclining, but she has been pushed aside. Then there is one of a noble elf sitting. They seem to be hiding doorways. I go look at the statue that has been moved. These are the kind of elves that are more like Arinona. The room behind her looks like a crypt alcove, and there are shards of broken glass all over the floor. I look above, and there is an image of an elven woman, and we see a bat behind us. He flies down and transforms into a humanoid. He greets us, and notices that we are not part of the dragon army. He asks us if we are on a mission to disrupt them. I ask if that is good, and Mal simply tells him that yes, we are. They have been disturbing things down here if we can get rid of some of the problems, and that he could make it worth our while. He offers us treasure in exchange for getting rid of the gold-scaled leader above. Sterling asks if he would leave if we did this, but he says that he cannot, since he is from here. He says that he is the former high priest of Chemash for this temple. He offers the use of temple to place the head of our fallen enemies there to ask them questions. I ask why there is a temple to Chemash in the temple of Takisis. Turns out that she is the leader in the pantheon, of 6 other gods that would kneel to her if need be, and therefore her temple is the major one in the city. And he's been trying to keep the scaled creatures from desecrating the shrine. They have already defaced the statues of the other gods up there. I ask if he has seen Lord Soth, and he does not know who it is. He gives me a medallion, and I put it in my pocket. (Amulet has a goat skull) and he wants it back. He tells us that after we get rid of the golden scaled thing, there will be a huge statue of Tahkisis. If we rotate it south (don't stop on east or west), but if we move it all the way south, it will reveal a secret door that conceals the treasure. I tell him we have a deal.
Mal attacks him, so now I need to kill him. He ends up running away, which is good, because I did not want to have another battle.
I move the statue of the east wall, and there is a tomb much like the south one, but this one has a glass laying on the tomb. When I look up, there is someone in the mirror, positioned above the bones on the floor. I check to see if there are different sets of bones. I take the skull to the alter and use the amulet. But Sterling and Mal are objecting a lot, so I tell them we don't have to do this, but I do want to know more what this is about. Arinona points out that these bones are related to the statues, and nothing to do with Chemash. The mirror is there to capture the soul, as punishment for the people in there. I put the skull back on the slab, and Arinona is going to put the rest of the bones back on the slab. Once the bones are back on the slab, there is an image of a noble elf, looking down on us from the mirror, and he looks curious. He then says "I am Sicilian, of Sylvanest. I came here with 2 dear friends." He's aware that he is dead, but he was not aware that his friends were dead. He asks that we take their remains so they can rest together. Arinona does so. Before she is done, I ask why we are agreeing to put them together, but the east chamber is the only one with the intact mirror.
Once they are moved, he thanks us. But we cannot see the other two in the mirror, and Arinona says it is because their mirrors have been broken. I ask why he is here by the alter of Chemash, and he says that they were placed here under the ungently kind of the priests of the evil gods because the king priest disliked their gift. Of what? They came because, like many others, had grown concerned with the king-priest's arrogant behavior. When he heard that he had been desacrating the dragon burial grounds, he wanted to help persuade the king-priest to return the bones. It was the mirror of reflected past, and he did not like it. It was intended to help him reflect on simpler reflections of faith, but the visit ended tragically. He and his friends were imprisoned. I ask if there is a way we can help him. I think that anyone who was punished by the priest-king should not have been, and Arinona agrees to shatter the mirror. I go back to the crypts to look for the mirror.
We go up the stairs, and here there is more light. So we are more careful. Behind the door from the stairs, it sounds silent. I open, and there are 2 more skeletons, except their armor looks more polished/nicer than the other one. They are tough, and hurt Arinona and Sterling, and I pretty hard. After that, we go investigate the small door to the south. There is a small set of humanoid tracks that go into this room, and then they stop about halfway in there. The rat tracks go into a hole in the rubble. Inside there is a coffin with a kinder. She tries to scare me. I ask her who she is, and she tells me I am trespassing. She says she is bored. I ask who she is, and she says her name is Lori. How long has she been here, and she has been here about 200 years. She says draconians, hobgoblins, and others have been here these past few days. I ask if she knows that this place is flying. She said she was bricked up - a jerk bit her and then bricked her up, but now she is free. I tell her that there are footsteps, and she says to look out for a ghost that possesses people. She wants his job, which he doesn't know what it is.
She suggests we put her in the hole, which was her. We do, and then I go look at her backpack. and find a potion (yellow and foggy), a ring with arcane runes, a vampire-looking ventriloquist dummy. I take those, and we carry on. There are some other things, but we don't take the 200 year old rations. Mal decides to go and look at ALL our options, without regard to our safety or his. We find the staircase, and look at the doors from there.
We open the first door closes to the stairs. It looks like a storage closet filled with junk, including a painting, a bust, pottery, etc. The bust may be worth a lot, so I toss it in hole with the kinder. The next door is a small cell. Then we open a door, and 6 sivaks are working at a table with a map of knightlund, which is an area to the south where Lord Soth lives. There are also some sketches of individuals, circled in red!
Time to take them out. I tell them that the vampire downstairs is acting up again, but then Mal casts a spell. With some slowing spells, we are able to defeat them pretty easily. We decide to close this room up and take a short rest. We can't afford too many more of these because of our time constraint.
29.
Waah wakes up, and is very confused. We explain to her about Sterling. Then we tell her what we've been doing. It is time to go through the south door.
It looks like an old dilapidated study, with a door back to the hall, and one to a library! With ancient shelves that have collapsed. There are old books that are falling apart. Waah asks Arinona to mend the book, and she does so! Most of the books, if they have anything on the cover, have something unpleasant. It is a cursed library, I guest.
In the east-most room the draconians are bunking. 7 of them. We defeat them, but there isn't much.
Then we look at the double doors. Behind it there are banging and scraping sounds. We decide to go for it. It is a giant room with a statue of the dragon queen, and there are draconians in there defacing the smaller statues behind Takhisis, although I'm not sure why. There are 6 guys, and 1 one guy who could be a priest. Better keep an eye out for him, and not kill him.
We go, and as Sterling killed the golden priest, he lashed out some lightning! We get one of the bozaks to surrender. I take time to ask him questions. I ask if he can speak common, and he has a accent, but he can. I ask why they were destroying the statues by their leader, who was a woman. Who did she answer to? No one I've heard of. I ask how many more upstairs? She thinks about it, and says no draconians upstairs. 1 human. Dragons. Not living ones. Many draconians are outside. I ask her how she got to be here, and she says that she got lucky. I ask if she's seen any dragon eggs. She said in her hatching grounds. Where is that at? She says at the eastern mountains, and gives me a name, but I haven't heard about it. I ask my friends if we should put us in the cells in the hall. She says she will leave, but Sterling tells her to stay in this room.
We go back to the statue, and rotate it. Pointing it south opens a door to the south, that used to be a treasure room. Inside it are coins and other valuables, and a sizable mirror with black glass. Waah says that maybe if we strap the mirror to someone's back, then we can show it to Lord Soth. It is 3 feet tall, and weight 35 lbs. It needs to be held upright and it needs the command word. It will probably last a while, too. If you take the mirror away, it will stop the effects.
I pull out the amulet that the vampire gave me. He had said that I could use it to access Chemash's alter, I could use it to speak to the dead. Arinona says that Sterling and Waah should take a potion of healing that we found. I take the one of gaseous form, and that will help me be sneaky. Mal will carry the mirror, and attune to it. I remember to ask her if Lord Soth is upstairs, and she wants to know our names. She says her name is Bori. Then she says she has heard that he is there, sitting upon a makeshift throne, flying the citadel. I ask her what she is planning on doing when she gets out. She says she won't tell anyone about us, but really, who is she going to tell. She says yeah, because if we are going to go after Lord Soth, we're going to die, so I thank her for remembering my name. We tell her she can stay around for an hour. And at first, she was able to pronounce my name, and I was pretty impressed. But only once.
By the top of the stairs, we see some crumbled walls. The stairs are blocked by an unfamiliar soldier with Kalahman armor. She says that we can be helpful, and heads up the far stairs, and through the door. We follow, with no other option. When we catch up with her in the other room, I ask her who she is. She does look familiar, but I am worried its one of those shape shifting draconics.
In the room there are bunch of depictions of black-robed figures under a black moon. She says, but actually he, "Its almost like a meeting of old friends. I can tell by the confused looks on your face that you are not quite sure who I am. I am a potential ally, because I don't need to be your enemy." She says that we want to save our city, and she doesn't see any use in conquering it. She wants a promotion, and flow the citadel her own way. She wants to fly it south. She is the same ghost that was inhabiting the knights of Solamnia that attacked the council." He says he is cursed because the gods proclaim it. If he dies, then he reconstitutes at Soth's castle, and start over again.
We step back down the stairs to discuss this proposal. From there, we peek into the next room, and see the giant cauldron with the flame, surrounded by crude metal scaffolding. There are 4 posts that hold it aloft. We don't want this thing to turn against us if we are not doing well against Soth, plus we need to get rid of the purple flames. Maybe bathing the dragon lance in the purple flames may snuff it.
Waah wants us to tell him we are with him, and meanwhile Mal shows Soth the mirror, and Sterling snuffs the flames. But we aren't sure what all is necessary for it. Mal goes to talk to Keradock. The plan is that we will distract Western Kern.
They go together, avoiding conflict with some guards. Mal reaches Soth. He tells Lord Soth that he bears him a gift, and Soth looks at him with glowing red eyes. Then he says the activation word, and now he is paying attention to the mirror. Keradock sits on the throne, but realized that he cannot attune because he is not a spellcaster.
We tell Sterling to worry about the flames, and we'll worry about Western. Sterling goes and uses the lance on the flames! It goes off, and we feel the citadel start to lurch. The framework of the cauldron starts to crumple, and starts to lean, towards where Mal is at. The entire citadel lurches to a stop. The cauldron tilts and rolls, and a crack comes from the stone. A split runs through the floor, and up the wall.
Western screams with anger. Sterling goes to find the lance, and we all head towards Arinona. She disintegrates the wall to the outside, and then we fly (they carry Waah and I), and then we get out. We are outside now on the surface of the citadel. We are trying to leave, and there is a skeletal dragon of immense size, and cataclysmic flames inside it.
Where does Cyna go from here at the end of the story? 1 year out.
27
The siege of Kalaman has begun. We see soldiers on the walls, being attacked by dragonelles. We also see that the dragonelles heading towards us are dropping some bottles of some potion. Arinona says that the bottles are probably alchemist's fire, which is a big deal. Behind all this, the citadel continues to head slowly towards us! Do we go to the wall and use the ballistae, or do we help with the city?
We choose to go on the wall. After all, most of the civilians are inside the keep.
As the dragonelles close in, we attack. Poor Waah asks for help as she loads the ballista, but she cannot move it herself. Sterling attacks them, (and gets attacked!) and then turns the ballista. Mal aims, and I fire, hitting a dragonelle, but only barely. Waah notices that the dragonelle that Sterling got's rider is down there, asks if we are all ok, and goes after him.
Meanwhile, the dragonelles still flying are trying to attack us, still. They attack Sterling, and then are behind the ballista now. Sterling goes after the rider, too. They fight. Then I get shot in the back by a stupid dragon army guy. Just they wait! Arinona uses her magic on the riders, and I try to shoot those jerks, and miss. Waah knocks down the officer on the ground.
The dragonelles will come back, and we carry on with the battle. We defeat all 4 dragonelles and officers. After that, another dead dragon landed by us. Ugh. This one wasn't even sent as a meteor, and half dead. We attack it, now. The ballista is facing it, so I'm taking advantage of that. Once we take that thing down, we spot Vendri. She's at the top of the gate house, shouting commands. We see 2 golden draconians flanking her. They get rid of her surrounding soldiers. We need to help her.
I shoot at the golden officers, and take down the first one. Unfortunately, it also explodes on my friends. We take down the last one! We go into a house which she has commandeered to heal up. Mal gets a notice from a scout, who reports that coppery dragonelles landed in a grove about SW of the city. He asks the closest gate to it, and he says the trade gate. We should go asap. But the dragon army is going through that way. The city is surrounded, so we'll probably need to fight our way through to get there.
We are planning to be flung from a device that Rinkledust and Thon, the gnome inventors. They also give us something to help us fall safely. We go, with a little trepidation. The device is called a Narycrasher. We hike to the Hawker's grove, to meet our future mounts! I can't wait. We enter a clearing, created by some fire? We hear some screeches, but can't see anything with all the smoke.
Sterling and I were supposed to go together, but then he takes off without me. To our east, there is fray, and suddenly we're being hit by some flames. Then from the north. Sterling attacks, and we hear more screeching. Poor Waah was even almost hit by a ballista missile. I walk out, because we can't see what we're fighting. I see Clistrin's camp, and he is hiding in the woods. I tell him we're coming, and keep an eye out for whatever it was in that smoke. They are little red dragons. We get rid of them.
Clistrin then greats us, and Arinona helps us look like red dragonelles and red army riders. He tells us that their dragonelles all fly in a very specific formation, and to avoid getting close to Kalaman. We spend an hour in the forest, to rest a little. We recover some, and then its time.
We are ready to fly out. We mount the dragonelles, and its weird. But flying is wonderful and scray. As we gain altitude, we can see the battle between the red dragon army raging, Enemies everywhere, even in air. We follow a group of dragonelles sneaking into the castle. We try to copy their formation, and we go closer to the bottom of the citadel. We see there 2 bright red dragonelles, coming towards us, to attack.
Now what do we do? I check, and we cannot see any other dragon army people that can see us. One of these is Bakkaris Jr! I try to tell him that he has to hurry, or his father will be beheaded, and he laughs. Arinona then turns his dragonelle into a slug, so he falls. The other rider is a master rider. We now need to get her. I shoot at the dragonelle, and she evades so that the arrow hits her!
Unfortunately, Waah tries to dodge something, but she falls from her dragonelle! Oh no! Clistrin looks like he is going for her, and the rest of us focus on the battle.
Sterling also starts to fall, and we are all worried. We defeat her, and Clistrin did save Waah. We do see a bunch of caverns that allow us to enter, with a shelf for us to land on.
26.
The plan is to go to the dragonelles, and see if they will take us up to the citadel. We will use the raising of the standards as the distraction. From the castle, we hear an alarm, echoing from the west gate, and soldiers rushing there. The group is encouraged to head that way. The plan was for us to wait at the gate for Clistrin so he can ask the dragonelles if they will take us. We head that way. On the way, we see Marshal Vendri commanding the army. Just outside of the city's defense perimeter, the dragon army is making camp. There is the flying citadel flying above, and the ancient, re-animated dragons glowing violet. For a time, everything is quiet for us, since we don't have orders.
From nearby, there is another set of warning horns being blown. We can spot a flight (4) of dragon army dragonelles flying towards the city walls, coming to intercept where there are 3 ballistae, and some 6 soldiers. We need to defend those. A ballista requires three actions - loading, aiming, and firing. We run to the walls, to help the soldiers with the ballistae against these pests. On the dragonelles, there are 2 bozaks, each! We start the fight, and they slaughter some of the soldiers. We try to defeat them while they are still far, but that does not work. We are able to defeat most of them, even after some of the bozaks tried to run away. Sterling congratulates the remaining soldiers, and we wait to hear from Clistrin.
We have a chance to catch our breaths, and some soldiers come to thank us. In the distance, I see what looks like a shooting star, streaking the sky, but with violet flames. It is going to land inside the city, and we need to go figure out what it is, and stop whatever is inside it. There is a screech after it lands, and a terrible dust. There are fangs, and purple flames, and we see a large skeletal dragon. We sprint towards it, about 125 feet from us. Arinona sees a note pinned with a dagger to the backbone of the dragon - we are being sent a message! We finish off the dragon, and the zombie it created. Then we look a the note. "The dragon queen sees you, and I'm the fire in her eyes. It is the dragon queen's will." We know who it is from. One of the officers that we questioned in Vogler said that the general is called Cansaldi Fire-Eyes, so this is likely a message directed to us.
I take the time to stand on the dragon's head, and inspire the soldiers. Tell them that yes, Kalaman will stand, and that we will defend it! I even pull out the other dragon head. Marshal Vendri approaches us on our victory, and she is studying the undead dragon's remains. She is concerned because this this the smallest of the dragons that are crawling around the citadel. She tells us that the east wall has a problem, because it is not guarded. She asks us to investigate, so we head that way as fast as possible. Arinona, Sterling, and Mal fly, and they carry Waah and I.
We get to the gate right as the portculis is rising, red dragon army people outside, waiting. We need to stop that! Sterling gets into the guard room, and tells us that Bakkaris is there, with a bunch of knights of Kalaman. We dispatch the guards, and he tells us that they have to get away because the city is doomed. Waah had already made another knight fall asleep, and I knock the last one out. Now I can subdue Bakkaris, and then ask him questions. But he is a slug, and Sterling puts him inside a tinderbox. I tell a messenger to tell Vendri that we Bakkaris opened the portcullis, but we have secured it. We will take him to jail. We wake up the soldier, who says that Bakkaris got an important message from someone in the red dragon army, and that if he could get to the city gates, then they would be able to get safe passage out of the gates. That they would have safe passage to their families who were caught outside. That is why those knights had betrayed Kalaman. I want to see this message. Mal stabilizes the other knight, and we will jail all 3. We make our way back to the castle, and there the guards escort the guards and snail to jail. We want to see the message as soon as he is not a snail.
Once Bakkaris is back to human, we gag him. We search his body, and we find the note. It says, "Father, the dragon army sends its greeting and proposition. Meet our agents at the warrior's gate. I have found a place here, and I will have glory. You can have a place here, too." We now have the evidence. Bakkaris, with this, told the knights a lie to get them to comply. Darrett finds us at the dungeon. We explain this to him, once he congratulates us. He wants us to rest, because tomorrow the attack may come. We go rest.
25.
The troops we helped are now with the rest of our army, to the east of the hole that used to be the city of lost names. Above it, is the dark temple, flying. They will be going to Kalahmann, but they are bigger so will take more time to assemble.
We can start heading back now. Our troops have been fighting for a long time, and we need to let them rest. Darrett approaches us, while staring at the citadel. He suggests that after we all rest, we should move ahead of the forces, get there, and let the Marshall know what is coming. We agree. The city itself is not up there. I tell him there is a skeletal dragon attached to it, but he points out that we see about 12 of them, there. It is commanded by Lord Soth. He sent word ahead to relocate the transport to the cove east of here. We agree to go, and bring some familiar faces to validate our story with Kudgel and Rukeldust. Kudgel can carry the fargab. We offer him good luck. He also offers Clistrin because he is a good guide.
The next morning, we head east. We are now familiar with the terrain, and Clistrin helps guide us through the easiest paths. Waah wants to help warn the people at Heart's Hollow, but I assume that the mayor will know about this. We spend the day walking, and later spot 3 crimson dragonelles with riders, in army armor, and they are trying to capture a wasteland dragonelle, only 30 ft away. We help him, but are worried about engaging in combat.
I go and remove the net for the net, and it looks at me, and then leaves. The riders and the dragonelles are now attacking us. We defeat them, and then continue heading east.
We find the ships at the rendezvous spot, and the captain recognizes us. He lets us on board, and we start to sail back that same day. We get to rest, and are blessed with a favorable wind, and make it quickly back to Kalaman. We get there, and are ushered to the council room. Marshall welcomes us, and we give her the summary of the citadel that is coming this way. We are all worried, and are now planning what to do in the meantime. We are introduced to the governor Thren, who was sitting at the mayor's chair.
Our best plan is to try and meet the citadel ahead of time, outside the city. It is a sneaking mission, where we would try and delay the citadel.
We go to tell the Marshal, and she says that Kalaman has been holding their own, but that we are losing to the Dragon Army. What they feel are major attacks, she thinks the Dragon Army is simply a test. They have flying units, troops and dragonelles. They have been making ballistas, 1-3 for every 60 ft. She has ordered all troops to return, and shore up the defenses. I tell her our plan, and that we were able to sneak into the City of Lost Names that way. Waah wants them to help us make disguises, and maybe we can have dragonelles as mounts to enter, and take it down from within. She says that the weak point of our plan is being able to fly into the city. We need the mounts. The bottom of the citadel is riddled with caves, tunnels, and we can probably go in that way. We used the distraction to get in. Can we do that?
Runkeldust may have something to help us. We would like the help of the dragonelles, but we need help getting to them. As we are speaking to Runkeldust, and they are looking for us. We go and see. He tells us that we have a reputation, and there is a situation at the west trade gate. Apparently there is a captain preventing refugees from entering the city, and it needs to be looked into.
We go see, and the portcullis is down. The captain is there with 8 soldiers. We approach, and Waah asks if there is a reason why he is not letting the refugees in? He says that it is because we don't have room for all of them, and that there are reports of dragon army soldiers who are able to perfectly take the guise of any person. Can Arinona find a way to see that? She cannot. We tell Vendri about this, since it is her decision.
Next, we need to see if we can get a few scrolls of fly. Otherwise, we'll be dependent on the dragonelles to fly to the citadel. After Arinona goes to visit a black-robed mage, we see 1 wasteland dragonelle with two riders. They land on the castle buttress. We get closer, and see that the riders is wearing silvery armor, and the other wears leather. We run up there, and want to see them. They are Clistrin and Darrett. I recognize it as the dragonelle we released from the cage in the city. These two are very happy to see us, and we chat.
Darrett says that Clistrin found the dragonelle after leaving us at the ships, and allowed him to ride it, and they were able to get reasonably close to the citadel. The whole thing is riddled with caves. So the plan can yet succeed. Clistrin offered him a ride. But they are not alone. The dragonelle has friends, who are not here, but are close. We have a way in!! We tell them what the plan is, and what is going on, and our plan. But now we have a possible way to enter the citadel. We are still hoping to do that before the citadel gets here, so that there is the distraction of the attack, like when we were able to enter the city of lost names. He says that if we plan to use the dragonelles, he can find the rest of them and help. If they are willing to do it, that may help.
Now we have a plan. After the dragonelle rests, they will go and try to recruit more dragonelles. From over near the castle, there are alarm horns. Uh-oh. Vendri is already there, issuing commands. The west facing ramparts are busy. In the distance, we can see a tangle of soldiers out there, thousands of them, dressed in red and black. They are raising their standards within our sight. It is out of reach, but its there. They are rolling up war machines. Flying over those in tight formation are more dragonelle riders. We also see the violet fire, and the reanimated corpses in violet. We need to go.
24. Finding safety
We leave the collapsing city, and find some of our army's troops. They bring us back to our troops, but unfortunately, the Dragon Army is also regroup. Boulders are still falling on us from the flying rising city. We need to retreat, and the army is trying to cut us off. We are in charge of the scouts, and hopefully they will make it and help us get to safety.
We battle, and try to make it to safety. We are victorious, and at the end cross the river. The plan with Darrett is to retreat to the south. While victorious, we still did lose some units. The floating island is still flying, and it takes position over the Dragon Army troops. It is not good news. It is also intimidating. We inform him that we were told that Kalamann is already being attacked, and he has not been able to get in touch with anyone there. He responds that we it wouldn't make sense for them to send troops against Kalhmann to breach its walls before they get the thing that can actually FLY over the wall. It is a good point, and that black-robed jerk has already lied to us about the crown controlling the tower.
23. The defeat of Belephaion
Now that the intel headquarters manor here is neutralized (at least for the time being), we need to figure out what to do. We cannot simply leave, as soon a patrol will come back and find everyone dead in here. Our main goal is to stop the dragon army from their main objective - to get the city flying again. While we're here, it would probably be good to figure out what is the plan with the dark temple and Lord Soth. For the time being, I content myself from gathering up all the pieces of intel I can from here, then focusing on bringing as much of that silver that we found as we can.
Approaching the central spire is going to be tricky. We can't just go there and attack. We could do some recon, looking like dragon army soldiers, and figuring out what they are up to. Especially since that area has so many flying units. I also think we should set fire to this manor and create a distraction WHILE we cover up our tracks. To do so, we gather as much flammable things as we can. Torches, any of the fats from the butcher, and all the hay outside. And we need to deal with the prisoners, which means we'll have them be quiet and cooperate while we move them to an abandoned manor to be found later.
Sterling is tired of having to wear Dragon Army armor, and not be able to wear his properly. I tell him we are so close to not having to do that anymore, but Arinona mentions that she can make us all look like dragon army soldiers, which is even better. This way, we'll be able to wear whatever we want. We get to work, since by our estimates, the next patrol is going to arrive in about 30 minutes, and this place needs to be an inferno by then. It works, and we leave as a new patrol approaches, and the guards that were stationed here are also caught unawares. We find a place to put the prisoners, rest a little, and then head on. We keep an eye out for troop movements, since we still want to avoid as many troops as possible on the way to the central spire.
Arinona goes ahead and casts the spell on us. She tells us that anyone looking will see us as a mix of human engineers. Thalassa looks like a guy pushing around a wheelbarrow, on account of her size. This illusion will last 8 hours, and we all sigh in relief. Again, as careful as possible, we head towards the central spire, taking the area's north bridge. From there, we see some large dragon bones between the buildings, and we leave the alone. The spire floats about 30 ft higher than anything else, and all the bridges that lead to it are collapsed. We observe it a little, and it turns out that no land units go across, which means that we'll need to climb the boulders and jump up that way. Thalassa offers to go first and send a rope back, and Sterling gallantly offers to carry me on his back while he jumps, which I obviously accept. We're not too sure that ropes will help here, since everything is floating everywhere, and we'll have trouble actually getting anything anchored.
Flying overhead while we do this are 3 dragonelle patrol units, one of which swoops by closer to take a look at us while we jump. Seeing simple dragon army soldiers, he leaves us alone. When we finally get to the tower, we see 4 draconian guards standing in front of the doors. At the top of the floating island is a grey obelisk, a few hundred feet over the plaza. There are crystalline windows that punctuate here and there. We approach the tower doors, and the guards challenge us for the password. We tell them, and go inside. In there are murals all over the walls, depicting idyllic life in the flying city. On the west wall there is a handsome, long-haired man with flowing robes. To the north there is a single door, and to the south a set of double doors. We see a small draconian who looks like a spell caster holding a trident. There is also a large creature that smells of death and looks like a creation made of bones. It has a scorpion tail, wings, and huge claws.
The bozak asks us our business. I tell him we have a report for Belephaion, and he tells me that we should report to him. I tell him that we cannot locate the general that was at the manor, and the bozak simply says that he is replaceable. Thalassa then pipes up with "What am I going to to do with this goop?" At that moment, the officer goes to look in the wheelbarrow. As we know the illusion isn't great under scrutiny, this is my chance to create a distraction. I pretend to fall and get hurt, holding my arm and crying in pain. The officer tells me that there are no medics, and moves to come help set the bone. Sterling intervenes, saying he was previously a medic, and starts to bind my arm. I recover by reminding him that we have the goop, "Bob, we still have to deliver the goop to the 2nd floor, right?" The officer thinks a little, but I think he's tired of us, and tells us to go through the northern door.
In this new room are levers, a console, and some elaborate symbol carved into the floor, radiating orange light. Arinona studies this strange orange view of the tower from above. Mal looks at the control panel, and asks Arinona to look at it too. Still, we have no real clue what it is or what it does. We leave it all alone, and go to the door in the middle that leads to the central stairs, climbing to the 2nd floor.
In this floor, there is a room with 9 blue crystalline columns, all very slender and sparking lightning arcs unpredictably between them. I walk up, and Mal pulls me away from a column before it zaps me. Arinona studies the columns, but there doesn't seem to be anything, as she doesn't say much. I walk into the room, get hit by lightning, and then Sterling has us back out of the room. He suggests that someone go downstairs, flip switches, and see if it has any effect on the lightning. Thalassa puts her hands on Sterling and says a few words to help protect him from lightning. He opens the door, and runs through the room until he finds a door. On the other door, there are some stone columns with crystal bands running among them. Between the columns are insect-like constructs, and sometimes the lightning arcs between the column and the construct. He runs past these to a different small console table, but is unable to stop any of the lightning.
Arinona goes next, finds the console, and studies it. She cannot turn it off, but she can control the drones. Each of us in turn then try to make it to the room, avoiding the lightning as best we can. Next, we take the stairs that will lead us to the 3rd floor. On this floor there is a round table, and on it what looks to be the city, before the flying city fell. It shows 100s of houses, the image coming from these 4 different lights hanging on different walls. But if you look closely, some of the sections of Anyari flicker, the areas that have been damaged by the fall. We know these sections are ruined, since we've seen them. Sterling uses the lance to touch the hologram, but nothing happens.
From here there are two doors. I listen at the first one, and hear more buzzing and crackling. In the north one, I hear whispering voices speaking draconic. I tell the others, and we go west, again avoiding any lightning. In this room are comfortable chairs with consoles, and two more console tables. One of these is buzzing and sparks with damage. There are also 3 skulls flying in midair, and they attack us. Soon, they are casting fireballs at us. Poor Mal goes down, and Sterling in mad, and kicks their butts in retaliation. Thalassa tells us that the skulls cannot be defeated, unless we use holy water, which is something we hear from stories. But to make any, we need Mal. Thalassa then spends time making sure the skulls can't reassemble themselves, but with the explosion, the draconics in the other room soon come to check in on us. The first one uses his breath, and I go down. I am restored, with Sterling making sure I feel better, and I make sure to show him all my injuries, since we're taking care of me. He's a very attentive nurse.
We decide since we cannot defeat the skulls, we will lock them in the room, and proceed to where the draconics came from. In this room there is a table that shows the topography of the area around here, the wasteland. We can even see big groups of soldiers moving south - both our troops and the dragon army. I try, but cannot use the images to squish any dragon army soldiers. Again, we press on.
On this floor, there is a depiction of Kalahman, but in a mirror. There is a black-robed wizard who is watching that mirror from one of the 4 consoles. Sterling tells him that today is his day to die, and the wizard tells us that he is forced to be here. That sounds very suspicious to me. He is Lohezet, and says that he has been forced to figure out the magics behind the tower. He says he doesn't care about the dragon army, but the research. He also says that we are willing to kill Belephaion, he'll leave the city without complaint. I think that someone thinks they can get us to do their dirty work. Unfortunately, the rest of the party seems to be ok with this idea.
I decide to ask questions while we're here. I ask about Lord Soth, and he says that no one commands him. Soth claims to work on behalf of Tahkisis, and has been aiding the dragon army in his own way. Sterling tells him to leave now, and that if he's still here once we are done with Belephaion, we'll slay him. But Lohezet says that if he leaves, then he won't know if we killed the other, and he prefers to wait here. We continue to discuss options, as if killing both is not the correct answer! I tell them that they are foolish to even consider this. Lohezet, hearing this, says that he can see we walked through the room with his skulls, and that he offers us a place to rest and restore before facing Belephaion.
Sterling asks if we have Lohezet's word that he won't leave with the dragon army, or sick them on us, and he says yes. Arinona steps up and asks him to swear upon his magic. Begrudgingly, Lohezet does so, showing us his magical symbol and swearing. Sterling then decides we should rest. Lohezet then tells us the password to avoid the electricity from the columns, "cetteth", but asks us not to tell anyone in the army about this.
Since we're doing this, I ask about Belephaion's weakness. Lohezet tells us that it is his arrogance and pride, since he believes himself to be a conduit for the queen herself. He is a priest, which is odd since I thought Mal was the only priest around here. I ask him how the city flies, and he said it is a very complex contraption. Having the helm helps, and he has been helping with the magics to repair it. I ask why, and he says that it is an unstoppable citadel, a weapon that you can control - who would not want that? He says that it is a marvelous work of magic, and he has been able to reactive all the magic devices so far. The city will be able to fly, but Belephaion is waiting from orders from the general, who is leading the army against Kalahmann. I ask if there is anything we can do to keep the city from flying, and he says that Belephaion will now control it. He says that the various consoles control some level of things here, but they are more fail-safes than the actual controllers. Flying is controlled by the helm, because the original constructor did not want to share his power. I ask if he has found any of the magic that the king-priest used to control his people, and Lohezet says that it was the king and his clergy that did that by domination magics. He then turns to Arinona and says, "you can see what damage too much good can do," and she agrees. He has some treasures on top of the console in front of him, artifacts and control components, all worth a fortune. There is a shiny gem that looks useful with a lot of light, and some kind of candle that is not lit but is covered in runes. He says that the candle is a useless bauble, and hands it to Arinona.
We rest, and Lohezet is true to his word. We are ready to go fight, and we go up. At the top of the tower there is a throne, and on it is Belephaion, crowned with the dragon queen's symbol. He has two sivets with him. The throne itself has jewels, and as he brings his hands down, we can feel the city start to fly. Sterling charges in.
Turns out, Belephaion is a blue dragon, and we defeat it. It still has the crown, so I dash there, abandoning the sivet, and take the crown to try and land the city properly. It was NOT the crown, and I sit on the throne, which thrums under me. That lying wizard! I cannot stop the fall or control the city!
We saved the day, but the city tried to rise, and that effort is tearing the city apart. Different parts of the city are rising to the sky at different rates, everything is shaking. The city is violently shuttering, and inside the tower we hear a crack. I stuff the crown in Belaphaion's bag, and carry these with me as we run down stairs. We did not see Lohezet, nor any of the other guards on the way down. We reach the Threshold of Heaven's plateau, and see disaster everything , with everything falling and chaos reigning through the city. Anything that can fly tries to escape. To the south, we see the violet flames lit inside the dark temple, and it flies atop an island. The windows all glow in a violet flame, and the undead dragon and Soth circle the blazing temple citadel, as the temple continues to rise into the sky, the only intact part of the city.
We need to escape!
22. Clearing out the City of Lost Name
We have a dragon lance! Sterling is holding it, as the brave knight that he is.
Now we need to figure out how to tackle the dragon army. Not in a "Us 5 are going to defeat an entire army, plus a skeletal dragon" but in a "What do they want, and how can we best frustrate them?"
I think our best option is to go to the least patrolled portion, and see what we can gleam there. Which rules out the Threshold of Heaven, because that is where there are most soldiers, trying to figure out how to drive the city. So we can look at the dark temple where Lord Soth was at, or the manor.
There are currently 6 dragon army soldier bodies in the garden - we can use their armor to disguise Mal and Sterling, and the rest of us hide while they walk. The treant helped us get some of the bodies, and then we started to undress them. They have scale mail, but only tatters of cloaks. Sterling kind of breaks some of the dragon armor, and places it over his own, then helps his brother. Meanwhile, Arinona, Waah, and I help find pieces of the cloak, so that she and Mal can mend the cloaks, and we can all disguise ourselves. I don't remember seeing any gnome soldiers, but there are goblin ones, so maybe they won't notice my height, since they won't notice Waah's.
With our disguises in place, we are ready to move south. I think that we need to figure out what they want, which means intelligence. The manor seems to be the best place for that, so we can learn what they are trying to do, and figure out how to best stop them. Of course, when we head that way, we go around the long way, trying to avoid being seen. In this area of the city, there are a lot of trees, but not all of them look ok. Some look diseased, and it may be because there are 7 undead things eating the bodies of the dragon army soldiers. I suggest attract their attentions, and then scrape them off on some more dragon army soldiers, but Mal pipes up that they are undead, and will simply chase their quarry to exhaustion. I guess our best option is to sneak around them. Unfortunately, they notice us, and now they got to go.
Sterling is the first to attack, and I move in to help him. When the creature gets close to me, Sterling valiantly protects me, and the rest of the group joins us. We defeat the undead, and send them back to where they came from. We continue heading south, and we notice some soldiers protecting some workers who are working to fix a crack in the city. They are filling the cracks with something, and smoothing things over. I wonder if the workers are there by their own will. There is a human officer, and 3 siveks, plus the workers. The craftspeople are a mix of humans and goblins, and they are not armed, so I guess that they are not there willingly. Either way, because of the siveks, we decide it is not a good idea to try and attack this group. Siveks fly, and could carry the news of our presence to people who should not know about us. So we avoid the group, but now at least we know they are trying to fix the city so that it can one day fly again. Hopefully that doesn't mean they are close to making the entire city fly again.
Next, we have a series of bridges to cross. First, a 500 ft one, then a 700 ft one, and finally a 400ft one. We observe a little, and notice that if we are able to time our moves just so, we can avoid the patrols around here. And just like that, we reach the mansion.
The east side of the house has a collapsed roof and walls, but it looks like the rest of it has been salvaged. At the south and SE there are doors that lead to a carriage house, all of which are guarded. We have seen a crew or another use a wagon around here. We approach from the east, and our goal is to engage with JUST that one door guard, out of sight from the other ones. Arinona goes and turns the guard into a rabbit (I love it when she does that!), and then enter the carriage house. Which, obviously, does not have a door that leads into the house, which seems like a major design flaw.
Inside the carriage house there is a wagon with a metal reinforced prison cart with something inside that shakes and growls. We defeat the 3 soldiers in there, and the one in the south door comes in to help. When there is only one of them left standing, he realizes that he needs help, and tries to go into the house for reinforcements and to sound the alarm. Not on Sterling's watch! He is able to stop that soldier before he can do anything. Arinona then goes to check on the cage, and it turns out to be a dragonelle from where Clistrin took us to see them, and she frees it. It looks a bit confused, as she is dressed just like the dragon army soldiers who put it in the cage in the first place. After she speaks to it, it seems less suspicious and goes on with its plan to escape.
Inside the house, there is a mud room full of spears and cloaks. We remove those from the area, and hide them in the cage where they had kept the dragonelle. If nothing else, it'll slow 6 people down in the future. From there, we enter the manor proper, and see tables and chairs, with some soldiers sitting and eating. Some of them look over, and without as much as a grunt, they continue to eat. We walk past them, and go check some doors. In the furthest room, there is debris, so we close that back up. Then there is a room with beds, probably where soldiers take turns sleeping and resting. I see about 8 people in there, and I think they should not be allowed to wake up. Luckily, Sterling does not object to having fewer dragon army soldiers, so I sneak into the room and start stabbing. Unfortunately, the first guy I attack wakes up screaming, which doesn't help me with what I'm trying to do. All of a sudden, a bunch of unarmored people start to wake up, and they have to go. Waah and Mal help me out, while Sterling and Arinona take care of the guards who had been trying to eat up until now. No luck with any of them chocking on their lunches. It is time to teach these guys a lesson.
Once done with all these jerks, we explore the rest of the first floor. There is also a kitchen, and the cook seems pretty uninterested in things. However, he soon realizes we are not part of the army, and attacks. He was a weird one, but no problem. Around here, we find a small chest, that Waah asks me to check. I give her the go-ahead, and as she opens it, it explodes like thunder in her hands. Oops - I didn't notice it was full of thunder. I need to apologize.
We go upstairs, and notice there are 2 doors. Sterling decides to listen at the doors like sneak, and I could not be more proud. One of the rooms has a person, and the other has more than one person writing on books, according to him. We go for the room with only one person first. Sterling kicks the door in, and I enter. I see a golden dragon sivak, and hit him. He simply looks over and Sterling, and then his lackeys come in and surround us. Well, then Sterling loses his mind and attacks me! ME! I run into the hall, behind Mal and Waah, trying to tell them that Sterling has gone mad. Before I can tell them properly, the sivak comes out and breathes on us. I feel week, and fall onto the stairs.
Mal helps heal me, and see that Sterling has come to his senses already. No one gets between Sterling and I, so this golden jerk has to go. I go and stab him to death. His magical essence lashes out, but I'm too fast for it. Now it is time to put a stop to these officers of his, even thought I would prefer to ask them questions.
Surrounded and leaderless, they apparently realize that they are at a disadvantage, so they surrender to us, and I DO get to ask them questions. Waah has a great idea, and tells them that we will ask them all questions separately, trying to get the best information. We'll also be able to learn what it is that they want, since this commander has so much paperwork.
The golden sivak is Commander Husk, and he reports to Belapheyon. The two dragon army leaders are Belapheyon and Lohezet. They at the threshold of the heavens. The password to get there is "By her will, the world". The reports indicate that the engineers have completed the majority of the work in shoring up the cities's most intact districts. Husk also had a key, and it matches the chest in his room. Inside, we find a large pearl, and a large sack labeled "payroll" with about 200 lbs of silver inside it, about 10,000 coins.
We look into the other room, and find it is a library-type room. Their paperwork was very clerical. They were reading, copying, and summarizing information for the army. From the officers, we learn a few things.
Belephayon and Lohezet lead the contingent, but they don't get along at all. The commander of the army isn't in the city. His name is Dragon High Master Ken Saldi Fire-eyes, and he is leading the army contigent that is attacking Kalamann. We should also beware that Belephayon is a fanatic, and claims to get commands from the Dragon Queen herself. Apparently, Lord Soth kind of operates on his own, receiving his orders directly from the Dragon Queen. He has his own army, and doesn't have to justify any of his actions. His group is in the south temple. They are all death knights in there, all undead, and all scary. Beleyphayon has control of the center of the city, and is probably there right now. Lohezet's research is what brought them all here, since he is fascinated with beasts and magic. We lock up these jerks, and take the money and paperwork with us.
I wonder if we can use this animosity between them to our advantage. After all, it seems Soth gets to do whatever he wants, and that has got to be hard for Belephayon, who does everything right, to bear. Also, if we want to be able to check out the Threshold to Heaven better, it can't be overrun with stupid dragon army soldiers - can we set fire to this house and create a distraction while we go look at the center of the city? Really, the biggest problem will be the undead in the southern temple.
20. Tests in the City of Lost Names
We continue exploring these caves, balancing hurry and being careful. This one area has a broken roof and s lot of mannequins and makes us think this was a hat making shop. As I go to check out the area, a golem pops up out of the ground and attacks us! We have to take it down, but it is a hard battle as these things are sturdy.
We continue to explore and head northeast. We enter an area that looks like storage, full of smashed barrels, shards of colored glass, and shelves. There used to be a staircase here, but it has collapsed. It is the first place we feel secure in since we got here, and it's out of the way a bit, which means we could probably rest here if we would like. But first, we look around and find a few 300-year-old bottles of wine! We all get one and Sterling opens his to try it. The wine is blue! But it is no longer tasty, but I'm sure someone would be interested in owning Itself wine.
We take a good rest, and Sterling again searches got magical weapons since he was upset he couldn't help against the golem. We get to exploring again, and head north and west. There are reptilian bones jutting out of the walls in every which way in this area. They are dragon bones, and the tunnel fills with the sound of rattling, as incomplete dragon skeletons burst forth, coming at us from the walls. The dragons hiss something in draconic, probably upset at the disturbance to their resting place. 4 skeletons attack us, working together, and we defeat them.
Thalassa tells us that this city was a dragon burial ground, and that is why they were angry - the flying city was using magic from the remains of the most reveared dead dragons! The flying city was ripped from the ground, and then it was crashed back into the earth. Of course the dragons were mad! This is why the metallic dragons left, and why Lord South failed the test from the gods, and the meteor was sent to the City if Israel. In addition, the King Priest was controlling people, even keeping them from having any negative thoughts. When the meteor came, it freed people from that mind control. Istar was a priest of Paladine! How could he?
As we move forward, we want to be as respectful as possible, especially if we see bones. Sterling is now very upset and vows to bring Lord South to justice! He was the one who failed the gods and everyone else. We keep heading down the SW passage, and find a flooded room. It is circular, and has images of people dancing around, tables and the like. All this a ways below where we stand, like this is a gallery window.
Sterling offers to go in to explore. Before he does, I insist that he use a rope so that he can stay safe. Plus, that way if we need to go down, we have a safer way, too.
Thalassa ties her ope around Sterling as he attempts to go down the 10ft to the flooded room floor. Water down there is about 3 ft tall, and there is a bit of oil floating stop it.
Poor Sterling is attacked by a stupid, ugly reptile slaad! It stands out of the water and uses magic to ignite the oil.
It then turns to us, sending a fireball our way. I try my best to dodge and pull out my crossbow - no one attacks my Sterling! We defeat the salad and all climb down. Next to where that slimy reptile was standing is a door. We wait there while we rest and Mal helps is all feel better before going forward. And this is the worst bar ever, with nothing interesting or value left.
Now that we look at it, this door doesn't have a lock. It is also rusted, so I use some oil from my lantern. That helps remove some of the rust and we are able to get the door open. We enter s room with a lot of chairs, and on the east wall there is a dragon skull. In the north wall, there is a bas relief of all the dragons bowing before the corpse of s bigger dragon. Again, here is where the most reveared dragons were buried.
As we walk in, I bow to the dragon head, as it assembled itself. It says something in draconic. As was depicted, I bow again. Thalassa helps me tell it why we are here, and that we are not enemies. I tell it about the danger to their eggs, and how we will help. It nods and disappears.
With nothing left to do in this area, we move on. The next area we find is no longer caverns, but something that was built. There is a door that doesn't require any oiling, and we find ourselves in a lab with live mice in cages, books, and potions. Arinona is worried that there is magic here. She finds a book that suggests rituals in it, something about an arcane gate. We also think there may be someone here, and I sure hope it is not a dragon army person.
Sterling and I think we should move forward. Also, if these mice are alive, it means someone must be caring for them. We head north to the door, and once we open, we confirm that there is someone here. As they don't attack us, we want to make a good impression. The room is furnished as a luxurious apartment, but everything looks old and well cared for.
The person here is in crimson robes, with their hood on. They wear a mask of a bleached skull. The voice is feminine, and she welcomed is. She holds out s blue gem towards us, and says she will start the assessment.
The gem shattered, and a misty form appears, resembling s dragon. Sterling is closest to it, and he moves away, trying to test if the dragon is going to attack us. It did, and hurt poor Sterling.
The air creature comes into contact with Sterling, Mal, and Thalassa, and flings the brothers in different directions. Once we are done, the woman asks for our forgiveness for the welcome, but explains that she wanted to appraise our abilities. She tells us it was necessary because we are not the first visitors to the fallen city, that recently people have been flocking here to the paradise of Istar. Her home has suddenly been remembered, but not the lessons. Her name is Demelin, High Wizard of Anyari. Sterling asks why she stayed when all else was destroyed. She says that because someone needed to remember the lesson of hubris, and that it is part of her penance, for the crimes of pride. She was one of the wizards that gave the city it's ability to fly, as part of an outreach program from the elven cities to Istar and the King-Priest. He believed that this city would be heaven in this world, it would be perfect and fly. And the people closest to the gods would live here. That was the purpose of the city.
She then tells us that she has been watching our progress since we went through the Path of Mirrors, whatever that was. She says that she was looking at our memories, and I feel uncomfortable. The Path of Mirrors are the chambers we entered after arriving in the tunnels through the cliffs. I ask if by "other visitors", she means the red dragon army. She nods. She says that there was an invasion of the city. She doesn't know who they are or what they want, but she isn't happy about them being there. We tell her that our goals align, then. Mal shows her the symbol that they carry, and she doesn't seem happy. She say s that they patrol the city heavily, but that they focus their activity in the city center, from a sizable mansion by the Threshold to Heaven, in the middle.
Arinona asks what Soth is looking for in this place, and Demelin is shocked. She confirm the name, and tells us that it would be best if Soth was gone from this place. She then asks about the lance, and we tell her the spirit told us that the lance needs to be redeemed. She says that in the NW quadrant we can find the temple of Paladine, and that is where we would be able to do that. Unfortunately, that part of the city has a collapsed acquafier and is partially flooded.
I her that we need to thwart the red dragon army, that they may be looking for dragon eggs, but she doesn't believe there are any here. We ask about any artifacts of power that may be here, but she says that the city itself is the treasure. I ask how they could be able to make the city fly again, and she says that we should stop them from learning how to control it. Arinona says that Soth brought back the cataclysmic fire, but she doesn't know what he would use it for. Mal asks if there is a way to free the spirits of the great dragons so that they magic cannot be used to power the city, but she simply tells us that we cannot allow them to control the city.
I ask where the controls to the city are, and she tells us again about the Threshold of Heaven, which is the city center, where the troops are concentrated. She says if we go out the northern door, we'll be able to see much of the city, because we are on a plateau. We go out, and look. There is a river around the center spire, and it is about 1/4 mile diameter at the base. There is another spire to the south, but she did not mention it. In the south, there looks to be some jungle.
Our first goal here is to bless the lance. She tells us to recall what made us who we are today. Arinona remembers her test of high sorcery, but Demelin tells her that she needs to remember. We watch as the the penny drops for her, and she is faced with a few tests. The first is whether she saves innocent people or magical knowledge in the form of books. She chooses to attack the two dragons that threaten the different groups so that they will go after her, and leave the books and the civilians alone.
Next she has to choose between helping a woman or her child. Since the woman is crushed, she can tell her child to leave. She casts polymorph on the mother, gives it to the child, and tells her that she will turn back once it is safe.
Last, there is a sky boat, and in it a father and son. The boat is full, and an elderly sage who is moving slowly doesn't have enough space to join them. He asks to be allowed to enter with this knowledge that he is bringing, and the people on board start to argue. She tells him to throw his books into the ship, and casts feather fall on the man and pushes him off, so that he will still land in safety.
Demelin asks us what we think about Arinona. She says that in their group, white robes represent wizards who do the right thing, red robes seek balance, and black robes care for themselves. Arinona's robes are currently crimson - should they continue to be that color?
21. The dragon lance!
After her test, it looks like the red is drained from Arinona's robes, and she now wears white. She is welcomed to the Mages of High Sorcery by Demelin.
From where we stand, at the top slope of the city, we see an amazing, large, and beautiful city. We need to investigate the central spire, and figure out what the Dragon Army objectives are. Demelin says that they are trying to make the city fly again. The spire is floating a little above the ground, and there are floating rocks bobbing around there. We decide to rest before we go, and as we do our watches, we notice that the central spire is always surrounded by dragonelles flying. Demeline points us to a house that is safe to rest, but that we can also choose to rest here if we like.
However, before we prepare for our rest, we hear a distant crack, as if a stone were being cracked open. When we look, on the temple roof is a figure holding a scepter with crackling violet flame, and they call forth a skeletal dragon who climbs on to the roof, and allows the mage to ride it. The rider is Lord Soth, and I wonder if they carry a dragon egg. We get a call from Rinkledust, the tinkering gnome. She says that they are retreating and being chased by the dragon army. She entreats us to take our time but to also figure out who in in charge of the army and deal with them, as that would help them.
We see small patrols coming and going to a ruined mansion to the SW of where we are, on an hourly basis. There are also a large amount of dragon army troops at the dark temple in the southern part of the city.
I think we need to head to the temple of Paladine, in the NW part of the city. To get there, we can use one of the two bridges, but we worry those are too close to the center spire, and we will be discovered. We decide to go around the long way, through the NE part of the city that had been burnt down to rubble. From there, we can cross over to the NW section. That is what we do.
We go through the burnt down district. We get to the end of any alley that is crumbled, and we see a pair of huge marble statue feet. It is close to a place where there was a landslide, and 100ft of rubble strewn on a slant down. Sterling says that we can tie two ropes together and rappel down there. We tie two ropes, then tie them to the foot, but Waah volunteers to go first, since she is very nimble.
She goes, and when we arrive she is talking to what looks like a human man, Frank. She introduces us, and he tells us that he is there to find and sample some draconians. He says he is not afraid of them, and that the golden ones are the tastiest. I ask about them exploding, and he says that you have to keep them alive and eat them little by little. That doesn't seem like a great person, but it is an enemy of my enemy. He also says that if we help him, he'll give us a magical ring, which is even better. I ask how many draconians he can handle in a fight, and he says 3-5 easily. I say we can help him get draconians. When asked where he came from, he says that he flew here. I tell him that we plan to stop at the temple first, but after we can help him. He says that he does not eat humans. Sterling brings up that he will not help this man hunt down and torture draconians. Arinona asks, and Frank insists that he is a human. After Sterling's objection, Waah says that maybe we have different goals and should not join forces. Frank seems disappointed, but walks away.
Arinona says that she cast a spell on Frank, and that he was some sort of aberration. She explains that it means its a being not from this world, which explains why he wanted to eat a draconian.
We continue to move through this district, and take a northern bridge to stay farther away from any red dragon army. On the way, there is a large guild hall with a mural. It depicts a dignified-looking man, in robes, looking at the city. There is no crown or scepter, but there is light shining behind his head. I wonder if that is the King-Priest.
As we get closer to the bridge, we hear the sounds of combat - some clicking, hissing, and draconic grunts. I recommend that we all hide, and Waah and I can scout. As we approach, we hear clacking sounds, and cries of pain, reminding us of that battle between Rinkledust's constructs and the dragon army at her house. It is actually 5 draconians fighting a mechanical thing made of marble and gleaming metal, that had sparks of electricity. It has insect-like legs and 4 arms that should be good for grabbing and carrying things. I've heard of these creatures before. They are creations from before the cataclysm, made by the people of Istar as repair constructs. They are used to morter stones together, but it can also defend itself. The draconians seem determined to destroy it. We report back, and decide that we should let them fight and not interfere. After all, the construct won't mind half as much if the draconians explode.
With everyone in agreement, we sneak past that fight. When we arrive at the bridge, we see a group of draconians that were guarding the bridge move away, as if it were the end of their patrol. I think this is our opportunity to get across, and we make a run for it. In this NW area, it is much more swampy from all the flooding. The temple itself sits atop a hill overlooking the area around it. Getting into it may be tricky with the extra water, but it doesn't look like inside the temple will be much trouble.
As we approach the temple grounds, we see a pond with roof lines from the surrounding submerged buildings. There are lavender leaves from trees, and there is a symble of Paladine in platinum. As we pass by, we see a skeletal hand, from someone who was crushed by a boulder. It holds a dagger. I go to inspect it, and it has some writing in Astarian. Arinona helps me translate it, and it says "We deserve this." I pick up the dagger, and we move on.
We arrive at the temple, but the causeway is a deep band of water. Sterling uses his pike to measure. He walks into it, and it gets pretty deep, chest high on him, quickly. It is more like a pond, so it doesn't look like we have to worry about currents, but maybe about what lurks underneath. Sterling offers to carry me across. We look around to see if there is a way we can go in without having to swim or take off our armor. Towards the western part of the causeway there is an elevated stone path, above the water, and mostly walkable except for a 5 foot gap where rocks look unstable. We will have to jump over that, and Sterling helps me.
Past that, we get closer to the doors. We see stone steps that lead to and from the temple. There is an ancient path made of stone beyond it, and on the other side the water is lower. There are bodies of dragon army soldiers on the trees on this area here. Were they strung there? It doesn't look like it, but this whole thing feels wrong. Then the trees come to life.
We hear in a booming voice, as if from everywhere at once, "Each defiler you send to my garden meets the same end. BEGONE." Sterling tries to talk to them, and asks if they don't like these people. Arinona tells it that we are not here to defile. I also try and tell them that we are trying to help, and even have Sterling show them the lance. The trees attack, and Waah tries to have them chase her into the water, while we can make it to the entrance. Only one follows her, while she jumps in the water. The rest keep attacking, and finally Sterling tells them that we are no enemies. Somewhere in the water, Waah says that there is a fish there. I go towards Sterling to help him convince the tree.
We hear splashing from where Waah is, but she seems fine, despite being blasted back with water. Turns out, it is not from this plane and is mad that it is here, and Waah is trying to help it, but it is just mad and keeps pushing her away. There is also something in the water causing a whirlpool. Once the trees decide to talk to us instead of attack, it tells us that the fish man was bound here by the Istarianswho made it clean the sewers, and that it's bounds eroded a long time ago, but it likes to see the destruction of the city, so it stays and annoys everyone. We have a few options for the elemental, but decide that it is best to rest so Mal can try and banish it back to where it came from. We rest so that he can call upon Mishikal. Waah then asks the trees if we can rest here, and they are ok with it. She also offers to help remove the bodies on them, but they don't want it. They think it is a good warning for other dragon army soldiers to stay away. But the ones currently there have some weapons and golf on them, and we take those.
The tree tells us it is called Duskwalker. It chats with us while we rest. It thinks that the draconic army is like an invasive species, and I could not agree more. We ask if it was here when the city fell, and he says that he was, about 350 cycles ago. He was asked to come here and care for the plants. It was a vast, beautiful garden. Waah compliments the color of the leaves, and it says that there are very few of those. He says that he is the only one here, and we notice that while the other trees fought, it is the only one who moves around or speaks. She asks how we can help, and he says all he wants is peace to tend his garden. I tell it that we want the dragon army out of here, too. He says that they spend most of their time in the city center, in the Thershold. He points at the spire in the middle, and calls it the Threshold of the Heavens. It was called that by the ruler, and it was what made the city fly. He also says that the magic remains there. It asks why we seek the temple of Paladine, and Arinona tells it that it is to reconstitute the dragon lance used against a golden dragon. It asks why that happened, and Sterling explains that it was because someone failed their duty and ended up killing a golden dragon. It now understands why the dragons were so angry. We explain that the magic that allowed the city to fly came from the bones of dragons. It asks us what we plan to do with the weapon, and we tell him that we would like it to be blessed by Paladine. He tells us to take it to the cancel, where the alter stands. I ask if he ever thinks about leaving here, since there is more dirt out there, and he says he can hardly manage the gardens in here.
Mal is finally ready to try and banish that fish thing. We walk up close to the water edge, and I borrow Mal's shield. I want to keep the water off my face, and be the target to be pushed back. However, instead of the fish, a whirlpool forms in the water, and comes directly at me, trying to swirl around me and drown me. I'm pushed back by this, but I am not injured! I try to keep distracting the elemental while everyone else jumps in the water to deal with the prince elemental. Except for Mal, who is trying to banish it. But it doesn't seem to work. Finally, the elemental attacking me just disappears, and we go to the temple.
We have to, so we jump into the water and swim for the doors. Waah breaks the doors, and we enter.
Inside is a once-beautiful chamber, triangular in shape. The points are the alter, a collapsed area, and an area with 2 doors. As we get closer, we see a stone carving that depicts platinum dragons. Sterling gets close to the alter, kneels, and then places the lance on it. Immediately, we see a column of dim light on the alter. The lance rises into the air with a silvery glow. The rust bubbles away, and the spear grows into a newly formed dragon lance. There is a powerful voice that says, "The last to wield this weapon was unworthy. But this new age needs a new hope. Use it to defend mortals. Defeat the dragon queen." A wave of light then sweeps through the temple, making us all feel much better. The lance is now a pike, which is magical and can do a lot of damage, especially against a dragon.
This done, we decide to explore the rest of the temple. We go to the closest door to us, and it is a rectory. We open the door without trouble and find a small living area. We search it, and find a rusty chest with some cool things. Then we look into the preparation chamber, where there are many cracked bottles and vials, but nothing of note.
***Would fixing the aquifiers here help the northern wastes be less dry?***
19. Sometimes, all you need to do is slap a dragon army officer
Yeah, the fortification that guards the dragon army soldiers. In our way so we cannot reach the City of Lost Names. I am livid that they are here before we are. I will need to pitch the idea of an air patrol to Kalamaan, so that we know the whereabouts of this stupid army.
Anywho, I take a quick measure. We have 300-400 troops with us. Here, I can't tell how many there are from where we stand. Maybe we can look for a better vantage point, or find someone who we can interrogate. What is the best option?
My guess is that the army is camped here because they are waiting for the people who went in there looing for something. Our main goal is to thwart them, so we need to go as fast as we can. Maybe when our army gets here, they can be a distraction. Waah spots a bunch of mages in there, so it will be a challenge for us to even sneak by. They are a pretty well-organized bunch, and I hate it.
We message Darrett with the fargab, and tell the army to sneak up to where they are about 15-20 minutes away, without being seen. The plan will be for them to distract the army - they won't need to defeat the dragon army, just draw them away and create a distraction. If there is a way for them to retreat, even better.
The plan is for me to find someone who looks like they may know what is up. Waah will then knock them out. Once they wake up, they can tell us what is going on, and we can get a move on, which is the important part. We hide and wait for a scouting group. The groups consist of between 4 and 10 people. Some of them have officers, some of them have draconians, and some of them even have sivaks. They come by every 15-20 minutes. We know we cannot get the parties with sivaks, because they can fly and alert people to our presence.
The first patrol is 5 humanoids, and 1 sivak. We skip this patrol. The second one is a group of 10 coppery draconian, and 2 soldiers. Next, are 2 officers and 2 coppery, small winged draconians. We argue whether officers would be good candidates for information. I think they know more, but Sterling thinks they are harder to break. I agree that maybe we don't have time for a good interrogation, so we let them pass. However, the next patrol is back to the 5 humanoids and 1 sivak. So we wait for the officers. And really, if the interrogation will be more difficult, we want to get both of them. The sound of a comrade in pain is a very effective interrogation tool.
Waah goes in to stun as many as she can. We can kill the draconians. Arinona turns one officer into a frog, and as we go to knock out the other, he surrenders. We go with him, and the other is kept as a toad. I start to ask him questions, and he doesn't seem to be paying me any attention. I slap him, and he cooperates better, but only asking if we will allow him to live. Really, he seems very confident that he will return to his post in the dragon army after betraying all this information to us. But, that is his problem, not mine. I ask:
How many people in your army? 473
What are you doing here? Guard the entrance and protect the rear of the army
What do they want? He thinks they want the magical stuff there, and they have an HQ in there, ransacking it
I ask about the sivaks, and he says the silver and gold ones come from out east.
Who is leading the rasacking unit? Leaders of the armor is the Mage Blohazet, and the priest Belepheon. There is another person, a solamnic knight with black armor and red glowing eyes. What do they call him? He's not sure.
Why did you join up this army? Because they have a lot of power, and they can make his family rich.
How long have they been in there, ransacking? A couple of weeks.
He has seen only 1 black dragon fly this way and then leave. So only 1 egg, probably.
Whats the best way to enter? The sneaky way? Waah promises him some gold if he shows us. He says at the rear of the encampment there are stables for dragonelles. At the back of the building and turn right, go to the end, and there are some boards. Move the boards. He called it a Winsed passage. The canyon walls are riddled with tunnels.
I ask Arinona how long her friend will stay a toad? She says probably for another 30 minutes. I call Darrett and tell him it is time. He has a plan, and starts the fight with some flying arrows. He uses his forces wisely, and pulls back slowly so that we can slip behind the fighting forces. We still have to face the rear guard at the stables, but I'm confident we can do this.
By the stables, there are three officers. 2 of them have pikes, and that long reach is deadly. However, with all the fighting and chaos around us, we have random soldiers coming to fight us, and even dragonelles falling on top of us at random times. It is a hell of a battle! But finally, we make it into the stable, and go into the tunnel.
Somewhere inside, the rock changes from a cramped tunnel to a carved out one. As we approach a fork in there, we see greenish flames, and spectral dragon heads. They scare me, and I almost attack Sterling. They float through us a vanish, and luckily, Sterling didn't even notice my fright.
The first room we find inside the tunnel is partially flooded, and depicts a dragon in flight on the walls. We avoid the waters. With all these dragons we see on our way, I would believe this would bring us to a city of Dragons, not the city that caused the downfall of the dragons. Hmmm...
The next chamber we enter is large, and has a bit of a fallen ceiling. There are also mismatched bones, and decaying hats and skulls. Maybe they used to make hats here. But what about the bones? Did they make hats up there, and then it fell here where the dead were? Are these even dragon bones?
18. Heading north
Before we leave the tavern, Mal says that he wants to try and bless the lance. Through the power of Mishakal, but with Ness looking on. With her assistance, he wants to invoke the aid of Paladine. We all help by offering a silent prayer to our own gods. He offers a blessing for the benefit of the chlidren of Paladine, and has a vision of a ruined temple. It is triangular, with towers at the points. A lake is around it, and one of the towers is collapsed. He said that inside, there were some very interesting violet looking trees (maybe like the smoke in the temple?), and in front of this shrine are double doors with the triangular symbol of Paladine. He says that he thinks he received a message of where we can restore the lance! Mal asks Ness where the place he saw would be, and she tells him that she has seen it from above, and that they are the ruins northwest of here, from before her time.
Ness remuinds us that to defeat an enemy, it is not always necessary to kill it, or even to fight it. She offers us drinks as we sit there. I agree, since sometimes, the best way to defeat enemies is to make sure that their reputation is ruined to the point where they are no longer trusted with anything important.
Finally, it is time for us to invite the good folk of Heart's Hollow back into the tavern. I go tell them, and they return to their drinking. I tell Clistrin that we are ready to go see the dragonelles. He says that he has all the stuff necessary to feed them, and that we are going to see about 10 of them that live there. But that is tomorrow night. For today, we will find an empty home and make camp in there. As for Dalamar, we offer him the option of coming with us, or waiting here. He doesn't seem too happy about this additional delay, but he doesn't complain.
The next morning, we leave at dawn, and are met by the wash. Things get flooded, and we cannot make it as quickly as we hoped, and it will take more than one day to travel. We are able to spot and avoid a dragon army patrol, though. They have at least 2 units riding their own dragonelles. We don't want to chance alerting the Red Dragon Army that we are in the area. We make camp for the night and double up for our watches. We have a peaceful night, and wake up refreshed and ready to travel. Clistin seems very excited.
As we approach, we can see flying the flying shapes of the creatures. He says that we need to get close, put the food down, and then we need to move about 100ft away to watch. These are bronze colored, while Ness is a copper colored one. The bronze dragons were closely associated with the seas - they could summon up a storm, and they could also control lightning. Maybe these creatures can do that to some extent.
I tell Waah to go ride one, and she walks over there to try. One of the dragonelles looks at her as she continues to move forward slowly. It watches and sniffs her. She drinks some of her own water, and offers some to the creature. She walks closer, and is able to get within touching distance. Again, it sniffs her, and nudges her, searching for food. She feeds it and tries to pet its head while it eats. It looks like she is making a friend, and she starts to talk to it. It appears to understand her, as if it were trying to respond. Soon, she decides to come back, and thanks a flabbergasted Clistrin for bringing us here.
I was hoping that Waah would figure out how we could fly one of those things, but oh well. We begin our journey back, and but it will take more than one day to return, as the wash is still going strong. We make it most of the way back, nad that night, Arinona finds the bones of a beast, along with crabs picking at the animal's remains. Otherwise, the night is quiet. The next day, we travel and make it back to Heart's Hollow. Clistrin wants to go back and meet our army, saying that he could be a good scout. I think its a great idea. We find Dalamar and head out that same day. We do our best to avoid the wash, and head northeast.
After a long day of trekking, we make camp for the night, and nothing important happens that night. However, the next morning, we run into a flood, caused by the wash. We noticed something in the water, flashing, making it glow up under the water. I ask Dalamar if that is what he was looking for, and he says no, but that this is VERY magical. Now I am curious.
Arinona sends her familiar to look closer, since it is under the water. The lights are arranged in a ring shape, but it is not regular. Mal says he can part these waters and create a trench so that we can go look at it. It seems to be a portal, and Dalamar says that he is not interested in exploring this, as they usually have malfunctioning golems. We've even met one. And it is also under water, which makes it harder. We decide to make a note of where it is, but keep on moving. Maybe it'll be like the other one, and help us get to Vogler faster in the future. As we move away, Dalamar explains that these have a chance of creating a difficult journey, since they were made before the cataclysm, which produced a crack between worlds. Which means that about half the time, we may end up in the correct place, and the other half, we may end up in the shadowlands, and we know what kind of nasty monsters reside there. Knowing this, I thank our lucky stars that when Thalassa tried the one that led to Vogler, nothing bad happened to her. Or us.
We finally get to the coast mid-afternoon. We search the inlets, and finally reach one that is covered in fog. Dalamar says that the fog is magical, and that we need to find out what is creating it. It is probably above water, which is nice so that we can actually reach it. However, this fog is so thick, I can barely see my hand in front of my face. This will be fun.
Inside the cave, there are crystals protruding from the cave walls. Waah licks the crystals and determines it is salt. I start to harvest some of that salt, because it will fetch a good price in the market. Meanwhile, Dalamar is looking at his wand, and says we should not eat this salt because it is infused with some sort of magic. Ugh. The whole cave is billowing fog, and we walk inside. I use my lantern, but I'm not quite sure it is helping.
I ask Dalamar what he expects to find in here, and he tells us again that we need to find what is causing the fog. So much for being prepared for salt cavern monsters. But I don't think this magic is similar to the one that was turning people into monsters, so I get a little more comfortable. We look around, and soon find an Anhkolox. It takes me inside its chest thing, which is super gross. I wake up to Waah telling me to duck next time. I'm so happy to see her that I don't even roll my eyes too much.
Dalamar continues to look around. He is looking at a piece of broken black glass. His wand is still glowing, and it glows more brightly. He touches the glass, and the fog stops billowing from it. In about 1 minute, the fog dissipates. He picks it up and tells us, "Thank you for your assistance." He says he isn't sure what it is, but I don't think he's being very honest. I wonder what he's hiding. After some insistence, he finally tells us that it is a piece of an artifact that he thought no longer existed. He says he is now going back to his tribe, alone and along the coast. He says that they may go home if this artifact very helpful. We all say farewell to him, and wish him luck on his journey. He has been a good ally, but very much only because of our mutually aligned interest. I hope one day his leader can be an actual ally to us.
We rest for the night, and get ready to make our way to the city of lost names the next morning. The wash remains high, and we head west. On our way, we spot a group going in a similar direction. They are 6 people, 5 of them humanoid, and one of them a sivak. We choose to avoid them, and again, want to avoid giving away our position or letting them know that we are in the area.
At the end of our second day of travel, we go to bed. In the morning, they tell me that at night they heard people walking about, but did not check who it was, and were not spotted. I think this is the best outcome - who knows if it were another sivak or something terrible that would blow our cover? This morning, the wash seems a little more aggressive. As we watch, we see far away, in the high water, 2 long necks and heads poke out of the water. There are three animals with long necks, maws full of needle-like teeth. They have humps, and are coming towards us, like drifting islets in the water. We defeat 2 of them, and the last one runs away. The coward!
We figure that we can make it to the City of Lost Names by tomorrow evening. And the morning brings us a less aggressive wash, so we make better progress. We see a purple worm in the distance. As we approach, we see an aged stone wall in the plateau. There are some wood palisades, and countless red tents, with innumerable dragon army troops, and red army dragonelles swarming above.
17. 2 dragons and a bronze egg
Welp, now we are stuck in cages while we have a bulette and the draconian guards coming for us. Although the bulette has already eaten at least one guard, so the plan seems to be working. The stupid silver sivak has alerted the whole camp to us. Then, to make things more interesting, Arinona tells Sterling that there is a dragon coming. That is definitely not a fight we can win, bulette on our side or not. We need to rescue these prisoners and leave.
I tell everyone to climb on the cages, and Mal to create a hole in the wall. We do just that, and finally, Mal, the elves, the kind, and I use a hole he made in the stone to exit the camp. We're still surrounded by that terrible muddy muck around the fort, but at least we can start to leave. Arinona does not join us, but she tells us to go ahead and escape, while she flies off the other way. We see Waah come back, and she's helping us fight so we can run away. I worry that we need to help Sterling out, since he is holding back all the camp guards. Come on bulette, be useful!
The dragon comes closer, and lands. It was originally on the tower, but then it comes to the outside of the wall where we are at, and uses its horrific breath poison on us. Sterling, Mal, and I fall. Apparently Waah helped Mal, who was then able to help the rest of us. We are able to escape, with the dragon back on the tower. We need to hurry up, because it can catch up with us, and then we'll be in real trouble. My turn to help Sterling with a potion, and we run away, as fast as we can. I had planned to go back to camp, eastward, but we are west, and we just move out as fast as we can.
We barely escape, and Sterling has to carry me. After a bit of running, we spot some scouts. One of them is Clistrin, who is scouting for our troops under Darrett. They offer to accompany us back to the army camp, nad then we can rest there. In the camp is Dalamar and Arinona, and we are so relieved to see them. She has a chest in front of her, though, so we mostly pay attention to that. It is not a large, or heavy chest, and she says that when carried it, she felt something move inside it. I offer to open it up, but am unable to. Sterling also offers to break it, but we worry he'll break what's inside.
Arinona is able to mess with the lock, and opens the latch. Inside is a metallic dragon egg, still slightly warm. WHAT?
I panic. We need to take care of this! I ask Clistrin about how the dragonelles take care of their eggs. He says that the wasteland dragonelles take turns watching the egg. He reminds us that the one that attacked us was a black dragon. He says that the old stories say the metallic dragons are good. But the sivaks we have fought so far have all been metallic, and they are definitely not good. I think that maybe those have been corrupted. I confirm if the dragonelles just stay with the eggs, or if they keep them warm. He says that they wrap themselves around their eggs, and keep them warm. He also says that taking it to Heart's Hollow is the safest place for the egg. We discuss as a group. On one hand, Heart's Hollow has never been attacked, but if it were, it would not have many defenses. Kalamann, on the other hand, would have defenses, but it is under new leadership, and they did not do well the last time there was a danger.
I ask Dalamar what he knows about the metallic dragons. He says the they have not been seen since the cataclysm. He also agrees that we, as scouts and special units are probably not the best people to keep the dragon egg safe. We wonder out loud how the dragon eggs are corrupted, and where we can keep the egg. Clistrin says that we should ask Ness, and that he knows a good way back to Heart's Hollow. We also choose not to tell Darrett, because he would have to report that up his chain of command, and we don't see a way in which Lord Bakaris won't know about this otherwise. I remember that those two soldiers we captured in the keep told us that the metallic dragons abandoned their eggs, since they are not coming back to protect them from the corruption. Why are the metallic dragons not coming to save the eggs? Also, how do they find the eggs? Clistrin says the dragon he saw was the same kind of metallic as the egg.
We rest for the night. In the morning, I look for Darrett. We will need more healing potions, since two of them saved our party from becoming dragon food the previous day. He gives me two of those which I give to the Sterling brothers. We set off to Heart's Hollow once we are all awake and packed. We make it after a tiring long day of marching. We go back to the Salt Lick and see Ness, at her normal table. Clistrin goes and talk to her first, and then he leaves. She then stands up and asks for 1 hour of privacy from all the other patrons. Some grumble, but everyone eventually leaves.
Once we are all alone, Arinona sets the chest in front of Ness, and tells her to go ahead and open it. Once she sees it, she looks upset, and goes to grab some drink for all of us. We tell her that we need this to stay safe. She leans back, thoughtfully. I had hoped she would be more open to this, but I guess she knows something like this will definitely attract attention from the draconic army. Arinona tells her how we found it, in the dragon army camp, inside the officer tent. We tell her about the black dragon that we saw, and almost killed us. She listens to all the details, and then she tells us that she hopes that we leave the egg here in her care. I am surprised. She says that 100 years ago she came here looking for clutches of metallic dragon eggs, and that she's been looking for a long time. This is the first one she's seen so far. We tell her she doesn't look that old, so I ask her what she is. She says she is a bronze dragon, and that her lair is located below, in the crater. She blinks to show us her bronze dragon eyes. She is here to offer these people a safe haven.
I ask her why the eggs were left here in the first place. She says she cannot tell us. She says that something happened very long ago, after the last dragon war. She knows that the metallic dragon eggs are not where they should be, which means that she knew where they were supposed to be. She says she does not know, but thinks that where the wastelands are now were once important to dragonkind. Mal asks if she is aware of what the chromatic dragons are doing to the eggs. She is unaware. Arinona asks if she has seen the dragon army sivaks. She says that they are just overgrown kobolds. I tell her what the draconic army soldiers told us. We don't know if the dragon eggs ewer found around here, but we do know that they will be looking for the dragon egg. I ask what she would do with it, and she says that she will protect it. She said she can raise the youngling. It may not hatch for a long time, perhaps even by the time its parents return. Dragon egg incubation time depends on the dragon species. It can take as little as a few years if it has all the attention it needs. It won't hatch without a parent. We ask if having an adult dragon is good enough, and she says that she isn't sure. Dragons are usually very possessive of its eggs, and don't usually leave them out of their sight. But not in this case.
Ultimately, something made the metallic dragons leave. They are not here for a reason, and she cannot tell us the reason. And she can't tell us if she has contact with any other dragons. But she does think that we deserve a reward for the find. She puts her hand on the chest, and excuses herself for a minute. Then she walks out the back door, and is gone for about 5 minutes before I go out the back, and look down the crater. I see a huge dark shape fly up from the depths of the crater, in a misty kind of way, like a dragon passing through a waterfall. Then suddenly, Ness is walking along the rope boardwalk.
I can't help it. I ask her if its rude to ask a dragon what their hoard is, and she says that it is a personal question. And that the reward she has for is cannot be any more personal. She shows me a chest, and we walk back inside. With the rest of the group around, she opens the chest, and shows us a set of bronze dragon scale mail armor!
I have so many more questions for Ness.
Was she here for the cataclysm? She was young, but yes. But not on this land.
Why is she here but the rest of the dragons haven't been seen since? There is a reason, and it happened not that long ago. 3.5 centuries ago was the cataclysm, and dragons and gods kept away. She says there was strife between chromatic and metallic dragons. Chromatic follow Tahkisis, and Metallics follow Bahamet. In the religion of the past, there was an empire called Istar, ruled by a king priest, head of a religious order, that was good, and they wished that all their people lived good lives. Over time, they developed magic to predict where evil may happen, and detected evil thoughts. King priest took things to an even more extreme, and much to the anger of the gods, he would become a god. That offended the gods, and that is why they cast down a mountain of molten rock to crash Ishtar. The gods took their faithful and left. Humanoids stayed. Good dragons have been staying away because of the problem with the eggs. Because the eggs were stolen by the chromatic dragons, and if they return, then the chromatic dragons threatened to kill them all.
She implied she knows there the metallic dragon eggs are supposed to be. How does she know? And why was she looking for them? Did she have reason to believe they were in danger? She was convinced that there were some eggs still out there. Dragons go where they wish, and they were in this area a very long time ago. This is the place where the ancient of their kind would come to die. So she thought that this place, with the spirit of the ancients and draconic magic, this would be the place to find the eggs.
Does she have any siblings?
Does she know of any evil metallic dragons, since the stories say they were good, but the ones we have seen so far with the dragon army have all been silver, and that worries us. She is not aware of any, as far as she knows. Mal will describe the sivak, and ask why they are metallic, and ask if they are associated with metallic dragons. She says that cannot be the case. She says that if they were doing such horrible things to their children, which would ruin their leverage. If there were proof of what we are saying, then it could bring back the metallics.
I bring up that this egg was being carried between places, which means it had a purpose, it was not just being stored. And she agrees that we need some proof, like some documentation or ritual magic, or a witness. Or a cache of metallic eggs that was being abused.
Does she know where else we can look? Or what other types of metallic dragon eggs we are looking for? She originally thought, and if she can point to a map. Where did the chromatic dragon approach from? It is important to know, because the only time we have found a dragon egg was when we found a dragon.
Does she know how one could corrupt dragon eggs/dragonlings? Did not ask, because she did not know.
I ask if there is a weapon to help us, and Sterling will bring the lance out, and show it to Ness. She is pretty happy about it. She says she is not familiar with this particular one, but that it was forged during the time of the dragon war, 700 years before the City of Lost Names.
Metallics were upset about the flying city, and the knight failed to find a peaceful solution.
16. A camp in the middle of a marsh
Still in Heart's Hollow, we plan what to do next. We can either go with Clistrin to visit the dragonelles, or follow up on the dwarves, or head towards Sky's Tears, where we hope to rescue captives. While I think we should go see the dragonelles, some people are not too happy with the idea of leaving captives waiting any longer. When we tell Clistins, he says that he'll go ahead without us this time. Then he asks us if we will lay a stone in the morning, and I ask him what that means. He says that the mosaic was created because of a tradition. Anyone who visits may find a stone by the entrance is welcome to lay it as part of the mosaic. I think that sounds like a fun idea. For the night, we are given space at the Salt Lick, and we rest.
We wake up to the sound of people coming in to the Salt Lick and cleaning. It is time to go, so we get ready to leave. Before we leave Heart's Hollow, we stop by Lavender's first. The shop is at the lower level of a 2-story house. Lavender himself asks us if he can help, and is able to sell Thalassa some ointment that will help with her sun burns. She ends up buying a few more healing supplies. Then we stop by an area with some tents, where they are selling spices they have scavenged from around the area. One of them they say is a powder that is tasty, but it can also hurt people's eyes. I buy 2 pouches, which can help me make my food tastier 20 times, or I can use to blind an enemy twice. With our shopping out of the way, we go to the town entrance, and I find a black rock to place as an accent in a colorful part of the mosaic. We say our goodbyes and head towards Sky's Tears.
The weather is a lot more dusty and sandy than we've seen so far. Its even hard to see very far. Soon, we notice a group that will cross paths with us a little ways ahead. It looks like 8 draconians and 2 large hobgoblins who are marching together. They all wear the same black and red armor, with the symbol of the evil goddess. None of us want this patrol to keep going, so we decide to attack. We fight them valiantly, and Mal even shows me that he can help me not get him by switching places with me. Unfortunately, its not great if you kill a draconian who then decides to fart on you and tries to turn you into stone. Something to keep in mind for later. Poor Thalassa had it even worse - she was actually turned into stone, and we had to wait for her to get better. It is a good thing that it did get better!
After dispatching some of those horrid monsters, we end continue our travel. When we are a few miles from the plateau that is Sky's tears, we have a little chat. We can rest today, and wait for our army, or we can go scout today, and maybe stay up a little later than usual. We decide to rest a little now, and then go scout it out. I tell Mal that if we do this, he'll have to take his armor off, since last time it creaked so much that it alerted everyone that we were there. He agrees, and Sterling, ever gallant, gives him the magical armor. We climb up to the plateau without much trouble, and notice that the terrain is very different here. For one, it is much more muddy and icky, so even our blessing won't help us. I don't want to be covered in mud up to my waist. Ugh.
We make our way towards the lake, and see that it is low, mostly muddy. Without the wash, it just stays this marsh. We approach the encampment from the southeast, and see a crude structure with 15 ft walls full of spikes. Leading to the entrance is a boardwalk, where 4 soldiers stand. At the gate there are 3 sentries. Most of these have wings, even though they cannot all fly. Arinona sends her familiar to scout ahead, and she sees 3 people on the tower. Inside there are about 8 tents, which seem to fit 1-2 humans, but only 1 draconian. The inside of the camp is a little dreary. We assume there are about 12 guards total. There is a training area, and a larger, likely command, tent. The area where the prisoners are at has 4 cages. In these are 4 prisoners, a kender and 3 sea elves. Last, on the southernmost cage there is a large beast.
Time to make a plan! our army backup is about 1 day away from here. Should we wait? Mal recognizes the monster a a bulette, which can burrow in the sand and eats things after it kills anything in the vicinity. That could be used to our advantage in the camp. It can't escape its cage, which means that the prisoners are safe there for a little while. If they see our army, will they try and get rid of the prisoners? How do we distract the guards so I can release the bulette? Thalassa asks if we can deceive the guards, pretending to be dragon army soldiers, too. We discuss all these options as we head back to where Dalamar made camp. When we get there, we ask for his opinion. He says that we have some people among us who speak draconic, and that will help us look like guards. The tower is tall, and this is a plateau, so they will be able to see us coming, or an army coming, from a long way away. Also, they have flyers, which means a marching army can be harassed all the way to the encampment. We agree that the plan is to deceive. Thalassa, Arinona, and Sterling are all guards, and Mal and I will be the prisoners. I use my disguises and tools to make us look the part. Thalassa will bring me in, and as I am escorted to my cage, I'll lift my tools from her pack. As soon as I can, I'll pick the locks, and go about freeing the monster who will hopefully help us with the guards. I make myself and Mal both look like prisoners with dirt and bruises, etc.
Our dragon army soldiers walk us there, manacled and tied. Their leader meets our party half way up the boardwalk, and talks to them in draconic. He has a splint mail armor (not a half plate like most people here, a footman's lance, and a heavy crossbow.) I assume it goes something like this:
"Who are you?"
"We are a patrol and we found some prisoners"
Grunts of approval. Go put them in cages. A roar of approval from somewhere inside, congratulating them on a job well done. "If you keep this up, you will get a promotion and get cooler armor like the one I have. Har har har."
They then turn away, and we are escorted into the camp. When no one is watching, I lift my tools from Thalassa. Then one of the guards in the prison area puts me in the cage with the 2 sea elves. I await a good moment, and make a illusion, so that the people around here will hear the calls of another bulette, and hopefully panic. This gives me the opportunity to pick the lock, but it is hard to reach from inside the cave. There is a guard standing right here, distracted by the noise, so I pick his pocket and get me a key. I unlock the cage, and toss the key to Mal in the cage beside mine. Ha!
The guards notice what is going on, and they battle. The guard then tries to open this cage, but I won't let him open the door. Mal unlocks his cage, and has to mind the kender who tries to climb the cage. Then he passes the key to Arinona, but she, Thalassa, and Sterling are busy fighting the guards. Thalassa makes it harder for anyone to come into the area, which helps. Finally, we get Sterling to get into the cage, and Arinona lets the bulette lose. It starts devouring some guards! Inside the cage, I notice that flying our way is a large black bird.
15. Dalamar and a welcome to Heart's Hollow
Someone put a bell on Sterling! He arrives and tells us that he went to speak to Darrett and the army behind us. Which is fine, but really, some better communication. Plus, we have the fargab. Well, he arrives right as Dalamar shows up. He asks us if we are arriving, or getting ready to leave.
He asks us about what we learned in the places he sent us to. More importantly, he wants to know about the kinds of magic found in each spot. We tell him that the temple had divine magic, and that we even felt it - feel it, and benefit from it today in the form of easier traveling. Then we went to the Spires of Dawn, where we found a fallen tower. At the bottom of it, underground, we found the chaos crystal. Finally, here the tower was being held by a portal that kept the tower together because of the Shadowfell. Once we closed the portal, it fixed itself. Dalamar recognizes it as Wakenwreth, and goes to investigate further. He spends about an hour in there, and we are happy to give him time alone.
Dalamar comes back, and says that the tower was clearly not built here, and that the portal's magic can be used to pinpoint where Wakenwrath originally stood. We know that he mentioned the name Anyari as the place where it was originally built, but we have no idea if that was the original name of the City of Lost names. He wants more time to use this information to triangulate where the tower originally came from, and then where the City of Lost Names should be.
We decide to rest of the rest of the day while we wait for Dalamar. Mal checks in with Darret through the Fargab, and asks if he has a scroll of Restoration, and they say they have three. He volunteers to send a scout ahead with the scroll for him, but they are only a few hours out, so Mal says we'll just wait. When they arrive, Darret comes to find Mal and personally hand him the scroll.
The next day, late in the afternoon, Dalamar finally emerges from the tower. He is surprised by the army, and that look on his face was priceless. He then remembered we talked about the army that followed us. He told us that he had pinpointed the foundation of the tower in the city where it was created, and that he knows where the City of Lost Names is. He shows us on a map, and says that now that he has revealed the location, our business is concluded and we can go our separate ways. But he does say that while he was researching, he saw a source of magical power to the north, by the Cliffs that Drink, and he would appreciate being escorted there.
So now we have a few things we need to do. We can start by going directly north to the Cliffs that Drink, and then head south east to Sky's Tears where the Dragon Army was last seen holding Sea Elves captive, and then SW again towards High Hunt, where Rown wants to return to. Then finally on to the Giant's Spine, where the City of Lost Names is, but that is North West of all these other spots. We could also start from High Hunt, which is closest to where we are, and then head north east, up to the Cliffs, and from there head all the way west, but not much more North to the City of Lost Names. Sigh. We decide that we will start from the south - to High Hunt first! Which means Rown gets dropped off first, then we hopefully get to release some captives (and honor our payment for their return), and then head to the Cliffs with Dalamar. Hopefully with this, we can get closer to the Sylvanesti, although we know that this was never Dalamar's choice to not partner with us. As far as our troops, the plan is to send them towards Sky's Tears directly, while we go to High Hunt. That is where there is the highest chance we'll face Dragon Army soldiers, and we'd need their support then.
On our way to High Hunt, we get caught in the wash. I had always heard that the waters just seem to rise out of nowhere and swallow people, but to watch it happen is crazy. I can see why many people end up dead of this. We had to scramble up the canyon to not get caught up in all that water. Happily, it is a fairly fast event, so we are able to keep walking for the rest of the day. We camp and rest for that night, and continue to balance being not too slow, but also not announcing our presence to everyone around. The wash on our second day is low, and we can more easily traverse the gap. As we are preparing to cross this chasm, we see a Draconic army foot patrol to the west, leaving the gully. They look tired, like they have been pushing themselves through the was. They are mostly draconian creatures with short swords, and a few human soldiers. A total of 11 of them. We enter combat, and towards the end, some realize the have no chance and try to run away. We are able to chase the runners, and defeat all of them. This is great news, because last time that resulted in flyers dropping rocks on us.
That night we camp without an issues, and carry on the next day. At some point, we notice some shapes flapping in the distance, kind of misshapen. Huge wings, long strange tails, but no feathers in sight. We don't recognize them, but three of them come close. They have the head of a lion, the wings of a bat, and too many sharp quills! They try to attack us, and we put up a fight! They end up flying away as soon as they realize we are not easy bait. A little bit later, we are very close to where Rown lives, and he takes over navigating us towards his home.
We then all hear a distant rushing of the water rising, and we hear someone cursing their luck. As we get closer, water rushes into a canyon ahead of us, and a human in ragged leather is on a rope, desperately trying to escape a hole and being chased by 5 large spiders. We are all on higher ground, and decide to help the human. After we dispatch the spiders (without being able to save any tasty spider meat from the wash, much to Waah's sadness) the man comes towards us and smiles gratefully.
He asks us where we're from. He and Rown recognize each other, and he introduces himself as Clistrin. Clistrin ends up walking with us, and asks where we're from. I tell him we're from Kalaman, but he isn't sure where that is. I ask if he's seen any draconic creatures around, and he says that that once a long time back, he saw a dragon. But they are not the same thing. But since then, he has been fascinated and obsessed with seeing that dragon again. However, for the time being he contents himself by going west from here and going to feed and admire the dragonelles from around here. Creatures like the ones that we have seen being ridden by the dragon army creatures. He offers to take us to see them, about 2 days travel west, and now he also wants to ride one of them one day.
I ask what he does, and he says he's a scout. He tells us that his community scavenges to survive, and that's what they do to repay Ness. She is the leader of the town, and she has apparently saved a lot of people there. The funniest thing is, it's pretty flat, and I cannot see any towns anywhere. The town apparently survives by having everyone scavenge. Clistrin leads us to a path that winds up a volcanic rise, and goes into a spiral with houses along it's sides. He tells us that most people don't come to Heart's Hollow unless they are rescued by people from here. He points out the interesting town places as we walk, for example, the local store, or the armory, or the tavern. There is a dwarf who runs the general shop would be happy to see us, so we enter and see what wares he has, especially since it's close to closing time. As we walk in, the man lights up and welcomes us to the shop. Sterling speaks to him in Dwarvish. He introduces himself as Grandit, and we all take turns introducing ourselves. Waah goes ahead and tries to sell off the dragon army armors she's been carrying around, but then we have to explain to him where we got those, and who the dragon army is. He isn't interested in the armors because he is afraid that someone may mistake one of them for a dragon army soldier. And they have no leather worker.
We proceed as Clistrin tells us more about the place. There are a lot of dwarves, humans, and kender around. The wastes are harsh, and this is a haven for them. I ask if everyone gets along around here, and he says that not really. But what keeps everyone together is that they are all trying to survive. People have no reason not to be nice. They have never had any trouble here that they have ever needed to run to the armory for extra weapons and take up arms. The current residents don't remember any time like this. The stone buildings have been here for a long time, so maybe the people who created those may have been attacked at one point. They were also the people responsible for the beautiful mosaic walkway, which is also what they call the main drag.
I ask that if I were to settle down here, could I just move into any house that was currently empty? He says yes, and if there weren't any empty houses, then everyone would come together and help create a new house for me. There is also a wizard in town, called Lavender, with a shop of the same name. There is a tavern called the Salt Lick, where they serve you drinks, and also a salt block to lick. They mine that in the wastelands, since it is too dangerous to get one from the wash. He also recommends not leaving the tavern TOO drunk, since it is only connected through rope walkways.
I ask Rown how he was captured. He tells me he was out in the wastelands scavenging for wood, and walked into a dragon army patrol. I ask Clistin about how far he goes out, and he says a whole week. I then ask if he just turns back every time he sees the terrain change. He tells met hat this is where he saw the dragon, so that's probably why he never leaves. I ask what color was the dragon that he saw, and he says it was not quite copper, nor quite gold, but it was definitely kind of shiny. Maybe it was a bronze dragon, then. I ask where he saw it, and he says he saw it from here. He tried to get someone else to look up, but by then, it was no longer visible. He's now been looking for its lair for 10 years now.
We decide to visit the Salt Lick, and find a place to sit with our two guides. The crowd around here seems varied, with families, couples, groups. We see a quiet, middle-aged woman sitting by herself. I ask Clistrin about her, and tells me that it is Ness. We go and introduce ourselves, and she implies we are down on our luck, thinking that he brought us in. He explains that it was the opposite, and she then asks more about us. Sterling says that we are not down on our luck at all since we are here, which makes her smile. Waah tells her that she likes this place. She asks if we are going to settle, and we explain that we are not. I show her the symbol of Tahkisis, and she says she doesn't know it. I can tell that she does know about it. As soon as there is another lull in the conversation, she asks if we are trying to join up, and Mal says that we are trying to stop this from spreading. Rown tells her that even Storm Step is no longer storming, because of us. I guess I didn't even realize that. I tell Mal that maybe he needs to show her what he is capable of. And this time, I didn't even hurt myself, just told him to show off a little. He tells her that the Dragon Army follows Tiamat/Tahkisis, and that Mishakal came back to stop her, and he casts light on his holy symbol to show everyone. The entire place goes quiet, and excited. But not Ness. She looks like she is mad about something. She goes behind the bar and pours herself a drink, and gives us all some drinks, too. I tell her that most people are happier when they have proof that Mishakal is back. She asks if we know the date of the return, and Mal gives her the date when he dreamed of Mishakal. But the Dragon Army was already forming when he was called, so it was around that time. She thanks us for the info, and welcomes us for the night. I think I need to have a more private conversation with her, and figure out what's up.
As we spend a pleasant and safe evening, we hear different conversations around us. For example, a group of scavengers talks about an out of the way cavern with dwarves, and they discuss whether they need to establish a rapport with them. Clistin talks to Sterling about how he has been taking some dry meat to the dragonelles for years, and is due for another visit soon. Can we help him deliver? Sterling says that if the party is willing, we can go. I think we should, personally.
At some point, after a break to relieve herself, I go to talk to Ness. I tell her that Rown said there may have been a reward for his delivery, and that I would prefer to discuss it in a more private place. She takes us out to a balcony. I again ask what she knows about the Tahkisis. She says that the Dragon Army will not disturb Heart's Hollow. I ask how she can be certain of it. The Dragon Army flies, and they would be able to easily spot them. She says that then they'll take up arms and defend the settlement. I tell her that is not a great option. That ultimately, we all need to work together to defeat this evil, and that if she knows something, she needs to share it, lest it is too late. She then asks if I know anything about Theology, and I offer to get Mal here if that is what she wants to discuss. Then she tells me that "if Tahkisis is back before the other gods, then she broke a promise." I need to ask Mal about this. She did pay me the 2 thousand that Rown had said would be our reward, despite my protests. She then retires, but before she goes, she turns and asks, "I you find something important that we discover in regards to that promise, please let her know." I guess we can.
I then go on to talk to Mal about Tahkisis. I want to know when she was gone - before or with all the other gods. He says that the Cataclysm caused all the gods to walk away. They all agreed together. That nothing in any of the religion says anything about any promise. Over the millennia, she has tried to take over the world, and kicked all the other god's assess, to the point that they had to come together beat her back. The thought of trying to extract any promises from here sounds crazy. So why did she leave? All that Mal knows is that she is a dragon, a chaotic goddess of the dragons. He would think that Tiamat left with the other gods because of the Cataclysm. But I wonder if there is more. I mean, why would an evil god not think that the people disobeying the other good gods was a good thing? Why would she leave then? Also, if this is a promise that is not written about in any religious texts, would that not make it a secular promise? But Mal doesn't think that any promises that are made to the worshipers is something that a god must keep. I think that if there is even honor amongst thieves, then there must be honor amongst the gods. Also, if a god promises something to their followers, then is it not even more important to fulfill it?
14. The House of Silence
Our first priority while we are here is to bury this chamber so that no one can come in, and most importantly, no one can touch this cursed chaos crystal. Of course it is also important that no crazy draconic army people, or otherwise people with ill-intentions use this power to do bad things, like turn people into draconics, or try to and create some awful monsters that go about and hurt others. And then explode on us when we finally defeat them.
Note to self: work on my bow skills. I don't want to continue to get exploded on by those gross things.
Happily, the priestess that we rescued says she will be fine. All she needs is to find her way to water, and she will find her people. As for Rowan, he still wants us to escort him home. That means one more place to stop by, in addition to the other places we need to investigate before meeting up with Dalamar so we can find the City of Lost Name. We talk to him, and he was ok with being escorted home before we meet up wth Dalamar.
The original goal for us, assigned by Dalamar, was for us to investigate the kind of magic in each of the three places, so he could better triangulate the City of Lost Names. The spires had the chaos magic. The water temple had divine magic. We'll see what the last place brings, but hopefully it is less destructive than here.
Oh, and at some point we probably also want to go to the lake that the water elf pointed us to, since we still need to help rescue the rest of the captives from the Dragon Army.
With all our plans agreed upon, travel a bit further off, and then we make camp for the night away from all the chaos. As we travel, we try to use the fargab. The goal is to let the army know where we are, and that they should head to Storm Step instead of the spires. As our path takes us southwest, we move south to try and make sure we are within communications distance. So far, no luck. There is one lucky thing, though. Rowan is not slower than we are as we travel across this dusty landscape.
We rest well for the night. In the morning, we travel towards Storm Step, and expect to take about 2-3 days, since we don't want to be too loud or visible. That night, we are still unable to contact Darret or the army. On day 1 of travels, we come across a ravine, with a large stone archway crossing the canyon. The arch itself is lined with sigils. Arinona takes a look, and magical energy starts to swirl inside the arch. The rocks move, as if of their accord, and start to gather in mid-air. They are assembling in a humanoid shape, and end up forming a 10ft tall unfinished clay being. It doesn't seem happy to see us, so we fight it. It's eyes are glowing orange, and it is just hitting anything it sees. Poor Mal gets smashed to the ground, then gets crushed. But he still doesn't want to leave, which is what I think he should do. I can't really help with this fight, since my own dagger doesn't DO ANYTHING! Finally, between Arinona, Waah, and Mal, they defeat it. Even poor Thalassa had trouble with this one.
As it turns out, the arch is a portal, and the golem is a guard, but it was mal-functioning. It seems to turn on whenever someone with any magical ability gets close by. The discussion then turns to weather we should go through the portal or not. After all, would we be able to return? Arinona says that this portal is likely connected to a stone portal on the other end, that would look exactly like this one, but it probably does not have a guardian waiting on us there. I ask if someone would volunteer to explore the other side of the portal, and Thalassa raises her hand! The plan is for her to go, but if there is a golem, for her to come back immediately for help! It turns out there was no other golem, and that she ended up by the encampment we found of the Dragon Army by Vogler! That is how they snuck up on us! Were they the ones that created these portals in the first place?
We try again to contact our division, and we are finally successful! We tel them that the spires have been investigated, and that they should head towards Storm Step. We camp for the night, and the next day we walk towards the tower. Much taller than I expected, it stands about 80 ft high, with carvings of a thousand elven warriors all around. The upper levels look like they are falling apart, but something is definitely keeping it from falling into further disrepair. I mean, you can clearly see a rock that should be falling down from the top, frozen in mid-air! The door to the tower hangs open. We are ready to explore, but I want to walk the perimeter first. It is not a wide tower, and there are no issues out side that we can see. The imagery is of the high elves, Sylvanesti people, like Arinona. The tower is obviously old, but probably older than it looks since it seems frozen in time. We enter. The chamber is black, and the lights are a weird shade of bright white. There is a statue of a warrior in the middle, occupying a large space, all in obsidian. Arinona checks if the statue is magical. She says that this was a burial site, and that the scattered ancient coins on the floor all represent a soul. I don't think I'll be touching them now. There are stairs at the north end of the tower.
Up to the next level we see 2 crypts, and the walls are sculpted with an empty burial chamber. A door stands to the SE, and smoke comes out of the crypts and assembles into humanoid forms. I hope we don't have to deal with a smoke guardian or something that can't be hurt by my dagger. They do, but we are able to defeat them quite easily. We look up, and there is a hole in the ceiling. Each of the crypts depicts a deceased elf. Arinona looks at each one carefully, and we all feel the presence of a soul dissipate. As she looks at the second crypt carefully, we see a woman with light grey hair and pale eyes float up to the ceiling in her spectral condition. Maybe she was able to leave the crypt now that we defeated the wraiths? Both crypts have names, but none that Arinona recognizes. She writes down the names, and then moves the crypt covers. We find a body wearing white robes of a mage. The other one has some leather armor that has disintegrated, and a cloak that looks old. She takes the cloak.
We go to the door, and find that it opens to a crumbled staircase that we cannot clear. We could probably climb up through the hole in the ceiling. Arinona casts fly on me, so I can fly up and secure my grappling hook. While I'm up there, I check the area, but there is nothing that I can see that I should be worried about. This room is crumbling - shattered walls, pieces in mid-air, and it looks like it will fall apart at any time. There is a staircase going up one more floor. We see yellowed bones scattered everywhere, having come from burial niches that have crumbled. There is also the woman's spirit that we watched ascend, crouched by the floor, struggling to grab onto a rapier.
I call down and get the rest of the party up here, since I secure my grappling hook to the stones frozen in time. While I wait, I ask if I should help the dead lady. They give me the go-ahead, and I ask her if I can help. She looks up, blinks, and says she cannot touch it. She also tries to touch me. I ask her what year she thinks this is, and I don't know what year she says it is. It is definitely not a number I recognize. I tell her that her date is from a long time ago, and that a lot of things have happened. Arinona joins me by then, and tells her that the gods sent down punishment. Her date was from before the cataclysm. She tells us that she was a guard for the Sylvanesti delegation, and she has trouble speaking what we speak. She continues to tell us her story. They were going to be sent to the Istarian city of Oniyari. I ask if that is the flying city, but she looks blank. I ask her about whan her role was, and she said she was going to guard her sister, Tenadria, a diplomat. Her mission was to speak on behalf of the Sylvanesti and safeguard their interests.
Arinona asks if she knows about the anger of the gods against the king priest. She tells her that we are currently in a tower dedicated to the dead of Sylvanesti, and that today is about 350 years since the date she gave us. She asks where Anyari is located, and shows her a map and says that things have changed since her time, like Istar no longer existing. The spirit says that she no longer remembers, it has been too long. Arinona asks if there was a mage with white robes with her, and the spirit says there was, but that she does not remember his name. She realizes that it is time to move on. Arinona says a blessing as she moves on. I then pick up the blade, and see it is a light weight rapier. I think I have found a weapon with which to fight golems.
The stones are still frozen, so there is still something around here. I suggest we climb up to the fallen part of the tower, after we search this room. Mal finds 6 onyx gemstones, an odd vial made of crystal, and it looks like it has ashes inside it. We also find a fine silver/mithral chain that can be worn. These are intended for powerful sorcerers.
We head to the last floor of the tower. There is a door at the top of the stairs, and we see a room that hovers in a starless night sky. The floor is stable, and shattered wall fragments float in the air. There is an arch caved with the head of 5 dragons, and inside it a swirling grey mist. All the dragon heads are different, so it is no Tiamat. These may have been the dragons that demanded the flying city be taken down? Mal knows that these sculpted dragon heads, each in the style of green dragans, and that the runes are of the natural magic of the fey wild. Also, the runes can rotate. What for? I reach out and try and turn a rune. It clicks, and I see that each one has 8 possible positions. A little after a move it, I hear a click and nothing changes, but now I am exhausted and take necrotic damage. The portal closes and re-opens, and the runes re-set. I guess I won't spend an afternoon here trying to decode these.
While I sit there to think about it, Waah simply walks through the grey portal! She finds herself on top of a tower of jet black stone in an unfamiliar setting. There is only a feint light of the archway, which stays open. On the other side, there is an elf who raises his hand in salute. Waah doesn't speak elven, and she tells him she doesn't understand. He says she is the first living soul he has seen in a long time. He looks pale, and he says he hears her friends beckoning her. She tells him that they are on the other side, so he explains. This is the tower of Wakenwrath, in the Shadowfell plane. She excuses herself, and yells through the portal. We decide to join her.
The elf explains that the Shadowfell is the plane of the restless souls, and it counterbalances the Feywild. It is called the House of Silence in Elvish, Wakenwrath. It is a funerary obelisk, in the Istarian city of Anyari, before the city took flight. The tower was an emblem of peace between the Istari and the Sylvanesti. As with all of the Anyari, Wakenwrath met with an unfortunate end. When Anyari began it's slow fall across the skies, this monolith broke from it's foundations, but as it fell, he invoked the tower's magic so that he could transport it to the Feywild to avoid its destruction. With the time he had, and the chaos, the magic went awry and it was partially transported to the Shadowfell. This has helped the tower survive, but the portal has corrupted the dead, and taints the tower.
We ask if we can turn off the portal, and he says yes. He cannot return, but he can tell us how to solve the portal to close it. I ask his name, and he tells us he is Variel. How do we fix the portal? As he starts trying to explain, we hear a roar, and see something coming for us. It is ugly, with lots of bones and spikes, and it is huge. I step behind Thalassa for cover, and use my bow.
This abomination is an Ancalox, and it kicks poor Waah over and behind us. It is an undead creature created from the bones of bears and beasts. They are territorial, and hunt and devour living prey. We kill it, and Variel just continues on with his explanation of how to fix the portal as if we were not just attacked by a great deadly beast. But I suppose he would not have been on the menu, and with his time here alone, he may have forgotten the drives of the living. He explains what we have to do, so we say our farewells and go back to deactivate the portal. Before we leave, I remember to ask if the tower will crumble if we deactivate the portal. He says that it will no longer be attuned to the Shadowfell, and that means the tower will be restored! That is even better, but we still need to be careful as the portal may resist breaking the connection. The portal does not lead to any other places.
One more question - does he know where Anyari is now? He does not. We cross back, rest, and fix the portal. We take about 5 minutes to adjust the portal dials, and it still hurts. Before we know it, the room is no longer surrounded by darkness, and the walls heal. The torch sconces now shed a healthy light. At the same time, we all feel a rush, as if life itself celebrates the absence of the Shadowfell. The entire tower is fixed!
Party loot (let me know if you are claiming any of these):
6 onyx gemstones (200gp each).
an odd vial made of crystal, and looks like it has ashes inside it and fine silver/mithral chain that it is attached to so someone can wear it.
A rapier (+1) - Cinna
18 additional rations (spider meat and dried meat)
6 blue pearls worth 150 gp each
2 sets of manacles - Waah
orange (chaos) gems, worth about 900gp without any magic that would harm us
Unidentified wand.
13. Monsters beneath the spires
Since at least those flying jerks from the dragon army know where we are, we don't want to stay here any longer than we have to. We keep walking, and with the blessing we move faster. But, we still have to be careful, so we aren't as fast as we would like to be. Especially since we are always at risk to have things dropped on us from above at any time.
Sterling was apparently serious about his request to learn to be less noisy, so I help him as we travel. I ask Waah to help with Mal, who is just a walking parade, minus the trumpets. She asks him to take off his armor, and he agrees, which makes all our lives easier.
When we finally stop to rest, we are surprised by fuzzy creatures, who come and attack us. They are large spiders, with too many legs, eyes, and also fangs that drip venom! We fight, and win, and then feast on their leftover flesh. With a good victory, and some food, we finally get to rest.
The next day, we keep on marching. We finally see the spires, and find a bunch of abandoned tents, flapping in the wind. This is odd, since we have only seen traces of the red dragon army in our travels around here so far. We investigate, of course, since this is one of the three spots we were asked to look at. The pinnacle of the spire was a holy site, and the others were designed to burn like beacons. What a sight it would have made! Not only are there abandoned tents, but there are also crates, some abandoned, some shattered in the middle, and there is an opening in there that leads to the spire's foundation. Since we're here, we may as well go through what is in the crates. A leather armor with the dragon queen's symbol, more dried meats. Around here are also bigger and smaller prints with claws. The smaller ones remind me of the creature in the fort, and it really worries me that there is something even bigger.
Mal says the this spire most likely celebrated the god Sirrion, associated with the sun and transformation. This is good news, since I would worry a lot more if it were an evil god, such as Takisis herself. Time to go see the foundation of these spires! There is a whole dungeon down there!
Everywhere we go, there is a lot of leftover stinky dragon army things, but according to Mal, nothing magical. We do find 2 sets of manacles, and one more blue pearl. There is also a spiral staircase leading down, so after we check this level, we go down further. This second level has a bunch of alcoves full of crates. I go investigate, and find 3 bulleye laterns, 6 flasks of oil, 100ft of hempen rope, 4 vials of acid, and 3 sets of mason's tols. Why would they need mason's tools? Then we are set upon by some bloated draconians with bright red skin, and wide, frog-like moths. They also have wings. I'm not sure if they are dragon army or not, but they are definitely trying to hurt us, and are ugly as fuck, so its time to do them in.
All 4 come right at me as I'm trying to investigate the east alcoves. I get poisoned as they all claw at my face, those awful things. I almost die, but thankfully Mal heals me, while everyone else jumps in to tackle these creatures. Poor Mal has to keep on his toes with healing us fro this fight, but we persevere. After the battle, Mal gets ready to help us all feel better, and we all hear someone ask if all the monsters are gone. Since we want Mal to focus on what he's doing, Arinona goes to see who is talking to us. It is a human, cooped up with someone else, both speaking in Elvish. Ugh. The other one identifies themselves as Yerkel, and we recognize the name - the priestess that we are looking for!! Rowan is the human who looks like a scout of some sort, but looks emaciated and unwell. When she finally says something I can understand, I ask about the others in her group, since we were told about 6 of them were captured from the pilgrims. She says that she was captured and brought here, but the others were taken elsewhere. They were made to dig for something in particular, but then there was a glowing stone and some violent toad-like monster that came out.
She says that the dragon army was doing bad things wit the stone, and that those people responsible for the whole excavation are still around. The leader of this expedition was named Verusa, and he wanted to use the stone to turn more people into draconians. However, when he was trying to do this, more of these monsters came out of nowhere, which is better than if they were the end result of his nasty experiment. I wonder if these monsters are the bigger set of claw prints we saw in the camp, but it doesn't seem like the right size. We offer both these people food, and I ask Rowan if he is with Kalamann. Turns out, he is from Heart's Hollow, by the plateau called High Hunt (the SE hex). He doses not look well, and Mal tends to him. I ask if he was poisoned by the monster, and Mal casts a spell, which makes Rowan feel and look much better than he did. Turns out that he had some sort of parasite in him, and I'm glad that Mal was able to fix that. Of course, Rowan wants to go home, but I'm not sure if we'll have time to go all the way where he is at, but he did promise us a generous reward of $1000 gp, which sounds very nice.
Yurkel says that she had no idea Rowan was in such bad condition, since he had been sleeping so much. I personally think she is pretty new at this, and with her being captured and afraid, I can see why she would not have noticed. We take a short rest, and tell them that we will look downstairs. Once there are no more dangers, we will come back for them, and we'll figure out the next steps. Assuming they don't want to venture out on their own right now. Now the bad news on these jerks. Not only do these alcoves contain nothing of value or interest, these bloated dragon toad monsters also don't have anything useful on them. I resist the urge to kick one, lest my boots get slimy.
We go down one more level, and find a cave that is being carved out. There is a large chasm through the middle, and two wooden bridges have been built to cross it. There are digging implements that surround a very bright and large, 8ft tall crystal. In our way, before we can get to anything else, is a large red form, covered in squirming shapes. It is digging at broken crates, and the squirming things look like they are 5 larvae.
THIS is what left those footprints!!! Sterling tries to talk to it, but I can see that it wants to just eat him, so I attack. We defeat the creature, and its young. This garbage slaag had already gotten to anything of interest, which sucks. It is time to go explore the rest of the cave, and I tell people I'm going to sneak around and have look, around the bridge furthest from us since I want to check the perimeter first. Turns out, a lot of the people in my party don't really believe in my scouting skills, because Mal and Sterling went over by themselves, through the other bridge, making a ton of noise. When the three of us were across, and Waah behind me on the bridge, we were met by a fireball! We combat, I almost die again, and it actually singed my hair. I will never forgive this second, more intelligent garbage slaag. We kill it!
With no more monsters trying to poison or burn us, it is time to investigate the gem. It pulses with a noxious orange color. Arinona studies the gem, but doesn't touch it. The slaag itself had some gems on it, worth around 900gp. It also has a wand. This creature was probably Verusa, the former leader of this expedition, who was turned into something horrible. Why is the gem mad? We investigate the notes scattered around. Turns out, Verusa was following orders from a Belephiom, to investigate the stone. He wanted to use the stone to cause a disease that would turn people into draconians. We want to destroy this stone, so it could never be used this way. It looks like the giant gem was originally dug up from that spot, and I think we should try and drop it into the chasm. Can Arinona use her magic to destroy it? She thinks that destroying it would be a bad idea. This is a shard of pure chaos, and anything could happen if we touch it or when it gets broken.
We decide the best course of action is to fill this cave back in, let the bridges burn out, and bury it all. I take the notes to give to Dalamar. The crystal itsealf eminates an aura of transmutation magic. It is time to make it as hard as possible for anyone to get here, and get to the gem.
12. Temple of Habbakuk and some annoying dragon riders
After the battle with these water elementals, this elf simply walks up and asks us what we are doing aboard his ship. Does he not realize that he could have killed us? What are we, common bandits? I tell him that this ship does not match the surroundings, and so we came to take a closer look, then his ship attacked us. He again, without much bother, tells us that the ship would not have attacked if we had not trespassed. It seems we'll be going around in circles if this continues. He proceeds to ask us what we are doing here, again. Like I didn't hear him the first time.
I ask if he has heard recent news of the Dragon Army. He says he has not. I tell him that this is why we're exploring north - we want to know what the Dragon Army is doing up here, and looking for anything that can help us turn the tide. He is here to survey the area for ruins for a Zesdrael. Or something like that. His name a Dalamar. Since he may be more familiar with the are, I ask if he knows about the City of Lost Names, and he says he does not. He says that near here is an encampment of Sylvanesty who came with him. Arinona asks about his house, and he says he is from House Mystic. I ask about whether he is familiar with the Dragon Army in his lands, since that is what those captured Dragon Army soldiers mentioned, and he says that his homeland had been attacked by them, and this is why he is here.
They are also searching for something that can help. heir mission is to survey for magical traces, and hope that leads to anything that can help. Thalassa mentions that maybe that is why the Red Dragon Army came north in the first palce. We decide to visit his encampment as he has invited us. Before we go, we reach Darrett on the Fargab, and tell him that we are going to carry on scouting, and that they can come to this bay and dock the ships in relative safety.
On the way to his encampment, Dalamar chats with us in a friendly manner. Turns out, he was actually directly involved in the fight to protect his homeland. Their king remained behind to try and defend them, and they all were sent here looking for magic as a punishment. What kind of king would punish his warriors for not dying in a bloody battle that cannot be won? Theirs is the Green Dragon Army, and we recognize that it must have been a tough fight for them. Dalamar says that his fight included a dragon that was being covered by a wyvern. Mal tells him that we all recognize their struggle, and honor them as heroes, even if they have been defeated this time. They trade more war stories throughout the day.
By evening, we finally make it to an encampment atop a high hill. There are about 10 people there when we arrive. Dalamar starts to introduce us, when an elf with grey hair strides forward and says something to him in elvish, in a tone of "your cake is obviously moldy." Then he turns to us and tells us that we have been brought here in vain, and that we have nothing to speak about. I ask if he means that we have the means of finding something to help us fight the dragon army scourge, he is not interested? That makes him pause, and he says that we are free to pursue our deaths. He tells Dalamar to escort us away. He takes us a little ways away from the encampment, and then tells us that given how that man reacted to us, he believes elements of the Red Dragon Army have been seen. They were heading north, looking for something. Then he proceeds to tell us more about the fabled City of Lost Names. He has heard many stories about it, and he proposes some places that we can research, since he is not at liberty to do what he pleases, but has to follow the orders of that curmudgeon. If we bring him details of what we find, then we can help each other.
I tell him we would be happy to share information once we find any more ourselves. He then shows us 3 places on his map, all somehow linked to the City of Lost Names. He will meet us at the north-most one, and that is where we can exchange information. I worry that if we find an item, he will have to take it from us and return home, so I ask what the next step will be for him if we find the City. He says that the City itself is the treasure. Therefore, we all agree to helping each other out.
Since we cannot return to his encampment, we set up our own camp. Arinona pulls out her bedroll and trances. Out of nowhere, a little red owl appears on her forearm, and she is looking at it like they are communicating, despite neither making any noise. Soon it flies to a taller vantage point around us. We then discuss what the best strategy is for our following army, since they will be slower than us, but we still want to rely on them if things get tough. We decide to send them north, towards where we'll meet Dalamar. With our time, we should be around 1 day's journey from each other at all times while we check out the three different spots.
Then next morning, we start heading towards our first stop. We walk, and we walk, and we walk. By the end of that day, I am sore at tired and everything I own has been snagged by some sort of bramble at some point. I am miserable, and the best way to deal with this is to let others know.
Day 1: Ooh, look at that brush. It is a brave brush. Wow.
Day 2: Oh goodness. I'm going to be so happy when this is done. It'll be nice to rest my feet and not be hurting all the time.
Day 3: What the hell is wrong with this place? Why is it constantly attacking me? I hate this and this is the worst. You know how long I have had this cape without it having runs all over it? Why is it that this place is so unyielding and I hate the whole thing.
At the end of the 3rd day, we can see something carved in the face of the ravine walls. It looks like the face of an ancient shrine. We also see some other humanoids around there. There is a river at the bottom of the ravine, and we can climb down. I think this is a great idea, because water sounds so refreshing after 3 days of dirt, sweat, and more dirt. While we talk about this, Thalassa noticed some of these people heading our way, and waves at them. They approach, Sterling greets him, and he greets us.
He speaks in common, and tells us that he and his people are passing here on their annual pilgrimage. And some of their group were killed or captured on their way. We ask what happened, and he tells us that the group used to be about 20 of them sea elves. They were set upon by a group of about 60 creatures and men, and even their priest was taken. They were ambushed as soon as they came out of the river. They aren't sure why the dragon army was able to enter the shrine. They will probably not be able to complete their pilgrimage without their priestess. His name is Ishvern. When they come here, it is usually Urikel, the high priestess that opens the door with a special prayer. But looking at the door, made of white granite and covered with algae and a picture of a giant bird. The bird Mal recognizes as a blue phoenix, the symbol of the god of the seas and animal life. As Mas starts to explain this to us, he mentions the god's name, "Habbakuk", and the door opens.
We are all surprised, but Ishvern is pleasantly so. We agree that we will check the temple for signs of the Dragon Army. The ideas is to make sure they were not there, and then we could leave his people safe inside there while we go try and rescue Urikel.
We enter a beautiful long room, with pale blue light and depictions of waves on the walls. There is an alter with some coral-like motifs. An archway opens to the west, and there is a door to the east. Ishvern suggests we should cleanse ourselves in the cleansing room. The whole area is flooded with 2 feet of water. In the cleansing chamber there is a 3-ft basin, and Thalassa helps me reach the basin. Once cleaned, we feel more refreshed.
Ishvern went to the alter, and then looked at the door on the right. He says that this is not the alter where they pay respects. Sometimes Urikel would say some words here. I ask Urikel to see if there is anything here. Usually it is a ceremony guided by the priest. He suggests that we search for magic around here, after I explain that we are looking for any help against that dragon army. Arinona casts a spell to find magic, and cannot see anything yet. There is a mark there, and Ishvern translates it for us. We need to honor those who came before us and walk on.
In this chamber there are sarcophagi, including the one devoted to Irwentel, the first priest. At the west end, there is Herzon, who built this prayer in stone. The lid has a design that shows the layout of the temple, and it shows us that there is more to this shrine than we have seen. Sterling goes to look, and I will help. Actually, I'm searching, and he's helping me. There is a very fine line, and I can see something. Arinona notices that there is magic on the door. This is where they would pay their respects. It has been hidden from all of us, and Ishvern is also not familiar with this door.
There are stairs that lead up behind the door. In the center of the room there comes the sounds of distant waves and the sound of sea birds. Ishvern looks around and says, "this must be it, the place where offerings go." He pours beautiful blue pearls into the well. I get closer to watch, and I feel good, like something enormous and positive has my back, like I'm being watched over. We have been granted Habbakuk's blessing. He is blessing our travels through the northern waste, giving us advantage checks to notice the wash coming in. Also, while traveling, we ignore difficult terrain. We can move at double the pace.
We teach him how to open the door while we go look for Urikel, and then they can stay here in peace. There are a total of 4 captured people in his party. As we leave the shrine, one of the elves of his party tells Ishvern that they found the camp that took their scouts. They are set up in the middle of a murky lake, very far from here. They point out a location by Sky's tears, where there is a giant lake. Ishvern tells us that he knows this is a long and dangerous journey, but if we help save them, he'll give us the remaining 5 pearls. If the captives go to the sea, then they should find each other. He gives Mal the pearls, and says that his word is good. Mal says that if we are not successful, he will come back and give these pearls as offering.
We set up our camp and have a great night's sleep. Mal tells Darrett of what we are up to. We wake up to the sound of Arinona telling us to wake up. Sterling tells us there are winged creatures coming from 3 different directions. There are wyvern type creatures with humanoid riders on them. We defend ourselves. It is a tough battle, and in the end, an office and a dragon and office manage to get away. They keep us awake all night by throwing stones at us. We'll have to figure out if we want to rest or if we want to try and sleep during the day.
11. A lance, a story, and a ship
Leedara urged us to act quickly, to make sure that Lord Soth would not get the secret in the castle crypt.
We follow after his trail, through the broken door. We see that down the passage way there is a violet light. It leads to stairs that descend to a stone chamber with violet flames, but that do not create heat or hurt us. In this chamber there are 4 statues of knights, with a 5th ahead, with the head of a bison. This is the the god that Sterling follows. As we enter the room, we se a scene play out in the dancing flames. A knight saves a group of elven travelers, and an elven woman falls into his arms while a human woman turns around.
We check this room, but there is nothing else notable for us, so we press on. We reach the stone double doors, and they open easily, showing us another chamber with the violet fires. There are alcoves and a brazier, and the resting bodies of some knights. Here, the violet flames shows us another vision, that of the knight being cast out by the other knights, then him marrying the elf lady.
We look around this chamber, and notice that to the right, a wall has been smashed to create a crude tunnel leading to the catacombs beyond. We follow that trail into the unlit tunnel. It is only about 20 feet, so we feel fairly safe to try it. At the other end, there is a long hall, with mosaic decorations that show knights riding stallions. In this chamber, there are 2 stone doors leading south, and statues of rearing horses. In this place, the walls are covered in violet flames, not the floors. Here, the violet flames show us a knight receiving a vision from a divine light, while his elven wife pleads with him not to go. Still, he dons his armor and rides off. As soon as this scene plays out, we see 2 skeletal war horses manifest at the end of the hall. The start towards us, like they are going to attack. However, Sterling stands tall, and the horses stop. They bow to him, and vanish. We are all amazed - what did he do? He receives a favor from them, and will be able to summon a war horse to serve him for 24 hours, twice. We keep going, wanting to make sure that Lord Soth cannot find the secret contained within this crypt.
In the next room are weapons racks, along with more violet flames. Here there are mosaics of blacksmiths forging weapons. A tunnel has again been punched here, too. In the flames, we see the knight being taunted by other elves, and him slaughtering those elves. Mal is smart about this room, and looks to find magic if he can. There is a magical long sword, a breast plate, and a leafy cloak, all which radiate some sort of weapon. The breast plate is made of that elven material, mithril, There are 2 crypts in this area, both barred. One of them has an amulet, but no body, and the other has a body with a battle axe. Mal says that the axe is powerful, but the amulet is just a shiny thing. I wrestle with myself, but ultimate figure we have no time to lose. As if reading my mind, Sterling adds that we should not take things from the dead. I tell him that the weapons on the racks are for the vanquishing of evil forces, which is what we are doing. He agrees, but is against opening the door of the crypt with the man holding the battle axe. We press on.
Again we go into the tunnel that was recently created, but I notice that it is dangerous and about to collapse. I urge everyone to go as fast as possible, just in time for the tunnel to collapse, and for us to have to jump back. It is unfortunate that we had to return, but I'm still glad no one got hurt. We need to move on.
Through the crypt itself, we enter the next room through a narrow door. In the middle of the room there is an elevated marble area with some words etched into it. The flames show us the knight slaying his wife as the world falls, like when the cataclysm happened. The knight also falls, but he does not die. Instead, he fuses with his blade and becomes some sort of undead. If this is Soth, then no wonder his home was considered cursed. We keep going, ever anxious about Soth.
In the next chamber, we see more statues of saluting knights. They are all individuals, and as we look, one of them represents the knight Vogler! We head towards the door here, and there is a saluting knight. A spirit of a knight a Selumnia kneels before the statue. Here, we don't see a scene play out in the violet flames, but watch as skeletal beings leer at us, but soon vanish.
Sterling, ever gallant, also kneels with the spirit. She looks at him, and says she is sir Janden. Sterling tells her he is a squire, and that he is caught in troubled times, and that invaders have come to free the Lord. She stares at him, and tells him that the Lord Soth is the one who raged through here. This is where the knights who served a Knight Salimar rest. Sir Salimar, a long time ago, received a divine quest from the God Paladine. He was tasked with finding peace between the dragons and the flying city created by the King-Priest Istar. His ability to make his city fly enraged the metallic draons, who had remained hidden since the dragon wars. Sir Salimar agreed to the quest to speak to the dragons, but also brought his family's greatest treasure, the dragon lance. He found and reached the city, and stood before the dragons. The King Priest refused to return the city to the ground, and the dragons refused to stop their attacks. Seeing no way out of this, Sir Salimar attacked the golden dragon with his spear. This rusted the lance, and destroyed it. There was much fighting, and Sir Genden was one of the surviving knights who brought Sir Salimar back. She points to the next chamber, where there is a tomb. She asks Sterling if he can help. Janden says that she tried to hide Salimar's shame, by telling people that he defending the city from the dragons. Because of her, he was buried a hero. But she now hopes that Sterling will take the lance so the weapon can find redemption. Sterling goes to find the lance.
Here, we see the tomb, surrounded by violet flames. Again there is a hole broken into the walls on both sides. There is a statue of a dragon impaled by the spear that surrounds the tomb, and we hear knocking from inside it. In the flames, we see the knight from the previous visions step through the wall and approach the brazier. He is holding a scepter, which he lights. He then points it at the statue, the tomb, and the flames spread through the entire crypt. He continues to walk and vanishes.
Again, Sterling approaches. He goes to the tomb, kneels beside it, and tells him to settle because we will take care of this. As he is trying to convince Sir Salimar, the cover of the tomb breaks, and his remains attack up. As we fight, the old knight makes it clear he does not wish to fight us. He is being called to attack us by Lord Soth himself. He says he is being called to go North to the City of Lost Names, the place of his dishonor.
Once Salamir is defeated, the flames vanish, and we are left in the dark. Luckily I replaced my oil lamp since we left the watchpost. Sterling looks into the tomb and finds the head of a rusty spear. He takes it.
Looking out into the tunnel, we are about 60ft over the city, but there is no sign of Lord Soth. We decide to return to the council room, and we don't see Leedara. We do see the councilman that had been possessed by Lord Soth, and he survives. We tend his wounds.
While we wait, I spend some time getting to know the cloak I picked up. We wait for the knight to wake, and when he does, he tells us his name is Dustin Real. He was ambushed about 2 weeks ago near the Dargaard Mountains. He does not remember much, but asks Sterling what order he is part of, since he is wearing the fancy armor of the knights of Selumnia. They talk a little more, and realize that they both had the same mentor. We show Dustin the scroll he had been holding, and he says that he cannot send a squire to fight against such fowl foe. Therefore, he can only knight him here. Sterling is now a knight of the Order of the Sword. Dustin says this is a field promotion, and that he will contact their mentor for his support, but all that is a technicality. Waah and I cheer!
After a few hours, Darrett, Vendri, and Bakkaris return. She tries to ensure order. We brief Darrett, with some embelishments. We are ready to rally, but Darrett insists we rest and discuss our plans the next day. After all, Vendri still has to assume leadership of Kalaman. We rest, and regroup the next day. We wake up and are summoned to a meeting with the former Marshal Vendri, in a room down the hall from the council chamber. The room has a stunning view of the city and harbor.
As we enter, we see Bakkaris is there and tells her that if it were not for us, the governor would be alive, and his own son around. Vendri dismisses him from her office before we can retort. We brief her, and say that we think our next step is to scout out the north, because that is where Soth had compelled Salimar to go, unwillingly. I say that we need to redeem the dragon lance, but Vendri and Darrett don't seem to catch that. Sterling motions for me not to bring it up, so I let it go. Vendri doesn't seem very keen to let us head north with the current dragon army, but Darrett steps up and supports us! While they discuss the pros and cons of our request, we are sent to the library to research more about the northern wastelands and the City of Lost Names. Before we go, Darrett tells us that in our absence, Bakarris had been trying to blame us for the current challenges. Time to actually find a bard to start that song about Bakkaris' cowardice in the fight he picked.
We go to the library, and meet the librarian, a part elf young woman. She looks at us, and we ask for information of the northern lands, the city, Lord Soth, and on the history of Bakkaris. She brings these books for us to read, and we find out that after the Cataclysm, the NW region became very prone to floods that are fast and violent and deadly. The area is littered with ruins, but not well explored as adventurers don't always survive there.
As for Bakkaris, I found out that he is Bakkaris Us Esteed, a lesser noble not from Kalaman. His family is known because of the long line of Knights of Solumnia. They are still wealthy to this day. After the Cataclysm, it was hard for a family to be in support of the knights, but his family did and have been rewarded.
I speak more to the librarian, and find out that she is a bard. Like most of her profession, she is a member of the High Tower of Sorcery. She loves books, and talks about how happy she was to apply and get this job. Upon learning that she is a bard, I make sure to be as pleasant as I can to her. We tell her we have adventures and that we would be happy to share our stories, such as what we witnessed at the fall of Vogler. With this, Waah shows her that she has been writing books about our adventures, and that she wants to donate it to the library! The librarian then issues her a receipt, and gives her 25 gold for her trouble, which I add to Waah's pile. More importantly, this will help us build our relationship with the librarian, and give us an in with the local bards.
I ask for her name, and she is Alara Brightleaf. I promise her more stories, but as best I can, try to convince her that a good story about our success in the Steel Springs will help everyone these day.s I make sure to tell her that we valiantly and at great trouble went from the battle of Well Watch to assist a beleaguered army. When we arrived, we had to fight the Dragon Army, trying our best to save our soldiers. Unfortunately, we had to content with the enemy, and with the commander, who ran away, abandoning not only his army, us the heroes, but his own poor son. I find that painting the son as a poor soul would help sell the image we would like to create. I make sure to mention the chosen heros Sterling. Mal, who was chosen by Meshekal herself to heal (with a demonstration), and Sterling, the first person to be knighted in Kalaman in so many years! I think it is working, especially since Alara asks if she can share these stories with her friends. I promise her many more books and adventures if she can do that.
Soon Darrett arrives at the library, looking satisfied in a way we do not see much. He will be joining us to investigate the dragon army going north, with a small group of 100 soldiers to avoid the notice of the Dragon Army. Some ships will ferry us at night, and we are tasked with figuring out what Soth is doing and return. The idea is that we will scout ahead, and the special ops team, and he'll bring the small army behind us. We will carry the communications devices from Tatina, and we consider maybe bringing something to help us swim in case of the floods we read about.
As we talk, Arinona arrives! She has returned, and has passed her test! We brief her on what she has missed so far. That night, as we get ready to board the ship, we see that Cudgel and Tatina are both joining our forces, and we are happy to have them. On the way, Waah and Tatina talk about creating flotation devices, and work on creating a plan for those involving logs and sheep bladders. In the meantime, Sterling asks me about how to better speak to others, without lying. I coach him through what I know.
At dawn, we arrive where we want. It is a very craggy section, and we need to find a place where we can dock securely. Darrett asks us to take a row boat and scout ahead. After some searching, we find a narrow cove, with some wooden buildings. It looks like it has been abandoned by smugglers, except that a ship there doesn't look that old. We go to the cove, and beach our row boat and scout. Most of the structures are falling apart. Arinona goes to the boat, and I sense something off, so I pull her down. We talk about it, and decide to be prepared as a group, in case there really is something there.
This time, I step on the boat first, and it looks great, albeit a bit old. I jump on the main deck, and get behind the hatch door so that I can open it and someone can take a look into the hull. Before we can do anything, a translucent creature comes to the deck and sees me, and comes to attack me. Later on, as we are fighting this windbag, another one shows up and joins the fight. We finally defeat the two creatures. Then a man walks up to us, speaking Salumnic with an evlish accent, and asks us, "what are you doing to my ship?"
10. Reinforcements for Bakaris the brave
Bakaris and his son had both marched a whole army division to search for the Dragon army, and they found it. They had 4 flanks that were outnumbered, and that was not good at all. Poor Darrett had no way to disobey the order, but he was able to call for backup. Our goal is to hold the Dragon Army until our reinforcements arrive in the morning.
Apparently there is a witch around here, and with enough offerings, she may well help us turn the tide of this battle. And, of course, we want to help keep the Kalaman Army standing.
This battle is a hard one. The offerings are spread across, and some even hidden in very dense woods. Luckily, Thalassa and Faylyn are both here, and they do well with wooded areas. I do not know how, but even in the flanks where few of our soldiers stand, we are able to rally them. Maybe the tides turn in our favor!
Bakaris is becoming unnerved, maybe because his own son is having a tough time keeping his head in the battle. In an act of great bravery, Bakaris the Elder runs away, leaving even his son to stand against the Dragon Army, despite his lack of experience. Despite this man's best efforts, we are able to hold. The ensuing battle is bloody and gory, but we turn the tide.
Once it is all over, we are addressed by one of the commanders we do not know, Willhelm (need to confirm the name). He tells us that Bakaris the younger is now missing, but that victory was only possible through our help. He says that we are the Heroes of the Steel Springs, and that is fantastic. All the members of the Kalaman millitary now look up to us (and we get advantage on charisma checks).
We return to Kalaman, looking forward to some rest, finally. We also get paid.
As we approach the gates, we notice a gathering of people, all excitedly talking about something while the guard tries to disperse them. I figure they are my fans, but turns out they are excited because they saw some Knights of Selumnia! Man, Sterling should have been here. He would have loved this!
Anywho, if Knights are here, then that is a good sign. They headed to the castle, and so should we. That way, we can figure out why they are here, and also get ready for some well-deserved rest.
We pass the gates, and head to the castle. As we enter the courtyard, we notice that no one is there. Most of the city's defenders are in the West with the Marshal. But there are 2 knights here, one of them holding a banner with a rose on it. Waah and I try to talk to one of the knights, who looks our way, but does not reply. We decide they are not as nice as Sterling, but since they have helms, we cannot yet decide if they are more handsome than he or not.
Either way, these rude Knights are now blocking the way to the castle, and we live here. And we also want to see the leaders, to complain about Bakaris again. I mean, what were they thinking, giving him command of anything? Well, Waah tries to go under the horse, but the Knight throws his sword down to keep her, and grabs her arm. She screams in pain, and that is not ok. Faylyn reacts and attacks the knight with her bow. The Knight seems unfazed. The other jerk hits me with their sword, but luckily is not able to touch me. I try to attack the horse so I can get rid of the rider, but I am unable to get through the armor. Thalassa is able to hit one of them, and since it damaged a part of the helm, we can see it is undead.
Panic time. How many are there, and what are they after? Are they with the Dragon Army? Also, how could I have fallen into this trap? I am suppose to trap them! And, most importantly, how do we stop them? Waah and I have the same idea to enter the castle and disrupt any possible plans they may have. I follow Waah into the castle, looking for more guards in the barracks. She heads toward the council chamber.
Luckily, all our friends are awesome, and defeat those two fake knights pretty quickly and follow us in. Again, inside the castle is pretty empty, and it is concerning. We group up and head to the council chamber with a bad feeling about all of this. As we approach, there is no guard or anyone still alive around here. There was a clear slaughter, and in the position of honor, the governor's body is propped up by a sword, in a vicious mockery of his previously-held power.
What we had thought was another body in the chamber is actually a man who calls himself Caradoc. He acts like none of this bothers him, and tells us he brought these knights here. Waah tells him that his people are dead, but he does not seem to care. He mentions that he is here because his lord is visiting a friend around here, but he refuses to name the lord. I feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
Surrounded by bodies and even undead bodies, I am unsure of how many people came up, but it is obvious we are falling for a stalling tactic. I know we are in a trap, and I'm mad I cannot avoid it. Really, the sooner we kill him, the sooner we are able to work on the next problem he has unleashed. We fight him, and for some reason, I get the feeling he cares not about the wounds we cause on him. We finally kill him, and a purplish spectre comes out of him, not quite corporeal. Again, we battle and defeat it.
Caradoc, in his human form, had been holding a scroll. We examine it, and it says that Lord Soth, the Knight of the Rose claims this land. It turns out, he ruled when he was Lord Knightland, the one who had been ordered by the gods to stop the mess, before the cataclysm. He did nothing. His fate was unknown, but his home, Dargard Keep, has been known as a haunted ruin ever since.
We must act quickly, but what is going on here? Then, out of the blue, that suspicious blue-skinned elf, Leedara, from the first night at Vogler, steps into the room. She tells us we need to hurry - there is a secret in this castle that the old lord must not be able to posses.
9. Centaur help with the fort, and 2 idiots
Faylyn runs to the other side of the tower and uses her grappling hook. I follow her, and hope that today I can climb. After we arrive, Thalassa (that cute centaur girl) comes to us, having been asked by Raven herself to see what was going on, why we are taking so long. Lucky for us, she is tall, so she helps lift me, and I finally am able to climb up. But there's a draconian guard up there! I'm not here to fight - I'm here to open a damn door, so I disengage and wait for my elven friend. Faylyn follows, and somehow Thalassa herself climbs up behind me, helping to keep that big guy off me. I'm up there just in time to see Sterling be skewered by the guard captain.
Still, the mission is the door. I jump down and try and run across the courtyard to the door. But one of the people there, dressed as a Kalaman guard, turns into a silvery draconic beast, and hits Faylyn and I! With his paws AND tail! Another guard comes down and tells me to surrender, in a very condescending tone. I think about trying to trick him into believing I am just heralding the Kalaman army, but instead I decide to run and hide. Faylyn stays and get knocked out, the poor girl.
Turns out, I was right, and just in time to miss the big dragon! Some other draconic asshole rode into the courtyard on top of a large dragon! When I went to hide, I just found the closest door to me. Turns out, this is not one of the rooms that connects to the rest of the tower. And these jerks that asked me to surrender followed me in here. I'm trapped. I need to get out of here and climb onto that dragon so I can open that gate! Or maybe I can create a diversion - either the sound of the army's beating drums, or maybe I can create a fire through the lantern. Something to get these guys off my back.
I do both. The sound of drums help get the guards away from me and back out into the courtyard. Then I use my lantern to create a small fire in the courtyard. That causes less of a distraction than I expected, probably because after a fight with Sterling and Mal, the silver dragon guy flew up and said something in draconic and left Some people really know how to steal the show. It is time for me to climb the walls again, but this time with the ladders from inside the keep. I go find the key to the lock that won't let us open the gates. On my way, I try to wake up Mal. At least he's alive. By that time, the 2 draconics remaining take off. I ask the remaining soldiers on the tower looking for the drums to surrender, mimicking what they said to me. "surrender now little ones, or else you'll be in trouble." I grinned the entire time, too.
I finally open the gate. Everyone is a little worse for the wear. I'm happy that Sterling is not dead, but Waah is missing. I'm not sure where she is. Well, the troops march in, but there isn't much for them to help take. At first they want to be very loud and celebrate, but are told by Raven to lest us rest. Sterling tells them to continue to feast, as this was a worthy victory. The next morning, we need to take the message back to the Marshal about our victory. I also lend a hand in interrogating the soldiers.
We also find 3 large crates that were not left here by the Kalaman army. They have valuables, and we are invited to look at them first. In the first crate, there is a lot of jewelry that glimmers and glistens. Probably about 1100 worth of gold. We'll split this loot, but not with Waah, since she'll just give it away anyway. Then there is another crate with additional dragon army foods and rations. About 250 days worth of meals. We decided to donate these to the Kalaman troops. Also, we don't really want to carry these with us anywhere. I mean, they are heavy, and dragon army or Kalaman, a hard tack is a hard tack is a hard tack - disgusting. In the last crate, there are 30 standard issues dragon army long swords, with the ugly symbol of Tahkisis on it. Ugly as they are, they are still worth about 450 gold all together. Between the weapons and the jewels, we all get about 310 gold. Maybe next time, if we can find Waah and she gets that much money, she may find something fun to buy, like a dress or a cool magic light or something. We'll see.
The soldiers that we captured and I'll interrogate are young and brash, and kind of helpful. Like a child is helpful if you ask them if they think their dad can beat up your dad. I wanted to know who they were, where they came from, what their goal was, and Sterling wanted to know what that Draconic guy said. They are from Taman Busuk, that huge mountain range SE of Kalaman. They want to conquer everything for the Dragon Queen. They tell me that the red dragon army is here, which I can see. And that the white dragon army is securing the south. And that the green dragon army, or is it the blue dragon army that is taking care of the elves? The point is that they want to take it all, and apparently have many colored armies.
That silver dragon that we saw was a messenger who will tell their leader what happened here. They tell us that when the time comes, red wings will darken the skies. I ask about how many troops they have, and they tell me that the portion under the High Master Fire Eyes has between 1 thousand and 20 thousand troops. They wanted to take the outpost because it was of strategic interest to slow down the raid of the supply lines from Kalaman.
What their flying leaders were saying as they abandoned their troops like the cowards that they are, is that they were going to report to command that the outpost was under attack, and likely lost. So, yeah, it was just their exit speech.
How many High Masters do they have? The Red Dragon army has one, but he does not run the army. That is the Dragon Lord. But just in their branch, Fire Eyes is in charge.
The goal is for the army to continue to consolidate outlying villages, and soon enough they will march on Kalaman when they have the air advantage with the dragons, and we are all doomed.
As they are chatty, I go ahead and ask about the exploding guys. They tell me that it is a gift to the followers of Takhisis, who gain their powers through their devotion to her. They are taken as eggs and warped by her power. They are doing this as a form of justice (or revenge) for the crimes of the metallic dragons. They even scoff that the metallic dragons have not showed up yet, even to save their own children from being taken and corrupted. Which is a fair point.
At least these jerks were just trying to get us to surrender to them and join the army. They were not talking about how they turned on innocent villagers, like the last guy back in Vogler. Seems so long ago, anyway. I leave them to Vogler herself.
Then we travel back to Kalaman. Of course, we use the apparatus to report to Kalaman before we reach the city. That is when Darrett informs us that Bakaris is leading the troops to ruins at the Steel Springs. That jerk and his son somehow convinced the governor to let them lead an army against the draconics while the Marshal and Vogler were away. Poor Darrett cannot disobey a command, but he wants to keep everyone else from being killed by Bakaris and his stupidity. We need to head that way and help as soon as we can. They are west of Kalaman, by the In Water river.
The good news is that we don't have to speak to the governor about relieving Bakaris of command - we are special operatives, and we need those troops. To be safe. And not follow an idiot.
Even without much rest, we force ourselves to walk the 30 miles west to keep Bakaris from having too much time to mess things up. Thalassa was kind enough to help me march that far with some of her magic. Sterling is also a doll and carries me through some of it. It was dreamy. At some point at a grove, we see a pasture with 3 dead cows and a huge lizard thing standing between them. It has wings, a tail with a stinger, and scales. Faylyn tells us it is a Wyvern. Apparently these beasts are protective of their kills, so we either need to fight it, or it may think that we are threatening it's food. Plus, going as far around as necessary will take too long. Again, Faylyn and Thalassa both help us move faster and without notice of the beast, so we are lucky to only make a small detour.
We finally arrive where Bakaris and his son, in shinning armor are at, trying their best to direct the troops to do something stupid. Luckily, for them, as soon as they see "reinforcements", they run away. Maybe they could be locked in at the fort with Vogler along with those two other idiots from the Dragon Army...
8. A fort to take over and a wall to climb over
We return to Kalaman after helping the army defeat the dragon army war engines! Personally, I would prefer some rest, but with how things have been going, I don't think we'll get too much time.
The next morning, the first big surprise is that we cannot find Arinona. She left us a message about how she is going to take her test of high sorcery. I'm not sure what that means, but I think she'll be back even more powerful. Maybe we'll have to call her by a special sorceress title! I can't wait!
We go ahead and break out fast without her. After getting ready and having a meal, we hear a knock. I ask if it is Darrett, and he confirms and asks to come in. Behind him is an elf. She is wearing leather armor and has a short sword. Her skin is darker and so is her hair, but it is more green than black. Her name is Faylyn, and she has volunteered to help Kalaman's defenses.
And it's a good thing she's here to help, because our next mission is to help retake the Well Watch output by the Estwilds, some 24 miles SE of here. If we bring another uncomfortable wagon to this place, I refuse to sit on it again. Sore feet are much better than a sore bum.
Faylyn seems to be someone who can help me sneak around and track things, so I look forward to having her by me. As long as she isn't mean to Waah.
The plan for the fort is that we'll go there, and the now Commander Raven will be around and march her troops into the fort as soon as we figure out a way to open the gates, and keep them open for at least a few minutes.
This all sounds interesting, and we'll meet with Raven soon. In the meantime, it is payday, and I may just spend some of that money on a nice dinner at that nice tavern. Maybe Wash will join me. And then I can see if I can find someone to bother that horrible noble. Maybe someone to claim he is the father of her illegitimate son. Now, there is an idea. And I could watch and have dinner!
Ok, back to meeting with Raven. She provides is with a sketch of the fort, and tells us it provides a great view of the surrounding area. It has a horn to raise an alarm. We have no idea of how many dragon army soldiers there are currently inside. The idea is for us to leave a little ahead of the troops. They will find somewhere close by to camp, and await the gates to open and come help us save the day!
We ask Raven to have her troops bring one of the talking backpacks, so we can communicate if need be. Darrett will just have to wait to hear the bigger news like everyone else. Plus, we would be too far from Kalaman to communicate with him anyway.
We go, and arrive in the valley around evening. We can see, even from a distance, that there are humanoids guarding the fort. We go ahead and set up a camp for the night in a woods around the area. We decide that the best option is for my new BFF to go investigate the fort, so we know more or less what we are dealing with.
There goes my beauty sleep! We have to spend the whole night watching the darkness. Turns out, there are 8 people guarding each of the 4 tower in pairs, and their shifts last 6hours. The biggest problem I see is that once an hour, some other asshole guard does a round at the wall, making it harder for us to be able to take down 1 patrol of guards to be able to take the fort.
Sterling bravely suggests that he and the others distract the guards in the SE tower. Then Faylyn and I can go and open the door. That makes sense to us, and seems like a good idea.
We all go together to the SE tower because Faylyn can help us all be less noticable. From here, they will climb the walls and get the guards. Faylyn and I will move north and then focus on opening the gate.
Sterling climbs up, the dashing hero that he is, and starts knocking down some dragon army soldiers.
Unfortunately, while Sterling is being heroic, I am being the stooge. I cannot climb the rope. Faylyn uses her grappling hook, and starts to climb. I get tangled. Then I slip. Then I fall. It is a mess! She comes back down to help me up, but then my bad luck spreads to her, and we both struggle. Until we hear some boots, and watch as more soldiers come out!
Faylyn grabs the grappling hook and rope, and starts to run. I run after her. She goes south, and turns west. I think she wants to climb the SW tower. Anything to get that door open. I see our friends at the top, and the fight is getting rougher by the second. I need to climb the blasted wall. We need to open that damn door!!
7. The wheels (and wagons) of war
Overturned wagons in the middle of the path. I'm immediately suspicious, and tell my friends that this can be a trap, and that we need to be careful. Of course, the brave Sterling wants to walk to the trap and spring it with his handsome face, until Waah reminds him that this is a job for me, not for him. But it does make me feel better that he'll be close by in case I do need help with the trap.
My suggestion is to create a camp. It is going to be night time soon, and we can use our camp to keep this ambush on its toes. I sneak up, and find that there are claw marks all around, and the wagons are overturned. Since there is no real danger, I call the rest of them here. The claw marks are not of a dragon, but they are big, and we should be careful. These wagons clearly belonged to either traders or refugees, packed full of things, but there is no sign of blood or feathers or anything else. There are claw prints that lead to the woods around here. The wagon wheels have been smashed, and no sign of animals either. Whatever happened, happened yesterday.
Since the wagons are clearly blocking the path of any new refugees, we decide to clear it. It is now twilight, and we are close to the woods that the dragonling or draconics hid in. We plan to rest through the night and go into the woods in the morning. I take second watch.
In the middle of the night, I wake up to the sound of clashing metal. I wake up and attack the draconic jerk that is attacking Arinona! Turns out, she was awakened by 3 of these guys trying to sneak up on her. I also scream as loud as I can to make sure the rest of us are awake and not surprised by their visit. They have some sort of draconic mage with them, and he surrounds us with some stink. I can't handle the smell, and am sick. I make it a point to vomit over any draconic creatures, out of spite.
Arinona is a thinker, because she gets out of the cloud, and manages to use her magic on their magic user. We fight valiantly, and defeat them. They ended up having more reinforcements, so we defeated 5 draconics total! But these jerks did not have anything of vale. And they also exploded when killed, so good thing that Arinona was able to defeat the mage without having to get close to him. He looked rotten on the inside, at least from what I could see on the floor.
By the time we are done with the fight, we are tired, and go back to rest. We wake up with the sun shining. It is time to go see where these jerks came from. I hope they made our lives easier and came to us, instead of having this group, plus another one still hidden in the woods. We walk a little, and find their encampment. There are crates, and bones litter the place. We find a lot of gold, and a frosted-looking crystal ball. I do not touch it. Arinona recognizes it as a drift globe. It can create a very powerful light once a day, but it can also provide just some light. It can also float in the air and follow someone, but it cannot go around obstacles.
I get 48 gold because I carry Waah's share. We also all get rations. It looks like these are the guys who were acting as dragons, swooping down on people and looting. Since we cannot figure out individuals from all the scattered bones, Mal puts them all together and burries them together, saying a prayer. There were 7 skulls that we found.
With that mission accomplished (but not really a success, since there were 7 dead!), we start to head back towards Kalaman. When we are within range, we use the gnome's device to tell Darrett. He is happy with our report, but says that there is another engagement with the dragon army, and that the Marshall needs us. We march back as fast as we can.
It turns out, Kalaman was preparing an ambush for the Dragon Army, but they noticed. So our best option now is to get their war engines, which will hopefully slow them down a little. While they have 4 flanks to engange with the Dragon Army, our goal is to get all the war engines. Each damn engine is accompanied by at least one vile champion, which makes this a tricky situation. Our troops stand valiantly against a much larger army, but we prevail! No flanks were lost, we managed to capture all 6 war engines, and we also defeated many of their champions. In fact, Darrett says that the reason the Dragon Army decided to retreat, even though they had the advantage on the field of battle, was because they lost so many champions! We are starting to gain a reputation, and again receive a medal for our bravery.
I want to know when my reputation will be big enough that I can kick Lord Bekaris in the shin. And maybe a pay raise wouldn't be a bad idea.
6. Capture the spy
26-27th
Vendri tells us that we have a goal of helping in the upcoming battle, spurred on by the aggressive Draconic army. They will send their troops to meet them, even though we are outnumbered. Our best hope is find our spy, and hope they can provide us intel that will allow our commanders to turn the tide of battle. Even Raven will command a flank!
Again, as the fight goes on, our goal is to find the spy and bring them back safely. It will be a challenge, as they expect many more champions this time, and an encounter with a champion while escorting the spy would spell out trouble.
We all go out and battle. We have to defeat many champions and help out our troops as much as possible, all without losing sight of the spy.
Wash is one of the first ones to make it all the way to the Marshall's flank and she cleverly uses the cliff to hurl rocks at the attacking army. Go, Waah! I am able to get to the spy, but with all the Draconic forces around him, I cannot safely get to him, despite my best attempts.
In the end, our very own handsome hero, Sterling, delivers the spy.
Very happy with our victory, Darrett has medals for us for our bravery.
We are also paid for the second week of very important work that we do. (1st week was an advanced), so we get 5 more gold. I also keep Waah's 4 gold so she doesn't just give it away. So far, I have 8 of her gold total.
Now, they want to give us a break, and then a mission. The next mission is that soldiers have been attacking travelers on the roads east to the Westworld border.
Waah wants to travel as farmers to ambush the soldiers. Sterling talks about how he and his brother are from farming families. We ask them to make us look like farmers. He suggests a cart with some goats and some dirty clothes.
The cart has to be practical, and full of our things and some hay. We will also need to bring two goats. I refuse to sit on the cart, because everyone knows that they get sore bums after a long time on a cart. We set it up by borrowing the cart from some of the refugees. Sterling will buy the stuff, including a donkey to pull. We contribute 5 gold to the funds, 4 of which were from Waah.
We start heading out. The Estwild border is about 20 miles away, the area they claimed the attacks happened. Since we have been there before to check on the farm, we remember that there were patrols of heavy dragon army soldiers.
On our way, we find a group heading to Kalaman. A family of 3, with a little wagon and a little girl. The girl is elvish, and the parents are human. They look tired and dusty, as they recognize us as travelers. They tell us that traveling east is trouble and we should head back with them.
They say the border with the Estwild has always been wild, but now it is worse. Flying creatures, but not like the ones that we saw. Flying lizards. They can be seen in the distance, and if they get near you'll never be seen again.
The little girl says that not everyone is killed, some are taken. The girl is a niece to the family, and her parents disappeared. Her mother is an elf, and her father is Richard. The girl says that if we go that way, we will die. Sterling tells her he is a knight, a good guy. And they start to move along, and wish us good fortune.
On the wagon are bundles and chests, and Wash ties a goat to their wagon. She says they will need the milk. Sterling tells them to take both.
Later, in the distance, we see a pale grey line of smoke. The elf and I are distracted, but everyone sees a pair of heads watching down the road over the hill. Waah is excited that the bait is working, but Sterling tells her to act normal.
We all get ready with our disguises. We continue to keep moving. Waah and I sneak to check it out. We double back, and go through the tall grass. They don't notice us. At the top of the hill we can see the smoke coming from the camp fire. There are men and women with leather armor and short bows and short weapons. They don't appear to be doing much more than cooking. There are some low tents and bedrolls lying around. There are no children, but a guy that looks fancier than the others, who may be in charge. There are 8 people.
We observe him as he is making arrows. People ask him things, and he answers them with short answers. We plan to return to our group, tell them about the people, and then I can pretend to be a little lost girl and see their reaction.
We suggest we should recruit them to take to Kalaman, but Sterling says on the way back if they are still there.
After a couple hours, we see some empty, overturned wagons at a crossing with a bridge. We take a look around.
5. War spreads and we stop new recruits
23 - 26 Yurthgreen, 351 AC
We wake up in our new quarters, happy and refreshed. Waah, however, decides today is the day she will set up what she calls a "training room" in our common room. I'm not sure what she'll be training, and why it needs a whole room, but she rambled about logs and ropes, and I am not sure what she wants.
Darrett knocks on our door because he has a mission for us, plus some news. I'm still not sure why he cannot join our group, but I suppose he is soon going to be a knight. Maybe Sterling will be his future squire. We'll see. Either way, the council here was disturbed to hear our news of the mechanical dragon. They want us to go see an inventing gnome, called Tatina Rickeldust. Why her? She is well known, but I still don't see why they can't ask our friend from Vogler. I mean, his gnome launcher worked! But either way, they want to ask her questions, so we will travel about 12 miles south and bring her here. Hopefully she likes to travel.
We head out soon after, after I ask Waah if she is sure she does not want to join us. And why? But, her training room will be necessary for her to continue to train. So we go without her. As we travel south, with the majestic Blackguard mountains in view, I am reminded of how small we are, and I hope that the army will not spoil these lands. After about 2 hours of walking, we notice 7 figures walking close by, coming towards us. They look armed, and we decide to pass them by. If they speak to us, we'll ask about Tatina. But they seem like thy have a purpose. They see us, but neither party wants to change course so we can meet. Plus, they are armed - maybe they would do us harm.
Soon after, we notice at the top of a hill a weird structure. It is a cottage, but with iron, and it is surrounded by goblins trying to enter. Sometimes, a gnome's head pops out of a clock, and she seems to be defending herself. In the back hangs a shadowy figure, which seems to wait for the goblins to get things here under control.
This is probably Tatina. But even if it is not, this seems like an unfair fight. We decided to talk to the goblins first. And by "we", I mean Sterling. He goes and talks to them. In turn, the shadowy figure fires an arrow at him. The goblins don't seem to pay him any attention, probably because they are all too distracted by this home's defenses, which would keep anyone on their toes. Well, if Sterling will take care of the goblins, I should probabyl help with the shadowy figure. After all, the goblins are a mess themselves. It works, and soon the last two goblins run away.
Tatina comes out, and we talk to her. She is an inventor, and she loves to create new devices. She says that the dragon may be a weed-clearing device that she made to resemble a dragon at someone's request. She says a man with a black and red armor came by because he liked her fire-breathing weed clearing device. She did not seem to notice all the signs that he could be evil, like the flaming sword, the symbol of Takhisis, the troops he commanded, etc. But he offered her a large amount of money to make the weed clearing device look like a dragon, so she did, and thought nothing more about it. I ask if she can help us figure out how to stop it. She says she cannot, since the stranger had asked her to make something else, but she has already forgotten about it, even tough he will come back and ask about it, probably soon.
What has distracted her from the commission she received? Well, these "fargabs" - strange metallic backpacks with horns, that allow two people to speak to each other up to 18 miles away. This can give us a great advantage to reporting our findings to the Kalaman council, as we will no longer need to travel back. Or maybe we can just tell them information faster. Either way, this seems like a good invention. I tell Tatina that she should come with us to demonstrate such great invention, as she doesn't seem interested in leaving to speak to the council.
We spend the night and rest, and the next day, ask we walk back, a kinder walks by and asks if we have seen a dragon. Sterling tells her that the dragon that is rumored in these parts is a mechanical one. Either way, the girl wants to go east, and continue to search for the dragon of her dreams. Normally, people run away from dragons, but alas.
Back in Kalaman, Derrett sees that Tatina is well taken care of. We convince her to lave a pair of Fargabs with us. We ask Darrett if he will keep one with him, while Mal carries the other one.
For the time being , we get some well-deserved rest in the city. I make it my business to learn where Lord Jerk and his son stay in the city, and find some information on him. I visit the Unicorn Inn where they are at, and the owner, Gwendolyn tells me about how important the reputation of an inn is, but will not give me much more information. She says that her daughter, Layla is a server and may know more about him. I approach Layla, and ask her.
Layla talks about how troublesome the father-son pair are. I ask if they have been up to anything, but she says that they have done nothing that she cannot handle. Apparently, anyone who becomes too troublesome is referred to the cook. I assume it is so that they will get drugged and calm down, but I don't ask. Either way, much like her mother, Layla is very interested in preserving the Inn's reputation, so they will not tell me much more about them. It seems that if I am to do something, I will have to do something that will not sully the Inn's reputation.
As I leave, I make a vow to return and eat dinner here at some point. It smells delicious, and maybe then I can observe what the Lords Bakaris and figure out a plan.
The next morning, Darrett comes and talks to us again, with news. A family has sough refuge in the city, because their family was overrun by soldiers. So we are going to go check it out, after speaking to the family, first.
We ask them about what happened, but they are simple farmers who left because their farm was overrun. They did not stop to observe or ask questions. We will simply have to go see for ourselves. About 15 miles out, we hear the thumping of hooves on the ground. We hide and observe, in case these are enemies. Half a dozen humans soon ride by, all with that dreaded red and black armor. The leader holds a lance, and he looks like a knight. We can only assume this is a heavy patrol of this area. Luckily, they are not coming directly along our path, but going in a different direction.
Once the patrol is out of earshot, we send Darrett a message about what we see. He receives the message and says that he will tell his superiors. We continue on our way.
As we approach the farmhouse, we see smoke. The place is still smoldering. Between the house, shed, and barn there are figures about. 1 person seems to be marching the other people, teaching them to march or attack on command. As we get closer, we see 1 human soldier trying to train 6 hobgoblins.
I get into position by hiding in the barn, the closest building to where they are at. Sterling will just bravely walk towards them, demanding they surrender. I will then jump down and attack. But I fib. And Sterling does not break, and continues to valiantly distract them, at his own peril! Next time, I manage to surprise a stinky hobgoblin! We start the battle, and defeat everyone.
On these jerks, we find a note that tells the human leader not to keep anyone who cannot "cut it" because the Dragon Queen requires more strong soldiers. What a recruitment tactic! We decide not to rest, and to return with this news as soon as we can.
On our way back, we come across some Kalamanian scouts being attacked by more soldiers. We even out the fight by attacking the soldiers in turn. We manage to save most of the scouts, and they recognize that Mal has called upon a god. They now know that at least Mishikal has returned! They are even happier now that Mal has graced them with her blessings! We send a message to Darrett about the scouts and the skirmish. The guards are kind enough to offer to keep guard so we all get a good night's rest.
In the morning, we take a good look at the weapons our enemies left behind. They all have the symbol of Takhisis on them, so at first we discuss how to destroy these weapons. But Sterling says that maybe these weapons can still be put to good use by the soldiers of Kalaman. We finally get to talk about what they were doing here. They tell us that a detachment was reported taking over this area, and they came to scout. Unfortunately, they were spotted, and the detachment sent the 6 soldiers we helped defeat to kill them. Mal goes ahead and sends the message to Derrett.
We decide to return not only the armor, but the weapons. We do our best to rid those of that dreadful symbol before we go. We travel back towards Kalaman, and we can tell we are approaching because there is a large number of caravans, jammed up trying to enter the city's East Gate, the same one we sailed to. We decide to go through the West Gate, and we see from the west, a small group of soldiers marching our way. We drop the scouts off at the city, and circle back, keeping an eye on this suspicious group.
As they approach, we see that their colors are not red and black, but the colors of Kalaman! They are exhausted, and teeter as we call for them to halt. From the middle, Cudgel appears, and we are so happy to see them! These are what remain of her Iron Clad regiment! We speak as we walk into the city. We tell them they are heroes, and tell her of our story so far. She wants to join us too, to put her men to work for the defense of Kalaman. We find her and her people a place to rest, and know that Darrett will take care of them until they are ready to meet the Mayor and the Marshall.
We return to our quarters, and I think of something horrible to do to that stupid noble.
3. Leaving Vogler
Yurthgreen 21, 351
We head back to Vogler as fast as we can, with the impending news of the draconian army.
When we get back, we pull Sterling, Beklin, and Raven into a meeting. We tell them about what we saw. Raven says that there have been rumors of war coming from the south or east. I wonder how they got here so fast. We estimate that there are about 1000 troops, and Sterling remarks at how easily it would be to hide 1000 people in the green areas around us. I try and tell them that we need to move, or we need to start working on delaying the army.
Cudgel interrupts our conversation by bringing in Jeyev, her Lt. Turns out, her group of mercs had also heard of the betrayal during the re-enactment, and they took down the remaining traitorous mercs. But his scouts did stumble upon the army, and they were bringing the news to town.
Beklin says that we should expect an attack, and she gets a very dark and deep look. Of course, we all know we cannot stand up to a direct attack. We just lost many people, and most of the villagers are farmers. Some of the group want to consider how to make peace, and I must remind them that option does not exist for the followers of Tahkisis. Apparently, not all of us were aware that the evil goddess was behind all this, starting with the attacks we saw on our way to town.
We are interrupted again, this time by a villager who tells us that there is a messenger in red and black at the gate. We all go to see what the message is. A human woman asks us who is in charge, and hands Raven a letter.
People of Vogler,
By the orders of Belephaion, the Voice of Takhisis, you will quarter the soldiers of the invincible Red Dragon Army this night. Refuse and die.
This is the Dragon Queen’s will.
It is marked with her signet, in a spiral, a symbol of Tahkisis.
The mayor and Beklin want to evacuate. I agree, and I also want to try and set up defenses to delay the army getting to Vogler. However, I remember that most of the creatures we have encountered in her service have wings, which makes it much more important for us to focus on evacuating the city. While Raven and Sterling both want to wait and discuss, I think we need to send scouts to check our perimeter - I would not dare to make an empty threat towards a town if I did not intend to honor it. We also need to send a messenger to Kalaman, since we believe that that is the final destination of the army.
To evacuate, Mayor Raven says that sailing to Kalaman is fairly easy, so we don't have to worry too much. Worst case scenario, some people can grab onto something that floats, and very likely make it to Kalaman. Cudgel says that she can get her remaining mercs to help defend the town, but that she will need to leave the town, and pass the soldiers that we spotted on the ridge, plus the messenger.
Waah immediately suggests the gnome flinger! We go find Than, who is working like the town was not attacked during the re-enactment, nor is it under threat of being overrun by a draconic army. We ask him if his contraption works with all of us. He tells us that only one person can go at once, and it takes not too long to reload. But he mumbles something about not yet having it tested, which is different from what he says when we ask him if it is safe. When he hears us talk about using a spell to help us land softly, Than tells us that he has a device that will help slow down our fall. He calls it an Airy Crasher.
Well, Waah and Sterling both want to go first, but being gallant as always, Sterling lets Waah go first. The order will be: Waah, Sterling, me, Mal, and Arinona. We also will need a distraction, so that we can surprise the soldiers. I ask Cudgel, and she tells me she has an idea.
Waah happily (actually, too happily) gets on the gnome flinger, and is launched, but of course she gives me a hug first. I tell her to be careful, but really, I know she'll be fine. Both contraptions work great, and she lands safely. In the meantime, I see something being thrown up there, and I assume that it is Cudgel's distraction idea. So far, so good.
Sterling goes, but I see his balloon has some sort of issue. Still, he makes his way without too much trouble, except the clanking on the way down, and then the sound of the balloon deflating. Which means that the guards hear him, and then come find him. Of course, when challenged, the first thing he says is "en guarde." Since Waah was able to land quietly and hide, she sneaked up on some of the guards and helped Sterling. But 4 against one (the messenger did not engage, but galloped away!) is not fair, and they did make Sterling fall. Waah was also being attacked, but since it is my turn, I will help them!
I get on the contraption, land on my feet, and fall just in place to stab one of those jerks. Of course, I have to hide, but luckily Mal comes in soon enough to help his brother. Then Arinona joins us (without the falling contraption), and we end up defeating all 4 guys. Since the messenger got away, we know we have to hurry! Of course, I have to make sure that no one survived before we leave. We also got confirmation from Cudgel that she was leaving to get her mercs.
We take 4 swords from these guys to the people who will make a stand for Vogel. We then help as best we can to help the town evacuate. When we talk a bit more about how to delay the army from reaching Kalaman, I suggest we burn the village. No one agrees, even though it is THE most efficient way to guarantee that the army will not have a chance to rest from all the tears, sweat, and work of the people from Vogel. As we are doing all this, we are accosted by a noble jerk who thins that we should just stand and fight. He is under the impression that not only is he a great fighter, but that he is also a great leader and will certainly help us defeat all the enemies. I roll my eyes at him, and tell him of the actual issues that he'd face with this adversary. I call him a coward, because death is always the easy way out. He leaves soon enough, but I still want to kick him. Right between the legs.
Cudgel finally returns, and along with the mayor, they agree to delay the draconic army enough to support the evacuation. They want to try a show of force to discourage the attack. I think they are crazy, but Sterling jumps at the idea. I'm so relieved when Becklin tells him that our goal is to help save any remaining villagers. I'm ok with this goal. We can help save people. Better than standing against an army with at least 5 times the number of people. Becklin says that the Knights of Selumnia still have a reputation, one that may yet strike fear into the heart of the army. Sterling's eyes shine, and he offers himself as a squire. Becklin tells him she already has a squire, but she does request to speak to him privately, to ask something of him.
Sterling soon returns, I assume he did exactly what Becklin told him to. But we end up in the field, trying to save the villagers. The draconic army sends some monsters to terrorize us and the villagers, but we help as much as possible. We put out fires, we defeat these monster champions, and we get the villagers to the river, where they need to be. Becklin commands 4 small flanks. The lift flank is the first to fall, and the battle rages on. It seems like every time we start to do a bit better, their reinforcements come in, and crush us. There is only so much we can do against such a powerful enemy, and I don't blame these farmers and villagers for losing their spine once they see their friends and family slaughtered in the field. The right flank falls. Darrett is doing fine, but before we get on the water with the remaining villagers, I noticed a glint of madness in Becklin's eyes. She sends word to her officers that they should retreat, but she spurs her own horse forward, and starts to take down as many footmen as she can. I lose track of her as I help heard more villagers away from the mess.
If I can find Darrett later, I will have to tell him of her bravery.
4. Kalaman and the trash that floated down river
As expected, we are the last to leave Vogler as it burns and we run. Before we all step into the last boat, Jeyev walks up behind us, holding a winged helmet. He informs us that the battle went poorly. We recognize the helmet as one of a Knight of Selumnia, so I pointedly ignore it for the time being. Without tact, Sterling starts to tell Darrett about the box that he is carrying, that now belongs to the squire. I would have given him more time before confirming the news that is so heavy for the lad.
It is time to leave. The once quaint town is now under attack of a vicious mechanical fire-breathing dragon. Flames engulf most buildings, and the invaders are looting every corner. From our boat, we all watch the spectacle in the silence of despair. It is not a home of mine, but the loss is palpable, hanging heavily, making it hard to breathe. Just like the smoke.
As Vogler becomes but a light in the distance, the Mayor tells us how appreciative she is that we saved everyone. She offers us a belt with a pouch in it. She shows us this rare and magical item, and I am not sure if this is the time or the place. With the help of some magic words, it can protect you for a time, maybe an hour. It can only be used a few times every day, but it helps provide protection for the wearer - some additional armor or even a shield. Mal and Sterling argue about who will have it, and Sterling tries to give his current armor away, and promises to return this item to Mayor Vogler herself. (Really, they argue like brothers, but in a nice way. In my experience, siblings threaten and beat each other, not argue over who will give up something in favor of the other). It seems like Mal will get the item, and he seems to want to wear less. Maybe he'll start to spend more time in his shift, although I never thought he would be that kind of guy.
The sky darkens, and we are still on the boats. Many of us fall asleep, or maybe just hope to wake up from the nightmare that is losing a home, an entire village, to an army of demonic bird-like creatures. I think I fall asleep, but it is hard to tell. Maybe my mind simply ran away from reality. At least the stars have the good conscious of not shining brightly. As light starts to seep into the misty morning, we see a pair of tower beacons. On the shore ahead, we can see our flotilla already landing, and our people sorting into camps. We are among the last to arrive. Of course, we still help those around us. A group of youngsters having issues controlling their oars. A couple of older people who are cold and in shock - I set up a fire. Stopping pickpockets by scaring them off with sparks.
Sterling goes ahead and gives Darrett Becklin's chest. There is a very fancy and shiny suit of armor, obviously made for Darrett. He is obviously touched, his loss still palpable. He tells us that he'll stay in Kalaman, and will help guide the villagers along with Raven.
We all chip in. Personally, helping Raven and Darrett seems better than just sitting around and remembering the battle, and the loss, and the fire, and the flight. Mal soon realizes that we are missing 2 villagers. Lord Bakaris and his son are both missing, although I don't think anyone would possibly miss those two. I refuse to think about them any longer, but Mal waits for the Mayor and informs her. Instead of breathing a sigh of relief, she says that they were probably the first ones to board a ship from the village. Those cowards! An older woman says that they both headed straight to Kalaman as soon as they got here, a lot sooner than we ever did. Raven says that we need the protection and assistance of Kalaman, but she needs to stay here. She delegates to us and Darrett the responsibility (and power!) to make arrangements for the villagers of Vogler. We want safety for these 400 souls.
In a way, I envy Vogler, as in staying here and helping her people, she will be avoiding Lord Bakaris and his hell spawn. We know that his hurry means a swift con, so we hurry into town. In the way, I ask Darrett more about them. They came to Vogler about 1 year ago, and they never really mingled. They probably never developed any type of ties to Vogler.
At the gates leading into Kalaman are 2 massive statues of knights that look grimly across the landscape. The walls are older than the cataclysm! I wonder how long they have been here, and how many refugees they have seen. As we approach, we can see the span of the tent city sprawling around. There are soldiers at the gates, questioning anyone trying to get through. The captain asks up what our business is in the city, and once we tell him we represent Vogler, he asks us, "you, too?". This does not bode well.
Sterling tells us he does not believe Bakaris came here with honorable intentions, and once again, we try to be quick. The path into the city, and the one to the castle rises up the cliff side, overlooked by statues like the ones that flank the entrance into the city. The gates to the castle are also open, but we are again stopped the guards. We explain our situation, and the guards decide to present us to the city council for them to decide. On the way, we are seen by the sniveling Bakaris Jr, who tells Sterling we cannot possibly have any power since we are just commoners. Sterling tells the guard that Bakaris has no standing, but the guard again defers to the council.
When we arrive, I inform the council of Bakaris' cowardice, especially since he tries to downplay us and our achievements. I cannot stand it. I tell them the entire story, starting from when Bakaris suggested the village stand against the army of Takhisis! The council listens, and inform us that there have been other towns rumoured to have burned like ours, but with no survivors. They have no idea who they are dealing with, or even the scale of the enemy. We are some of the first and only people to arrive with any real information for them.
Finally, the council asks us to leave (but not that cretin!). As we wait, I try to find Bakaris junior to trick him regarding something stupid. Arinona sits by the doors, trying her best to hear the ongoing council discussion. She can tell the people in there are getting frustrated. Mal listens while Sterling keeps watch. Marshall Vendry, the councilwoman who seemed to support us the most, keeps interrupting Bakaris and catching him in his lies. Finally, the governor calls for a vote. The doors open, and we are beckoned inside. The Marshall asks up back inside. The governor tells us that they will offer us shelter outside, in the tent city, but that his soldiers will protect them. They are concerned about the threat, and know nothing about the enemies. He proposes that we report to the Marshall as special operatives. The offer is good, but I object because Lord Bakarus is still in the council. I am informed that he is no longer in good standing, so I withdraw my objection, and become a Special Operative for Kalaman. As such, we are offered a salary, lodging in the castle, and a special emblem of our rank of lieutenant.
Mal wants more clarity about what they mean when they say "protection", and they answer that they do not mean to close the doors with anyone outside. He also says that the people of Vogler will have food provided by Kalaman. In fact, he will send note to Mayor Vogler, relocate them closer to the gates, and send them food.
Marshal Ventry asks us to her office, but gives us enough time to rest or even explore Kalaman. I pull Waah, and we go explore the east part of the city, by the docks, trying to find some friendly faces. No such luck. We do see a vast warehouse, the docks. There is even a weird shop run by a kinder, who sells oddities. Other than that, not much to tell about the little of the dock that we did see.
We go back, and I tell Waah that I'm going to explore on my own. She also has something to do, so we part ways. I explore the castle, and try to keep an eye out for that jerk, Bakaris. I see enough room for about 100 of the troops to be stationed inside. I also see the entrance to some dungeons or catacombs, but those are now sealed. I ask a servant about visiting the dignitaries, but he tells me that they stay in the inns around town, like the Prancing Unicorn. I make a note of that name, since maybe Lord Bakaris will be covered in fleas in the near future. On the 1st floor is where the council meet, and the armory room. Then on the 2nd floor is where the military command stays. The 3rd floor houses most of the castle guards. Most of their men are stationed outside the castle, or on an ancillary building.
It is getting close to the time the Marshall requested for our meeting. I wait for my friends by her office. I will need dresses and additional weapons. We start the meeting soon, and again explains that they have no information about the enemy. At first I imagine they want us to bring them bodies, but she clarifies that she wants intel. Numbers, positions, what parts they have control over. The real question is how we can best communicate. It does not seem reasonable for them to wait every time we go on a mission. However, can we really trust runners and scouts to not get caught? Or even mail birds? That seems risky. The offer us horses, which is a great start.
First, Marshall Ventry wants us to confirm a person at a specific outpost. She gives us our money, lets us gather any weapons we need from the armory, then shows us to our lodging on the 4th floor - the one that looked locked up when I previously explored. Before settling for the night, I visit a shop. I spend my own money (note to self, special operatives will need bonuses when they sign up so they can be effective!) on a fancy dress, a child-like set of clothes, and a peasant garment. This last one may be something I exchange with an actual peasant, as a peasant that does not smell will certainly arouse suspicion, and as will any clothes that are not worn.
On my way back, I get to really look at our place. Much like the rest of the castle, it looks like it is old and has not aged well. Where we are looks like an old ballroom, especially because of the pillars, vaulted ceiling, and wall decorations. There are 5 sleeping cots and 5 chests. I wonder if this means Darrett will not be with us. Adjoining this larger room are 3 more. Waah and I decide to share a room, and request a bathtub. I've never seen a goblin enjoy water as much as Waah. Arinona will have one room, and of course, the Sterlings will have the last one. Darrett soon joins us at tells us that his orders are different. As he has had training, his orders were for him to help train a new unit of soldiers on tactics. His lodgings will be downstairs with the other castle guards. I'll need to remember to ask him if the other guards are nice to him. After all, we all know how mean guards can be, especially to the new recruits. And someone has to look out for poor Darrett.
2. A battle (re-)enactment
Yurthgreen 20
That same night, I try to ask around about the blue elf who is acting very suspicious, but no one seems to know her in truth. Her name is Leedara, and she arrived the previous day, and she claims to be a performer that knew Ispin. However, I do not think that is true. I will have to check with the Brass Crab whether she had a room reserved here, like all of Ispin's friends that were invited.
The next morning, we wake up to the bustle of the fair getting set up. We wake up and notice that Sterling is not around. We just assume that he slept in after a night of lots of partying. Who knew, when he mostly seems so coy. Maybe we make him uncomfortable! I'll need to follow up on that. In the inn, we find ourselves being talked to by Derrit. He wants us to help him carry pies to the Thornwall Keep. They are Beklin, and he wants to become her squire. Since it means breakfast and Sir Beklin, we help. At the same time and place was another friend of Ispin's, a centaur woman named Thalassa. She volunteered to help, but I wasn't sure if she would have some sort of saddle bag for the pies. Either way, the pies are delicious,
Derrit also asks us all about where we came from. I tell him I come from a small village by Brushbrook, to the west. As we talk and walk, I again notice the contraption on top of the keep. I'm pretty certain it is a gnomish invention, but it really unlikely to be a catapult, which is what I first believed it was. I ask Derrit, and he does not know more. Personally, it seems that there is a lot that Derrit does not know, but hopefully he'll learn more things as he grows. Anywho, he does mention that the inventor is one called Than, and I should ask him if I have any questions.
At the keep, we see a lot of excavations going on. This whole place requires a lot more upkeep, but I suppose that it would expensive. I hope it remains standing for a much longer time, or actually gets renovated sometime. We arrive and Belkin greets us, taking us to her library. We finish breakfast there, and then Waah decides to go look at the books. I didn't even realize she liked books, so maybe I need to find some for her.
Belkin tells up that Ispin used to love the kingfisher festival, which I hope is for better reason than him just liking his town's festival. His love was for the battle reenactment, and she asks if we will participate in the reenactment to honor his memory. I tell her I will, and everyone else decides to join. Again, Sterling should be here, since I think this is something he would have enjoyed doing. Then she grabs a box and brings it back. She tells us that Ispin would have wanted us to have this, since we are friends he loved much, and that we traveled all the way here for his funeral. It is a round green shield - actually, it is Ispin's Green Shield! Wow. I remember him telling me how he was given this shield by a unicorn in the Darkened Wood.
She gets back to the reenactment, since Mal will probably be using the shield when he participates. Apparently the only rule is that we cannot use our real weapons, only the wooden ones. This year, some of Cudgel's friends will help represent the invading forces.
As the conversation dies down, I ask Beklin about Ispin's "friend" Leedara. She has never heard of that name, but Ispin did know a lot of people. I'll have to keep my eye out for her. I smell trouble. I also ask about the contraption atop the keep, and Beklin tells me that Than calls it a gnome-flinger, and it is some sort of transportation device. She encouraged him to build it here because it does look like a siege weapon, and she hopes it continues to discourage an attack on Vogel. I tell her I'll keep an eye out for Than, and I hopefully will get a chance to ask him more about it.
I also ask her for recommendations about what to do around town, and she recommends we go see the main points of the town - festival in the center, Mayor's house, market, etc.
We all leave Beklin and her friends to their festival preparations. Later on, at the festival, the mayo officially starts the celebration off with a speech. We all walk around, and I do not see Leedara. Waah seems so happy here, since she says that no one has been anything but kind to her. I tell her to enjoy the day and celebrate by buying herself something, but she says she has no money. It seems she gave it away to the farm boy guide that we helped out yesterday on our way here. I sigh and give her a steal piece (if that is the equivalent of a gold piece), and tell her she can only use it for stuff for her. Off we go!
Mal, Thalassa,and Waah decide to join the fishing competition, and they end up in the mayor's team. Each person has to get the most amount of fish, and the person with the biggest length of fishes wins! I hope to help my "team" by relieving some of the other teams of any "extra" bait they may have, but everyone is watching. So I content myself by cheering them on. Until this grumpy jerk of a man decides to stand beside Mal and complain about everything. He is annoying, so I ask him to go somewhere else to make sure that team 2 was not cheating. He comes with me. Waah seems to be just standing there sometimes, instead of fishing. In the end, our team tied in first place with another, but the Mayor had the biggest string, so she won! What fun, and she even got a trophy!
The celebrations continue and we all walk around and enjoy the beautiful day and festival. Soon, it is time for the parade, and everyone gathers at the village circle. The goal is to start the parade, and once we get to the top of the hill, we'll meet the "soldiers" and the "battle" will start. We parade, and the reenactment starts. Except that Mal tells us that the soldiers have actual weapons, not their designated wooden ones!!
What a mess. We are at the end, so most of the parades and re-enactors are running towards their deaths! I look for Beklin or the Mayor in the crowd, but I cannot see them. There is a ring of fighting all around me, so I cannot get out of this hill to look for them, either. What to do?
Soon some mercenaries start to approach us, and a battle begins. They are on horses, and they try to trample us! Out of the corner of my eye as all this goes on, I catch a glimpse of Mal healing himself! His enemy sees it too, and gives the mercenary pause. It may have saved his life in two different ways! We get rid of the mounted riders after a tough battle. But then a large ogre heads towards us with 4 more mercenaries! Oh no. As the orge charges towards poor Thalassa, who gallops away and pulls out her bow. We keep at the fight, more bloody by the minute. At some point, Arinona points her finger towards one of these jerks. I hear a bell, and his head explodes! We finally drop the ogre as the battle dies down. We look up, afraid of another wave of reinforcements, but it looks like there are no more. We do see some retreating mercenaries, but also coming this difference are Beklin, her friends, and the Mayor. They all also look like they had been fighting. The Mayor thanks us for our help with the ogre. My friends all scramble to help the wounded, and I look a surviving mercenary. I want answers!
As the village watches Mal help the injured my healing them, he becomes the talk of town. As I find an unconscious mercenary, the mayor tells us that we will interrogate them later. We all go rest before reconvening. Somehow, after the rest, we all feel stronger, like this battle made us toughter. (We level!!!)
Derrit later comes to collect each of us, since Beklin and Co. want to consult with us about what to do. I keep looking for the blue elf, but she is nowhere to be found. I take a peek at her room, and it looks unused. The windows are all shuttered from the inside, and there is NOTHING of interest. I should have gotten her yesterday!
We gather in the main room, and the Mayor leads a discussion, with many villagers around wanting to know more about what happened today. Around us, people who are injured are having their wounds tended, and the prisoner is being held and guarded, and bodies are being recovered. And now that all that is under control, she wants to know why the mercenaries betrayed Cudgel. That would be awful to be betrayed like that. Mal offers to heal the captive, and when they ask about this healing, he shows off! He holds his symbol of Mishikal out, and demonstrates. To great stunned silence. He explains that he was visited in his dreams by Mishikal, who warned him that Takhisis had returned, and therefore it was her turn to return and help us. Mal has been chosen to herald her return. Cudgel finally says that she does not think that the captive is worthy of divine intervention, which is a great point. There is another villager who speaks up for Arinona, saying that they witnessed great magic from her, too.
We decide it is time to bring the captive in and ask him questions. I am chosen to lead this interrogation, with Arinona's help. The mayor tells us that she expects no harm to happen to this traitor-murderer, so I guess I can't scare him proper. But I do let him know everything that I can think of that I would like to do to him, and he starts talking to us. Gregonis, the traitor ogre, had planned on killing Cudgel and taking over the regiment. He had some sort of mysterious meeting in the woods, and came back with a chest full of gold. He used that to bribe his mercenaries, with the intent to kill the militia, sack Vogler, and then take over. He does not know who Gregonis had met with in the woods.
We decide to look at the money that Gregonis used to pay this man, and it is true! A steal piece is stamped with the symbol of Takhisis. Those damn creatures and the evil they are bringing upon this already blighted land!
He tells me that right now, there are still some people left over in the mercenary camp, the people who would turn on Cudgel for money. She tells us where the camp is, and tells us that she will go there to check on this man's story, and also to deal with the ones that stayed loyal to her. She does not want us to join her.
I remember that this man sitting here is a fuck face that decided to betray Cudgel in a brutal attempt to take over a small village in memory of Ispin. I punch him, since I do not want to hear anymore right now. The Mayor and Beklin seem very disappointed, but frankly, they need to grow a spine! Either way, they continue to talk, and Beklin wants to know more about this meeting in the woods. She suggests scouting the woods, which seems crazy. If the ogre was traipsing around in the forest, does she want us to walk every inch of it searching for... a hole where he dug up the treasure from? But we agree, and I guess Thalassa knows a lot about the woods and will be able to make this more efficient. We go look for vestiges of a meeting that happened 2 days ago in the forest. After we rest a little, of course.
Derrit will be our guide to the forest, since he knows how to get there. He leads us west for about one hour, and we see more rolling hills and forests. Maybe we would be able to search a whole forest like this. We keep searching for clues, and finally find some boot prints, along with some reptilian claw prints. These could easily belong to the same creatures that we encountered on our way to Vogel. That is not a good sign.
We decide to keep following these tracks, and after almost a full hour of hiking north, we find ourselves with a beautiful top view of a rolling valley. In the distance, we see hundreds of low fires, casting a red glow on red tents. There are also patrols around that area. We have stumbled into an enemy camp. I'm speechless! We need to go back to Vodgel. We decide to march back there as fast as we can, since we need to warn everyone!
1. Remembering Ispin Greenshield
Yurthgreen 19, 17AD
Ah, Ispin Greenshield. What a wonderful man he was, and what great adventures he led. I am sad to have received an invitation to his funeral. I first met Ispin when he saved the small town my family lived in after our first hamlet was destroyed by the war. I will miss our drinking and talking, and mourn all the evil in the world that will not succumb to his sword.
On my way towards the town of Valet, I came upon a short goblin on the road. She reminded me of my childhood friend, Waah, and so I called out to her, and made sure that she did not feel like I was a human enemy. What a fantastic coincidence that this goblin happened to be Waah! We embrace, and decide to travel together. She is very different - not the scared little goblin that I found in the forest one day. I'm glad her path has been good to her, and I was happy to have this time to catch up. As we walk and talk, an elf approaches, then two humans. We decide to travel together, all 5 us. We were all going to Ispin's funeral. The two humans are brothers, and they are funny. They were at least nice to Waah, unlike the elf who started off on the wrong foot, but I suppose that she'll learn that Waah is the best little sister anyone can ask for.
We head on to the city of Valet, and we see more traffic on the river. I hope one day that we will have a nice boat and can travel in a way that hurts our feet much less. As we walk on, we hear some screaming, and a terrified man asks for help. He says that down the road he was guiding some soldiers, when they were attacked by creatures. That very handsome Sterling tells him to guide us, and off we go to find a very large wagon surrounded by three corpses.
We had asked him what it was that he saw, and the scared man was only able to describe cloaks and a large size. Even I was surprised when I saw these large, taloned beasts, picking through the remains of the caravan. All 5 of those creatures talk to each other and then 3 of them leave. I think they suffer from the same issue all bigger people suffer from -underestimating us smaller people! To prove my point, Waah goes up to one of them and kicks it in the face! Go, girl! Then she sweeps it's leg! We all join in the fight.
Once we take care of these weird bird creatures, Sterling tells us that they are devotees of the Queen of Darkness, Takhisis. What are these awful people doing around here, where there will be a festival? We also look around the caravan and the bodies, but there isn't too much of value. Plus, Sterling doesn't want to take money from the soldiers. He also insisted that we bury these bodies, so I went to grab the guide who originally called for help, and ask him to lend us a hand now that the danger is passed. Waah gives the guide 1gp, and then Sterling gives him some of the rations we found. I at least got 1 ration. Also, the guide is a farmer from around here. Why does he need more food? It's what he does every day.
Now that we are all ready to go on, we continue our walk. The 5 of us seem like a good team. Which is fine, since neither Sterling or Mal seem to be worth much anyway. I guess they would be good allies, as they don't seem to hate on Waah. But that elf is still suspicious to me, so I'll keep an eye on her. Maybe she'll leave, but I don't think I would want to try and get money from her anyway. Maybe I'll annoy her enough that she'll leave, and leave Waah alone, too.
Finally we reach the village! It is beautiful and peaceful and boring! Except not really boring because they are setting up for the festival! I can probably pull my best fortune teller act then. But not tonight - tonight is the night to remember Ispin. We head directly to the Brass Crab. We all have individual rooms, the luxury!!
For the King Fisher festival there will not be a tournament like I expect, but a reenactment of the fight of long ago by the Knights of Selumia. Sterling keeps talking about gaining honor, so I suggest he joins the reenactment. He doesn't want to. It would be a nice way to show off to the mayor, and maybe get some goodwill. But then I would have to distinguish myself, and I don't know if we'll be here long enough for it to be worth it.
We are finally at Vogler, with our rooms and we have some time before the funeral begins. Sterling goes off to check the town, and Waah and I go to the market. Pretty trinkets all around.
For dusk, we return to the Brass Crab and Becklin greats us all. She tells us she invited us because she knew us through Ispin and his stories. She tells us that we will mark his passing with tales of Ispin. She and their other friend lower the boat that carried his shrouded body into the river, and we enter the Brass Crab for the reception.
We all share tales of Ispin, and drink to his memory. But we also all notice a blue elf who is hanging out at the edge of the crowd. He did not share a story, nor did he look moved by the funeral. I will keep my eye on him.
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