Chapter 1-18: Conyberry
General Summary
The party made their way north of Old Owl Well, through the hills. After only a few hours, the sun set. The group decided to push on another few miles, under the pale light of Eleach(Moon), before decided to set up camp.
The next morning, the party traveled the last few miles to the abandoned village of Conyberry. Destroyed during an orcish invasion centuries past, the ruined village sat unnaturally still, bound by a tangible chain of silence. Unsettled by the eerie and oppressive atmosphere, the party elected to sneak through the town, quickly finding the northeastern turnoff Sister Garaele had told them about.
The forest grew dark and still as the trail wound deeper into the trees. Heavy vines and thick layers of moss draped the branches, and the temperature of the air dropped noticeably as they travelled. Rounding a bend in the trail, the party found a screen of warped tree branches standing close together, woven into a domelike shelter in the shadows. A low doorway led inside. This must be Agatha's lair.
The party decided to split up, so as not to risk upsetting or threatening the banshee. Clootie, Miaug and Ryoko decided to head inside to speak to Agatha; Ramas and Aetilius would stand guard outside.
Inside, the girls found a home sheltered within the dome of woven branches. It was occupied by very beautiful old elven furniture. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. Clootie called out to Agatha, but nothing stirred in the dome. As she started to put Sister Garaele's comb down on the table, suddenly the air grew cold and a cold, pale light flickered in the centre of the room, coalescing into the form of a female elf, "Foolish mortals" she snarled "What do you want here? Do you not know it is death to seek me out?"
Clootie offered Agatha the delicate silver comb. The banshee took it almost reverently, her eyes lighting up at the sight as she ran ghostly fingers over the intricate details. The ghostly figure smiled with cold amusement, "Very well," she said, "I know that you seek many things. Ask me one question, and I will give you one answer"
Ryoko asked about the current location of Bowgentle's spellbook. Agatha told them that she had traded the book to a necromancer named Tsernoth from the city of Kildrasil more than a hundred years ago.
Ryoko tried to offer Agatha the little crystal owl she had found in Old Owl Well, but she couldn't find it in her pocket. Confused, she started to check her other pockets before muttering "Ramas" under her breath.
Clootie offered that she and Ryoko could perform a musical number for her, in exchange for another question. Agatha was intrigued, and the pair plucked out a surprisingly nice tune on Clootie's washboard and Ryoko's mandolin. Satisfied, Agatha agreed to answer another question.
Ryoko asked about what was currently happening in Wave Echo Cave. Agatha reached up her hands, and a halo of silvery light illuminated her inhumanely beautiful features as she cast a divination spell. Slowly her eyes opened. She explained that a group of goblins and bugbears had overrun the mines again, and that their leader - a dark elf - was searching desperately for something. However, something older and darker was lurking in the shadows of the mine.
Clootie couldn't help herself and blurted out another question - asking about the darkness lurking in the mine. Agatha was amused by the young gnome's eagerness, and sat down on her reclined couch before telling the party the true history of the fall of Wave Echo Cave.
A few years before the fall of the cave, the mages of the Phandelver's Pact were infiltrated by members of the Nethonris. In secret, these agents created artifacts of dark magical potential. However, to unlock their potential and imbue then with power, they required the sacrifice of souls. The Nethonris lured the orcs into the lands of the Empire as a diversion tactic - leading the orcish army to lay siege to the mines. The Nethonris agents managed to persuade the mages of the Pact that they could not afford the Forge to fall into orcish hands, and that they had a powerful magical ritual which could protect it. The mages all combined their power, but they were deceived. The ritual killed the mages and harvested the energy of their souls to power the Nethonris artifacts.
Clootie and Ryoko stood quietly, absorbing this information for a moment. Clootie then started to ask more questions. Agatha stood up, looking suddenly exhausted, "I grow tired of mortals - leave me!" she snapped. The girls took the hint, and left the banshee's lair - for once without starting a fight. Real character growth!
The group then decided to make their way through the forest, as close to Wave Echo Cave as they could. They set up camp close to the forest edge, and settled in for the night.
During the night, Ramas and Aetilius were awoken by a murmuring from Ramas's belt. Ramas pulled out Lament and heard an anxious voice emanating from the blade: "Please. Is anybody there... Please - somebody answer" Ramas recognised the voice as belonging to Faila - the young human thief the party had spoken to in Neverwinter. "Oh thank Lliria! I didn't even know if this thing worked. I didn't know who else to contact - I'm scared and I need help. Everything has gone wrong since you left - it's all happened so quickly."
Faila explained that the city was in trouble - food had almost run out and people were starving. The City Guard had gone north to protect the farms from the raiders, and had left the Champions of Lathander in charge of the city. The Champions had swept through in the Thieves Guild, arresting and executing most of the members, forcing the rest into hiding. Somehow they knew all of the Guild's hideouts and safe houses.
The Guild members who escaped succumbed to the Gutter Cough epidemic, with may fatalities occuring before they could be taken to the Temples.
Faila also explained that something was wrong with Silas. He had started acting strangely shortly after the party had left Neverwinter. Faila was suspicious, so she followed him into the sewers one night, where she observed him meeting with the Champions beneath the temple district. Faila and the other survivors were getting desperate, so she stole the Lament's ruby from Silas and contacted the party for help.
Ramas told her to stay hidden, and that they'd be back in Neverwinter in a couple of days. The party agreed to leave Wave Echo Cave for now and head back to the city. Ryoko sent a snowy owl messenger to Sister Garaele to pass on the news about Bowgentle's Spellbook, and to let her know that the party wouldn't be able to return via Phandalin.
She then also used magic to attempt to locate the missing owl figurine. The spell failed - and Aetilius determined from the magical energies that the owl figure either did not exist on this plane of existence. Clootie recognised this as potentially high level illusion magic - a Mirage Arcane, which can create tangible illusory terrain in a 1 mile radius. It's possible that Old Owl Well looks very different beneath this illusion, but the party would need to Truesight to determine this.
The next morning, the party traveled the last few miles to the abandoned village of Conyberry. Destroyed during an orcish invasion centuries past, the ruined village sat unnaturally still, bound by a tangible chain of silence. Unsettled by the eerie and oppressive atmosphere, the party elected to sneak through the town, quickly finding the northeastern turnoff Sister Garaele had told them about.
The forest grew dark and still as the trail wound deeper into the trees. Heavy vines and thick layers of moss draped the branches, and the temperature of the air dropped noticeably as they travelled. Rounding a bend in the trail, the party found a screen of warped tree branches standing close together, woven into a domelike shelter in the shadows. A low doorway led inside. This must be Agatha's lair.
The party decided to split up, so as not to risk upsetting or threatening the banshee. Clootie, Miaug and Ryoko decided to head inside to speak to Agatha; Ramas and Aetilius would stand guard outside.
Inside, the girls found a home sheltered within the dome of woven branches. It was occupied by very beautiful old elven furniture. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. Clootie called out to Agatha, but nothing stirred in the dome. As she started to put Sister Garaele's comb down on the table, suddenly the air grew cold and a cold, pale light flickered in the centre of the room, coalescing into the form of a female elf, "Foolish mortals" she snarled "What do you want here? Do you not know it is death to seek me out?"
Clootie offered Agatha the delicate silver comb. The banshee took it almost reverently, her eyes lighting up at the sight as she ran ghostly fingers over the intricate details. The ghostly figure smiled with cold amusement, "Very well," she said, "I know that you seek many things. Ask me one question, and I will give you one answer"
Ryoko asked about the current location of Bowgentle's spellbook. Agatha told them that she had traded the book to a necromancer named Tsernoth from the city of Kildrasil more than a hundred years ago.
Ryoko tried to offer Agatha the little crystal owl she had found in Old Owl Well, but she couldn't find it in her pocket. Confused, she started to check her other pockets before muttering "Ramas" under her breath.
Clootie offered that she and Ryoko could perform a musical number for her, in exchange for another question. Agatha was intrigued, and the pair plucked out a surprisingly nice tune on Clootie's washboard and Ryoko's mandolin. Satisfied, Agatha agreed to answer another question.
Ryoko asked about what was currently happening in Wave Echo Cave. Agatha reached up her hands, and a halo of silvery light illuminated her inhumanely beautiful features as she cast a divination spell. Slowly her eyes opened. She explained that a group of goblins and bugbears had overrun the mines again, and that their leader - a dark elf - was searching desperately for something. However, something older and darker was lurking in the shadows of the mine.
Clootie couldn't help herself and blurted out another question - asking about the darkness lurking in the mine. Agatha was amused by the young gnome's eagerness, and sat down on her reclined couch before telling the party the true history of the fall of Wave Echo Cave.
A few years before the fall of the cave, the mages of the Phandelver's Pact were infiltrated by members of the Nethonris. In secret, these agents created artifacts of dark magical potential. However, to unlock their potential and imbue then with power, they required the sacrifice of souls. The Nethonris lured the orcs into the lands of the Empire as a diversion tactic - leading the orcish army to lay siege to the mines. The Nethonris agents managed to persuade the mages of the Pact that they could not afford the Forge to fall into orcish hands, and that they had a powerful magical ritual which could protect it. The mages all combined their power, but they were deceived. The ritual killed the mages and harvested the energy of their souls to power the Nethonris artifacts.
Clootie and Ryoko stood quietly, absorbing this information for a moment. Clootie then started to ask more questions. Agatha stood up, looking suddenly exhausted, "I grow tired of mortals - leave me!" she snapped. The girls took the hint, and left the banshee's lair - for once without starting a fight. Real character growth!
The group then decided to make their way through the forest, as close to Wave Echo Cave as they could. They set up camp close to the forest edge, and settled in for the night.
During the night, Ramas and Aetilius were awoken by a murmuring from Ramas's belt. Ramas pulled out Lament and heard an anxious voice emanating from the blade: "Please. Is anybody there... Please - somebody answer" Ramas recognised the voice as belonging to Faila - the young human thief the party had spoken to in Neverwinter. "Oh thank Lliria! I didn't even know if this thing worked. I didn't know who else to contact - I'm scared and I need help. Everything has gone wrong since you left - it's all happened so quickly."
Faila explained that the city was in trouble - food had almost run out and people were starving. The City Guard had gone north to protect the farms from the raiders, and had left the Champions of Lathander in charge of the city. The Champions had swept through in the Thieves Guild, arresting and executing most of the members, forcing the rest into hiding. Somehow they knew all of the Guild's hideouts and safe houses.
The Guild members who escaped succumbed to the Gutter Cough epidemic, with may fatalities occuring before they could be taken to the Temples.
Faila also explained that something was wrong with Silas. He had started acting strangely shortly after the party had left Neverwinter. Faila was suspicious, so she followed him into the sewers one night, where she observed him meeting with the Champions beneath the temple district. Faila and the other survivors were getting desperate, so she stole the Lament's ruby from Silas and contacted the party for help.
Ramas told her to stay hidden, and that they'd be back in Neverwinter in a couple of days. The party agreed to leave Wave Echo Cave for now and head back to the city. Ryoko sent a snowy owl messenger to Sister Garaele to pass on the news about Bowgentle's Spellbook, and to let her know that the party wouldn't be able to return via Phandalin.
She then also used magic to attempt to locate the missing owl figurine. The spell failed - and Aetilius determined from the magical energies that the owl figure either did not exist on this plane of existence. Clootie recognised this as potentially high level illusion magic - a Mirage Arcane, which can create tangible illusory terrain in a 1 mile radius. It's possible that Old Owl Well looks very different beneath this illusion, but the party would need to Truesight to determine this.
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