Session 14: Sunblight Part II
General Summary
As the familiar figure approached, she introduced herself as Vellynne Harpell, member of the Arcane Brotherhood. Although recalling the events previously and how she seemed to be an ally (Session 11: Discoveries), the party instantly became weary of her intentions. This is largely because of their previous encounters with members of the Arcane Brotherhood including the albino tiefling, Avarice and Dzaan, the Red Wizard previously burned at the stake in Easthaven. You learned that Vellynne has been searching Tentowns for a group of adventurers to help her complete a personal mission when she learned about the party's earlier acts of bravery in Bremen, Caer-Konig, and Easthaven. The party has deduced that the fate of Tentowns doesn’t truly concern her, however she admittedly hopes the party will help her with her personal mission.
Tensions were reduced when she shared her disgust of Avarice Kinthrope and told you more about the Arcane Brotherhood. She let you know that something personal is at stake; you are her greatest hope she has of recovering a stolen family heirloom known as a Professor Orb. After prying and attempting to gain more insight on her motives, she also mentioned word about a missing relic known as The Codicil of White. Supposedly, obtaining this item could put an end to the Frostmaiden's rein.
She went on to let you know that Xardorok is in the Forge level down below and told you to approach with caution. To help she provided you with a Potion of Clairvoyance that would allow you to scout ahead. She also informed you that duergar are known to keep prisoners and despite its grandeur, a dragon’s heart is quite fragile and vulnerable. Before leaving, she gave the party a number of items to help them with the encounter ahead including a personal gift; Ameila's stolen amulet.
Before bidding you farewell, she told you that she would help you return to Tentowns once Xardorok was destroyed. It became clear that she would do what it takes to gain the party's trust. Vellyne then took her leave by summoning an arcane gate and walking though. With the clock ticking, the party moved on into the room she had come in from to see the wake of her destruction. In this chamber containing the downward elevator, she had killed several duergar and mechanical constructs using telepathic magic. Taking the elevator down to the bottom, you noticed a considerable increase in temperature. When arriving at the bottom you were met with a destroyed construct by means of powerful ice conjuration magic. Although uncomfortably hot in this small chamber the floor was coated in frost and the singular door exiting this chamber had been decimated. In the room beyond you heard voices as Amelia scouted ahead: The familiar voice of Avarice said calmly, "You’ve made a mistake placing your fealty with the Lord of Lies, Klondorn. But at least he has taught you something worthwhile." A secondary nasally cringe voice was quick to reply, "Hahaha, You’re too late, Xardorok has already unleashed the winged death." Amelia sneaking into the room saw a seven-foot-tall statue of the duergar deity, Deep Duerra, a female duergar in a scale mail robe dominating the center of the room. The top of its head above the eyes has been sheared off, making a space for a stone brazier that gives off a flickering flame. Chained to the statue’s pedestal is an emaciated, malformed creature with rubbery, purplish-gray flesh, a bulbous head with a metal plate bolted to it, and sinister eyes. Just to the east of the statue stood Avarice and her two gargoyle companions beside her. She responded dryly, "Leave it to a brainless fiend to think Levistus holds any concern for this pathetic tundra." A confused look washed over the face of the duergar entombed in ice. It was then Amelia noticed pieces of skin on the duergar's face were beginning to peel and flake off, exposing a fiendish purple skin tone beneath. Extending a hand, the albino tiefling grew a long icicle from her index finger, "The Codicil of White, where is it?" She reached for his face and gouged out his right eye using her ice claw. The fiend let out a terrible howl, but audible above it, "The Island of Solstice!" Apparently aware of your presence now, Avarice let out an apathetic gasp and turned toward Amelia in hiding. A brief combat ensued with Avarice and her gargoyle companions before she calmly made her way to the chambers behind her, taking with her a large stone tablet before teleporting away. Klondorn the duergar in disguise was unable to survive the fight; he turned into a puff of black smoke at his demise before he managed to get a word out. Similarly, Morthos put a swift end to the emaciated illithid chained to the statue in the room.
Overlooking the shrine are four twenty-foot-tall guard towers with gray-skinned dwarves standing behind their low battlements. Stone stairs provide access to the tops of the two towers nearest the forge along the southern wall. Next to the forge just outside the pool of lava was an enormous, 10-foot-tall platform fitted with cranes and clamps, with short flights of iron stairs leading to the top of the platform. An enlarged duergar blacksmith stood on the lava bank working alongside three hulking bipeds, their white fur stained with soot. A female duergar on top of the platform could barley be heard as she barked orders at a 12-foot tall ogre using a horse cart as a wheelbarrow which was filled with black stones.
Scrying through magical means, Bulwark watched as a soot-stained, gray-bearded duergar with a jagged black crown on his brow and a spiky black gauntlet on one hand walk up the stairs to join the female duergar commander. His crown and gauntlet made of chardalyn.
The vastness of this chamber made it evident that storming into the chamber would be a suicide mission. Through some quick thinking Atalanta summoned fog cover that enabled the party to sneak through the far side of the chamber undetected to search for potential allies from the Muzgardt Duergar Clan. After venturing through, killing several smaller groups of duergar, the party made their way to the mess hall where nearly two dozen duergar guards gathered. Amelia exposed her self-altering magic for the first time in front of Reinaldo as she changed into a duergar guard and entered the hall. She successfully managed to incite a riot between the Muzgardt Clan and those still loyal to Xardorok.
With the foe's cleared out and nearly a dozen new ally's the party took a moment of reprieve as they planned their attack in the Forge. A duergar named Kolbrak from the Muzgardt Clan communicated that he and his men would take out those loyal to Xardorok after Morthos gave the signal. Lightening the mood, the party felt enlightened just a bit as they began to sing and dance along with Reinaldo to help enjoy a short rest.
Top Level
Before bidding you farewell, she told you that she would help you return to Tentowns once Xardorok was destroyed. It became clear that she would do what it takes to gain the party's trust. Vellyne then took her leave by summoning an arcane gate and walking though. With the clock ticking, the party moved on into the room she had come in from to see the wake of her destruction. In this chamber containing the downward elevator, she had killed several duergar and mechanical constructs using telepathic magic. Taking the elevator down to the bottom, you noticed a considerable increase in temperature. When arriving at the bottom you were met with a destroyed construct by means of powerful ice conjuration magic. Although uncomfortably hot in this small chamber the floor was coated in frost and the singular door exiting this chamber had been decimated. In the room beyond you heard voices as Amelia scouted ahead: The familiar voice of Avarice said calmly, "You’ve made a mistake placing your fealty with the Lord of Lies, Klondorn. But at least he has taught you something worthwhile." A secondary nasally cringe voice was quick to reply, "Hahaha, You’re too late, Xardorok has already unleashed the winged death." Amelia sneaking into the room saw a seven-foot-tall statue of the duergar deity, Deep Duerra, a female duergar in a scale mail robe dominating the center of the room. The top of its head above the eyes has been sheared off, making a space for a stone brazier that gives off a flickering flame. Chained to the statue’s pedestal is an emaciated, malformed creature with rubbery, purplish-gray flesh, a bulbous head with a metal plate bolted to it, and sinister eyes. Just to the east of the statue stood Avarice and her two gargoyle companions beside her. She responded dryly, "Leave it to a brainless fiend to think Levistus holds any concern for this pathetic tundra." A confused look washed over the face of the duergar entombed in ice. It was then Amelia noticed pieces of skin on the duergar's face were beginning to peel and flake off, exposing a fiendish purple skin tone beneath. Extending a hand, the albino tiefling grew a long icicle from her index finger, "The Codicil of White, where is it?" She reached for his face and gouged out his right eye using her ice claw. The fiend let out a terrible howl, but audible above it, "The Island of Solstice!" Apparently aware of your presence now, Avarice let out an apathetic gasp and turned toward Amelia in hiding. A brief combat ensued with Avarice and her gargoyle companions before she calmly made her way to the chambers behind her, taking with her a large stone tablet before teleporting away. Klondorn the duergar in disguise was unable to survive the fight; he turned into a puff of black smoke at his demise before he managed to get a word out. Similarly, Morthos put a swift end to the emaciated illithid chained to the statue in the room.
While searching the chambers Avarice teleported away in, the party discovered that Klondorn, the barbed devil, spent its time chiseling a manifesto into nearly one hundred granite tablets that remained in this room. Inscribed with Infernal runes, you read the devil’s manifesto in which Klondorn reveals that Asmodeus, in the guise of Deep Duerra, is using the duergar to further his interests and twist the mind of Xardorok. As you read on, you discovered that the stone tablet Avarice made off with contained information pertaining to the creation of a phylactery. This ancient magic enables an individual to rip apart their soul and storing it into an object in effort to preserve their life.Nonetheless the party had greater concerns at hand as Bulwark used the potion gifted from Vellyne to peer into the Forge Chamber just beyond this room. Smoke filled this hot cavern, which has a ceiling that ranges from forty feet high down to twenty feet high along the south wall. The source of the smoke and heat is a massive pond of lava that pours into the chamber on the southern side. Erected in the middle of the lava pool is an octogonal shrine fixed with three massive 30 foot tall columns. Ripples of heat and flashes of firelight spew from a pulsating heart that is held a lot by thick chains which is partially submerged in a massive pool of melted chardalyn.
Forge Level
The vastness of this chamber made it evident that storming into the chamber would be a suicide mission. Through some quick thinking Atalanta summoned fog cover that enabled the party to sneak through the far side of the chamber undetected to search for potential allies from the Muzgardt Duergar Clan. After venturing through, killing several smaller groups of duergar, the party made their way to the mess hall where nearly two dozen duergar guards gathered. Amelia exposed her self-altering magic for the first time in front of Reinaldo as she changed into a duergar guard and entered the hall. She successfully managed to incite a riot between the Muzgardt Clan and those still loyal to Xardorok.
With the foe's cleared out and nearly a dozen new ally's the party took a moment of reprieve as they planned their attack in the Forge. A duergar named Kolbrak from the Muzgardt Clan communicated that he and his men would take out those loyal to Xardorok after Morthos gave the signal. Lightening the mood, the party felt enlightened just a bit as they began to sing and dance along with Reinaldo to help enjoy a short rest.
Comments