Session 19: Final Stand

General Summary

Shocked by Evanté's apparent betrayal the party began to quickly approach him as he sat smug in his plush leather chair. This is when they noticed the snowy white owl that sat perched in the corner of the room. The group slowed their advance towards Evanté and as they came into sight of more of the chamber they saw Reinaldo sitting at the round table with his head hung low and a guilty look on his face; behind him stood Vellynne Harpell. With a stern look on her face she called out to the party, "Come, take a seat."
Vellynne went on to explain that yes, this heist was primarily to obtain information pertaining to the Zhentarim for Lunar Enterprises. It also confirmed a suspicion that Vellynne hoped was not true - the ledgers they recovered contained information about the Zhentarim's dealings within the prison to the far north known as Revel's End. These accounts confirmed that both of Nix's siblings, Lin and Virt, were taken into custody and detained at the prison. According to the ledger, her sister Lin is still within the confines of the prison. However, her brother Virt was sold to Xardorok at Sunblight many months ago. Revel's End is a massive construct in it's design, however, they were given the name of a prisoner to seek out if they hoped to find Lin within. Vellynne suspects that Vaelish Gant might have helpful information to share.

Lead to finding Lin, Nix's sister

Reinaldo came forward and told everyone that the dragon was not actually attacking Targos yet, and that he had created a distraction (the sounds of the Chardalyn dargon) with Vellynne. His intentions were true as he only wished to help the party. With the Chardalyn Dragon approaching closer by the day, the party had other things to worry about. After a long rest, the party set out to meet with Speaker Devusa Shane to discuss a strategy for when the dragon arrives.

Town Speakers Present

When they arrived at the Town Hall, Speaker Devusa was strategizing with a number of guards, a few of the other remaining town speakers, Captain Arlaggath, and Sergeant James. Together they all planned out how the evening would go:
Atalanta focused on relocating the refugees to the southwest corner of the city. They knew that the dragon would be approaching from Targos in the west so Morthos and Bulwark blocked off the north gate and created a beacon in hope that the dragon would attack it first and move through the city in a clockwise manor. There still remained the issue of the crazed Chardalyn Berserkers that tore through the party with ease in Easthaven. To help fend from the ground threat, Nix along with a large group of militia, set up barricades and explosives at the east gate. This would help destroy some of the mindless attackers on their charge in, but more-so, control their movements through the town. This would end up saving the lives of hundreds and put the berserkers right where the party wanted them.
In Easthaven, it became apparent that the town had no chance of survival if the Chardalyn Dragon remained airborne. Bulwark and Morthos managed to create a very large ballista along with a steel net that would hopefully solve this issue. The crew found the perfect place within the city that provided a large courtyard for the party to fight the dragon and serve as ground zero. With preparations made, there was nothing left to do but wait.
As the evening grew into the late hours, Atalanta began to grow restless and her mind began to wander back to the previous encounter with the dragon and the figure she had seen before the battle began. Her keen senses could hear the feint sounds of the dragon now tearing through Targos...The last deep breath before the plunge. Her curiosity got the best of her and she made her way to the north end of the town where the gate had been blocked off and the attracting beacon was lit. Bulwark noticed her begin to wander off and followed close behind. Atalanta pulled herself up on the ramparts and looked out over the moonlit tundra. Her focus was pulled to a small patch of pines - as her eyes adjusted, she could make out a familiar figure standing motionless among the trees looking back at her. Her body stiffened and she heard the voice of the Frostmaiden call out telepathically to her:

“Do you not see the glory of this frostland all about you? Perhaps its pristine glory is beyond your mortal comprehension. I have given birth to this immaculate winter wonder realm. It seems only fitting to be reborn within my own creation. I and I alone can create the most magnificent presentation of beauty. Come now, embrace the ice and let your earthly coil stand the test of time. Soon, very soon, the vision of my magnificence you see before you will stretch further beyond the Spine of the World. Do you see it now? A perfect world encapsulated in time."

In defiance, Atalanta called out to her, "What you call beauty has hurt so many. I will not abandon people who need me." The hunched, 7-foot-tall biped with the head of a snowy owl moved forward from the patch of trees and whispered in Atalanta's mind:

"Should you survive, my child, come to my abode and discover if you are worthy of my gaze. My trials will weed out those who deserve but a fraction of my power and those who are only deserving of being added to my garden. I have not given up on you yet."

Suddenly, the clouds that speckled the night sky began to coalesce together and form a vortex above the Frostmaiden. As it reached down from the sky, it engulfed the area where she stood. Shortly after forming, the vortex dissipated and the Frostmaiden disappeared with her. Atalanta climbed down and saw Bulwark, still watching from a safe distance. He approached Atalanta to make sure she was ok. He had not witnessed what she saw but could visibly see that she was shaken. Atalanta chose to share what she saw but Bulwark promised this was her information to share with the rest of the party. 
The two were making their way through the streets back to ground zero when they could hear the metallic roar of the Chardalyn Dragon grow louder. Quickening their pace, Atalanta made her way back to the rest of the group but Bulwark positioned himself further out from the rest of the party where the dragon made its first pass along the north end of town, just as the party had hoped. Explosions sounded as the traps they had set on the east gate successfully fired off.

Mass chaos set in as the final stand for Tentowns was now in full effect. As the Chardalyn Dragon made its approach toward the middle of town where the party was prepared, it was suddenly lit up by a bolt of radiant energy. Although immune to radiant damage, Bulwark fired off a Guiding Bolt with his new arm cannon to help the ballista net find its mark.
The dragon was successfully grounded.

Showdown in Bryn Shander

Through a hard pressed battle with Captain Arlaggath and Sergeant James holding the line from the Chardalyn Berserks, the party tore into the Chardalyn Dragon. Chunks of chardalyn animated into their own smaller constructs as the dragon shed them while getting beat down. Their focus took a turn as Atalanta, attacking from the dragons flank, noticed three set of footprints in the snow. They were heading towards the building the Town Speakers were hiding in. Around the same time, the dragon began to take flight to pursue Morthos, who had been flying and raining down Eldritch Blasts. Atalanta had to make the decision to finish off the dragon or protect the Speakers. As she knocked an arrow a spark was ignited as it let loose in the direction of the footprints. In a ball of fire, all three duergar were now visible, two of them lifeless in the snow. The remaining one still advancing.
The Chardalyn Dragon, now aloft, let out a deafening roar as it closed in on Morthos, who was hovering just above the Town Hall. Focusing the Eldritch energy Morthos let out a final blast right to the dragons chest and the metallic roar was cut short. The momentum of the dragon carried it across the Town Hall, causing it's lifeless corpse to crash down in the lower levels of the town.
Bulwark, not far behind Atalanta, now saw the remaining single duergar tearing into the Town Hall. As the duergar busted through the front door, Bulwark watched as he leapt across the chamber, raising its warpick to strike down Speaker Devusa. Before finding its mark, Bulwark sent a bolt of radiant energy straight through his chest.

Victory

One by one, everyone made their way silently into the courtyard. Cries of agony but also rejoice could both be heard among the sounds of the town burning. The people of Tentowns were equally happy to be alive as they were distraught at the carnage caused by Xardorok's Chardalyn's Dragon.
Uncomfortable with the praise from the remaining Speakers and militia members, Nix decided to sneak away to scope out where the dragon had crash landed. Carefully, she slid into the darkness of the night and made her way through the streets. As she approached, she noticed a blue light shining from around the corner. She could see this blue hue was coming from a massive portal that was opened up above the corpse of the Chardalyn Dragon. Nearby she could see the source of the magic was coming from a satyr she recognized as Undevvur Thort. A massive spectral hand was quickly scooping up pieces of the dragon into the portal.

Across the way she could see a villager hunched over and in front of her was Mad Jack Dawkins. The woman appeared to be speaking frantically to Jack and Nix could see dozens of chardalyn shards protruding from her body. Nix quietly approached but she could not make out any of the ramblings from the woman. After a moment she watched as Jack put a cigar up to his lips. He took out a small metallic devise and as it lit up to ignite the cigar, Nix found herself engulfed in an area of silence. To her dismay she watched as Jack calmly pulled his firearm from his coat and shot the woman in the head.
Her lifeless body fell to the floor and Nix turned to run but she was cut off by Jak'dal Kemp. The young elf grabbed her by the shoulders and said to her, "You should not be here love" as his eyes flashed blue...
Nix, having no recollection of the events she just witnessed, found herself walking through a crowd of people back towards where the battle had taken place. Confused, she rejoined her companions and together they made their way back to the Northlook. When they arrived they found the Northlook empty and abandoned, which was strange considering it was a bustling pub not long before. Nonetheless it would still serve as a place to bed down for the evening away from the chaos of the rest of the town.

Photo by @got_dm

Report Date

27 May 2021