Kingdom on the Brink - Session 55
General Summary
The party enters Bronze Cliff and head towards the House Valeros estate, when they arrive they go to the bathhouse to freshen up before meeting Lord Valeros. The group tries to get Del Varis to take a bath, but he decides to stay out and tinker with a dragon's breath lamp, the rest of the group enters. Duromar gets splashed and in retaliation Duromar casts banish on Merigold, the group has a little more fun and get dressed. They head towards the gardens, as they enter, they see rows of sunflowers with giant illusionary sun in the center, Lord Valeros is speaking with someone. Del Varis and Rosemary stay behind, Amber Kerogen casts Prestidigitation on Del Varis to make him smell better. Duromar and Uriel approach Lord Valeros and respectfully bow, Lord Valeros welcomes them and asks for a report of what Duromar has seen. Duromar reports that Runsha was helping Bridgeford (unwittingly) and that his honor (and that of his original party) is being disparaged. Lord Valeros is saddened by this news and laments how he could of done better to prepare Runsha for the world of Bralorian politics, Duromar further reports about the banditry and then has Uriel speak more about what the party has done. Uriel reports the Lakecliff Ruins has been cleansed of demons and claims rights of rulership over it, this slightly surprises Valeros. Uriel explains that demons were occupying the ruins and they dealt with them, he asks for Lord Valeros' help in securing his claim. Merigold and Duromar poke fun at Uriel referring to himself as a lord, which irks him, Lord Valeros says that he can probably assist but the situation has deteriorated in Highsummit. Around the beginning of the month of Sirlith, The wise Lord Valeros started to notice the Royal council of Bralor was becoming less efficient in internal matters (see The Barthmont Accords for basic government overview). Food shipments being late and bureaucracy becoming less efficient, Duromar brings up the matter of the electrum, lord Valeros explains that is also a symptom of Stormhold's precious metals being diverted to Crystal Bay. things kept getting worse and worse and everything pointed to the Bridgeford brothers conspiring and building a power base within the royal council. About midway through the month of Nyroth, the Storm Queen the Royal council started to become more fractured, some of the councilors under Bridgeford's influence started to breakaway, but still aren't acting like they did before, as if there's another influence. Lord Valeros then speaks how this has become more noticeable; several forces had been working in coordination to intimidate loyalists have become uncoordinated. Forces south of the Berkmark mountains are doing their own actions while forces within in the Berkmark are doing something completely separate. He also mentions that some government organizations have been drawn into the power struggle, which explains why the Arbitors are looking for Runsha and his old party members. Lord Valeros also mentions that the giant clans have experienced some sort of infighting, some bands of bandits in the mountains are looking for something, and some sightings of dragon like creatures flying around. Merigold asks if he knows a Lord Kellan Leagallow, Lord Valeros mentions he has heard some reports about him, he's a minor house that appears to have been working with Bridgeford to gain a higher standing. Merigold says he's going to kill him and rescue her wife, Lord Valeros raises an eyebrow, Uriel glares at her. Merigold back peddles and says she'll bring him to justice and right the wrongs he has committed, which eases the tension. Lord Valeros and offers his estate to the party to stay for as long as they need, Uriel loans Lord Valeros Gus' journal, he thanks Uriel and says he'll use it to shed more context on the situation. Uriel also gives Lord Valeros a fey horse as a gift.
Lord Valeros leaves and the party splits up, Merigold and Rosemary buy some magic items (Merigold gets a weapon of warning, a potion of awakening, and a ring of spell storing and Rosemary gets a tome and manual). Uriel goes around and looks for any dragon-marked and, he finds one and gives him his horse. Uriel tells him to take care of him like a friend and to keep an open mind. The party gets back together and decide to head out to the mountain range and get the lay of the land, seeing some Roc's nests around. The party talks about their goals. Del Varis says he will kill all fey, this provokes some back and forth between Uriel and him, Uriel is insistent that killing all fey is a strong reaction. He further states Del Varis doesn't know the circumstances around his parent's disappearance, and that Del Varis is fey himself. Del Varis sees the logic in Uriel's argument and says he'll consider toning down his response to his parent's disappearance. Merigold says she wants to find her kidnapped wife (as she is giving Gregori a potion of awakening), Gregori says he would like to eat some sausages, Merigold calls him a good boy. Uriel sighs and says that eating sausages is more of current goal rather than future, Gregori asks if eating sausages later would count in that case, Uriel shakes his head. Rosemary reads her book and gets four hours into it, Uriel notices and asks if they had more of those kinds of tomes, Rosemary offers to take him to look. The party heads back to Bronze Cliff, Duromar sarcastically says how this has been a great use of his time. Uriel, Rosemary and Del Varis head towards the store and Uriel gets a Tome of Leadership (with a small loan of 21,000 electrum from Rosemary). Del Varis looks for any books on golems but there appears to be none, the party heads back to the Valeros estate and long rests.
The party gets ready for the morning and makes their way into the mountains, as they are traveling along the cliff side they are met by a Behir and a Roc further up the cliffside. Merigold moves up and Duromar casts scatter to move certain party members closer to the Behir, which reveals a second Behir hiding further up the cliff. Uriel, Rosemary, and Del Varis unleash several devastating blows on the closer Behir, leaving it stunned. The Roc flies forward and grabs Rosemary with its talons, Merigold moves up and misty steps into position and lands a damaging strike, Amber Kerogen fires off several eldritch blasts. The Behirs move and reposition, one shoots lightning breathe at Rosemary and Uriel while the other breaths on Duromar, Bob, and Del Varis and most partially evade some of the lightning. Duromar casts steel wind strike and hits both Behirs and the Roc, Rosemary is able to escape the Roc and Uriel moves up uses his conquering presence to frighten the Roc which leaves it unable to move. Amber fires off several eldritch blasts and Duromar finishes off the first Behir. The favor of the Dragons shine on the party as they continue to land deadly blow after deadly blow on the remaining Roc and Behir, finishing them off with a guiding bolt, fire bolt and several melee attacks. Merigold harvests twenty pounds of Roc meat and Del Varis moves to harvest the Behirs. He gets several teeth and claws off the Behirs, when he goes to remove the first lightning sac he slips and Uriel and him get shocked by lightning. Uriel helps Del Varis and together they get the other lightning sac and the pelts of both Behirs, they decide to taste the tail meat and take a tail to experiment with for meals.
The party moves further through the mountains when they start to hear voices and commotion ahead, only Del Varis can understand what's being said (as he knows giant). He relays that it sounds like some people aren't happy about having to stay behind, the party decides to go off the path and go around these voices. They try to be stealthy about it but Uriel and Bob accidently dislodge a boulder which goes tumbling down, the party picks up their pace. They move closer to the commotion when they get to the edge and see a village below them, it seems there are two opposing sides of giants. One side is more heavily armed (two Void Giants and two Fire Giants) while the other side appears to be composed of those not ready for combat. Rosemary embolden bonds the party and the group quickly joins the fray using all manners of teleportation and slow fall to close the distance. Uriel and Merigold get into melee first, unfortunately one of the unarmed giants has already fallen, Uriel calls them cowards and engages the Fire Giant. one of the Void Giants unleashes a lightning bolt which hits Uriel, Amber, and their steed. Amber misty steps away from the melee and starts to hurl eldritch blasts at the Fire Giant, the Fire Giant takes a swing at Uriel, his first swing gets caught by Uriel but gets followed up by a thrusting motion which harms him. Duromar closes in and aids Uriel, Rosemary casts spirit guardians and enters the fray, Merigold and Gregori strike the other Fire Giant several times while Uriel deals with his Giant. Uriel is able to inspire Gregori and Merigold to land several more strikes, the northern Void Giant unleashes another lightning bolt on the group and the southern Void Giant attempts to cast phantasmal killer, but Uriel counterspells it. The Fire Giants continue to swing their great swords at the Uriel and Merigold, landing several strikes, Rosemary's spirit guardians chip away at them though. Duromar casts haste on himself and drinks a potion of supreme healing, the party overwhelms the Fire Giants and strike them down, they close in on the Void Giants. As they strike the Void Giants they have to break through several mirror images of them before they start to land hits, during this time the unarmed giants manage to turn around their catapult and ballista and start to fire them at the enemy. The Void giants are quickly starting to lose the fight, they both cast disintegrate but Duromar counterspells one, the other makes it through and hits Uriel. The party hears a roar and see two Cave Giants running up, they throw two large boulders, one critically hits Gregori (some recognize it as the boulder Uriel and Bob dislodged earlier). The Void Giants fall under the combined melee of the party and the group moves up to face the Cave Giants, the siege equipment fires again, landing critical blows on their foes. The fight devolves into a melee, Del Varis and Rosemary land several precision strikes and Duromar casts steel wind strike. Merigold moves up flanks with Gregori, the Cave Giants land a few harmful blows with their axes but it isn't enough has they get struck down.
The party short rests, Rosemary casts revivify on the dead giant the enemy slew, during this time Duromar and Uriel talks to the other giants, they find out about the current status of the giant clans. It seems the clans closer to Crystal Bay have decided the status quo isn't good enough and have moved to bring the other clans in line with their way of thinking. Merigold loots the bodies, finding 200 gold pieces and several pieces of jewelry and magical focuses that appear to resemble those used by the cult of Nadranth. Uriel sees Amber sitting on a log, she's holding a music box playing a simple waltz, Uriel sits down next to her. After several minutes she says that what happened here was almost exactly like what happened to her village, the only difference being they stopped the carnage here. She speaks of the chanting of "Gnomebreaker" and the burning buildings and bodies, she has a weird feeling of how that should have happened here, but it didn't. The violence committed by the cult of Nadranth seems senseless to her, Uriel says that is just how evil is sometimes. It's not an answer that makes sense to Amber, she can't comprehend why someone would do this, Uriel says that they will get some answers and help her find her memories and inner peace. Merigold divides the loot, Amber asks for the cult jewelry, she looks at the pieces for a moment and then throws them on the ground and destroys them with burning hands.
Lord Valeros leaves and the party splits up, Merigold and Rosemary buy some magic items (Merigold gets a weapon of warning, a potion of awakening, and a ring of spell storing and Rosemary gets a tome and manual). Uriel goes around and looks for any dragon-marked and, he finds one and gives him his horse. Uriel tells him to take care of him like a friend and to keep an open mind. The party gets back together and decide to head out to the mountain range and get the lay of the land, seeing some Roc's nests around. The party talks about their goals. Del Varis says he will kill all fey, this provokes some back and forth between Uriel and him, Uriel is insistent that killing all fey is a strong reaction. He further states Del Varis doesn't know the circumstances around his parent's disappearance, and that Del Varis is fey himself. Del Varis sees the logic in Uriel's argument and says he'll consider toning down his response to his parent's disappearance. Merigold says she wants to find her kidnapped wife (as she is giving Gregori a potion of awakening), Gregori says he would like to eat some sausages, Merigold calls him a good boy. Uriel sighs and says that eating sausages is more of current goal rather than future, Gregori asks if eating sausages later would count in that case, Uriel shakes his head. Rosemary reads her book and gets four hours into it, Uriel notices and asks if they had more of those kinds of tomes, Rosemary offers to take him to look. The party heads back to Bronze Cliff, Duromar sarcastically says how this has been a great use of his time. Uriel, Rosemary and Del Varis head towards the store and Uriel gets a Tome of Leadership (with a small loan of 21,000 electrum from Rosemary). Del Varis looks for any books on golems but there appears to be none, the party heads back to the Valeros estate and long rests.
The party gets ready for the morning and makes their way into the mountains, as they are traveling along the cliff side they are met by a Behir and a Roc further up the cliffside. Merigold moves up and Duromar casts scatter to move certain party members closer to the Behir, which reveals a second Behir hiding further up the cliff. Uriel, Rosemary, and Del Varis unleash several devastating blows on the closer Behir, leaving it stunned. The Roc flies forward and grabs Rosemary with its talons, Merigold moves up and misty steps into position and lands a damaging strike, Amber Kerogen fires off several eldritch blasts. The Behirs move and reposition, one shoots lightning breathe at Rosemary and Uriel while the other breaths on Duromar, Bob, and Del Varis and most partially evade some of the lightning. Duromar casts steel wind strike and hits both Behirs and the Roc, Rosemary is able to escape the Roc and Uriel moves up uses his conquering presence to frighten the Roc which leaves it unable to move. Amber fires off several eldritch blasts and Duromar finishes off the first Behir. The favor of the Dragons shine on the party as they continue to land deadly blow after deadly blow on the remaining Roc and Behir, finishing them off with a guiding bolt, fire bolt and several melee attacks. Merigold harvests twenty pounds of Roc meat and Del Varis moves to harvest the Behirs. He gets several teeth and claws off the Behirs, when he goes to remove the first lightning sac he slips and Uriel and him get shocked by lightning. Uriel helps Del Varis and together they get the other lightning sac and the pelts of both Behirs, they decide to taste the tail meat and take a tail to experiment with for meals.
The party moves further through the mountains when they start to hear voices and commotion ahead, only Del Varis can understand what's being said (as he knows giant). He relays that it sounds like some people aren't happy about having to stay behind, the party decides to go off the path and go around these voices. They try to be stealthy about it but Uriel and Bob accidently dislodge a boulder which goes tumbling down, the party picks up their pace. They move closer to the commotion when they get to the edge and see a village below them, it seems there are two opposing sides of giants. One side is more heavily armed (two Void Giants and two Fire Giants) while the other side appears to be composed of those not ready for combat. Rosemary embolden bonds the party and the group quickly joins the fray using all manners of teleportation and slow fall to close the distance. Uriel and Merigold get into melee first, unfortunately one of the unarmed giants has already fallen, Uriel calls them cowards and engages the Fire Giant. one of the Void Giants unleashes a lightning bolt which hits Uriel, Amber, and their steed. Amber misty steps away from the melee and starts to hurl eldritch blasts at the Fire Giant, the Fire Giant takes a swing at Uriel, his first swing gets caught by Uriel but gets followed up by a thrusting motion which harms him. Duromar closes in and aids Uriel, Rosemary casts spirit guardians and enters the fray, Merigold and Gregori strike the other Fire Giant several times while Uriel deals with his Giant. Uriel is able to inspire Gregori and Merigold to land several more strikes, the northern Void Giant unleashes another lightning bolt on the group and the southern Void Giant attempts to cast phantasmal killer, but Uriel counterspells it. The Fire Giants continue to swing their great swords at the Uriel and Merigold, landing several strikes, Rosemary's spirit guardians chip away at them though. Duromar casts haste on himself and drinks a potion of supreme healing, the party overwhelms the Fire Giants and strike them down, they close in on the Void Giants. As they strike the Void Giants they have to break through several mirror images of them before they start to land hits, during this time the unarmed giants manage to turn around their catapult and ballista and start to fire them at the enemy. The Void giants are quickly starting to lose the fight, they both cast disintegrate but Duromar counterspells one, the other makes it through and hits Uriel. The party hears a roar and see two Cave Giants running up, they throw two large boulders, one critically hits Gregori (some recognize it as the boulder Uriel and Bob dislodged earlier). The Void Giants fall under the combined melee of the party and the group moves up to face the Cave Giants, the siege equipment fires again, landing critical blows on their foes. The fight devolves into a melee, Del Varis and Rosemary land several precision strikes and Duromar casts steel wind strike. Merigold moves up flanks with Gregori, the Cave Giants land a few harmful blows with their axes but it isn't enough has they get struck down.
The party short rests, Rosemary casts revivify on the dead giant the enemy slew, during this time Duromar and Uriel talks to the other giants, they find out about the current status of the giant clans. It seems the clans closer to Crystal Bay have decided the status quo isn't good enough and have moved to bring the other clans in line with their way of thinking. Merigold loots the bodies, finding 200 gold pieces and several pieces of jewelry and magical focuses that appear to resemble those used by the cult of Nadranth. Uriel sees Amber sitting on a log, she's holding a music box playing a simple waltz, Uriel sits down next to her. After several minutes she says that what happened here was almost exactly like what happened to her village, the only difference being they stopped the carnage here. She speaks of the chanting of "Gnomebreaker" and the burning buildings and bodies, she has a weird feeling of how that should have happened here, but it didn't. The violence committed by the cult of Nadranth seems senseless to her, Uriel says that is just how evil is sometimes. It's not an answer that makes sense to Amber, she can't comprehend why someone would do this, Uriel says that they will get some answers and help her find her memories and inner peace. Merigold divides the loot, Amber asks for the cult jewelry, she looks at the pieces for a moment and then throws them on the ground and destroys them with burning hands.
It is around noon on the 27th day of Leranth 2517 AGF
Report Date
09 Mar 2024
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