Kingdom on the Brink - Session 73
General Summary
(For Full effect place this video when the first fight breaks out)
The party long rests, In the morning the party sets out to the gala, Uriel picks up a wand of detect magic. The gala is located on the coast and the party approaches the bridge leading up to an old looking cathedral, the party slowly approaches. There are several guards along the perimeter and there are masses of guests and staff, the party approaches the entrance and realize they need an invitation. Knott grabs some refreshments and goes looking for some an invitation to steal; after socializing for a while he finally finds someone and offers them a dwarven ale. The guest takes Knott up on his offer and she drinks it, she gets woozy, and Knott takes her invitation. Knott heads back to the party and gives them the invitation, Uriel hands it to Rosemary and the party decides Uriel and Rosemary will go through the front door and find an empty room for Duromar to open an arcane gate into. The guard at the front door asks for their invitation and Rosemary hands it over, the guard asks about Uriel, who explains he is Rosemary's personal knight (he's new). The guard scrutinizes this (as it seems like a flimsy reason), Rosemary asserts her perceived nobility, and the guard backs off. Uriel and Rosemary start looking around and finds an empty room (under the pretense of wanting privacy for each other), they find an open room and use the wand of detect magic. They find the windows have the alarm spell cast on them, Rosemary uses the sending spell to let Duromar know where the go. Duromar leads his group around the outside of the building, they wait for the area to clear out and then duromar opens a magical gate into the building and the party heads through. The party regrouped and decide what to do with Bob, a horse at this gala would stick out. Knott says he has a potion of gaseous form and Duromar gives it to Bob, he has Bob go into his robes (giving Duromar a slight smoking effect). The party hears the music pickup, and they head to the ballroom.
The party enter and they start investigate the ballroom, they see Rikher Vorgoz, Bror Dolon, and Kaza Versk (the royal councilors who aligned with House Bridgeford). The party spreads out and overhears the conversations, they hear about a ceremony that the Bridgefords will be conducting (in a very general sense). Uriel starts to talk to the royal councilors and asks when they will see the Bridgeford's. The councilors say the Bridgeford's are making some preparations for the ceremony, then asks who Uriel is. Uriel explains he had dealings with both Bridgefords back in Eastbrook, this draws their curiosity. They start to speak about the plans they've been working towards in the last year, speaking of the various forms of corruption they've been taken part in to bring the kingdom down. Uriel is glad he's wearing his armor, he wishes to strike them down. Uriel starts talking of Runsha, the councilors say he was useful, it's a shame the welp disappeared, they commented how it was strange they never figured out what actually happened (see Kingdom on the Brink - Session 34). The music stops and they announce that those with invitations can come forward to witness the ceremony, the councilors head towards a set of double doors and shows the guards their invitations. Uriel goes up and use dominate monster on the Blackguard and tells him to order the Iron Golem to move away and asks about what's beyond the doors. Uriel has the party follow him quickly and they hear a commotion behind them, they move through the hall, and they find their way blocked by 2 War Machine Golems, a War Priest, and a Champion. Uriel tells them they need to get a handle on that commotion, but the guards won't let anyone through. Uriel intimidates them to let the royal councilors through, the guards bow to his commands, but let no one else through. The party is blocked, the Blackguard that Uriel dominated stumbles in and points to the party, saying that they should die, then he falls over dead.
Rosemary and Duromar move up, Rosemary stuns the Champion and attempts to stun the War Machine Golem (but it's resisted). Bob charges the 2nd War Machine Golem, the War Priest attempts to cast dominate monster, but Duromar counter spells it. The War Machine Golems fire off several boulders into Duromar, Bob, and Knott; they then slam into Uriel, but his invincible conqueror ability allows him to resist the damage. Knott moves in and punches a War Machine Golem several times, Rosemary casts spirit guardians and the spirits start to rip through their opponents. The War Priest summons a spiritual weapon and critically hits Rosemary, then it follows it up with two strikes with his maul. Amber opens a portable hole and the Shield Guardian comes running through, the War Machines fire more boulders at Amber and the Shield Guardian. The War Machines then start to slam Uriel and Rosemary, Uriel is able to resist the damage. Bob charges one of the Golems and smashes it into the ground, Amber fires off her eldritch blasts. Uriel lands several critical strikes on the War Priest, Knott follows up with a killing blow on the War Priest. Rosemary lands several strikes on the Champion, striking him down, her spirit guardians continue to shred the remaining War Machine Golem. The Golem attempts to attack Uriel but does minimal damage Duromar charges on Bob and kicks out a leg, the Golem collapses to the ground.
The party runs down the hall, not wasting any time and they find themselves in a large courtyard, the Bridgefords are performing some sort of arcane ritual. The party is faced with the three royal councilors and two Star Drakes between them and the Bridgefords. Duromar is first to act and casts sunburst, Kaza attempts to counter spell it, but Uriel counters her. The sunburst blinds a Star Drake, Rikher, and Kaza as well burning them. Bob charges forward and tramples Kaza, Uriel shouts to Rosemary to give Merigold the signal. Rosemary casts sending to tell Merigold to blow up the obelisks, the ritual Gregory Bridgeford is performing starts to become unstable. The unblinded Star Drake flies down and uses its fire breath on Amber, Knott, Rosemary, and Uriel; the blinded Star Drake attempts to attack Duromar, but is kicked by Bob. Amber casts mirror image on herself, and Rosemary moves up into melee, Rikher is accosted by her spirit guardians, he then shifts into an Invisible Stalker. Knott moves up and uses his thunderstep ability on the three councilors, killing Kaza in the process. Gregory Bridgeford starts to scream as the ritual backfires, killing him, Ricard's ritual completes, and he transforms into an Ancient Black Dragon; becoming the conduit for the Avatar of Nadranth. Duromar sees this and decides that it's best to kill Nadranth's minions to even the odds, he sings his bladesong and strikes down the blinded Star Drake. Nadranth's scales start to shimmer, and the dragon takes flight and closes in on the party.
Knott, Uriel, and Rosemary are locked in melee with Bror Dolon and the Invisible Stalker. They trade blows and Rosemary's spirit guardians continue to shred them, Uriel manages to land a critical smite on the Invisible Stalker, knocking Rikher out of that form. Uriel comes back in with another strike to kill Rikher, Dolon doesn't go down without landing a few more strikes, but Uriel shrugs off most of the damage. Knott finishes off Dolon, Bob charges at the last Star Drake, getting up on his hind legs to reach the flying creature. Amber, seeing Nadranth, drinks a potion of Supreme healing, Nadranth lines up Uriel and Knott and breaths a line of acid on them. Duromar resists being incapacitated by the Star Drake and together with Bob, they strike it down, Nadranth uses a lair action to summon an insect swarm that catch Uriel and Knott. Duromar uses scatter to get Rosemary, Knott, and Uriel onto the flying dragon, Nadranth uses a wing attack legendary action into an attempt to dislodge the party. Nadranth barrel rolls and is able to shake Uriel off, he then starts to attack Rosemary with a bite and claws. Amber misty steps up and starts to hurl eldritch blasts into Nadranth, Rosemary's spirit guardians slowly whittle away at Nadranth. Knott and Rosemary punch into Nadranth, finding he is immune to being stunned, Nadranth responds by swiping at Knott with his tail. Nadranth scales start to shimmer and Bob moves up with Duromar, Nadranth breathes another line of acid on Uriel, but Uriel drank a potion on invulnerability (resisting most of the damage). Duromar uses dimension door to teleport himself and Bob onto Nadranth, Amber continues to hurl eldritch blasts. Nadranth uses another wing attack on Bob, Duromar, Rosemary and Knott. Bob is unable to stay on the dragon and falls 80 feet to the ground, Duromar is able to dismount and maintain his position on Nadranth. Duromar realizes they need to contain Nadranth and casts prismatic wall in a sphere around Nadranth, allowing the party to go through it, but not Nadranth. Nadranth scales begin to shimmer again, making them harder, and is able to breath another line of acid on Rosemary. Rosemary fires off a guiding bolt into Nadranth and Knott continues to pummel ki-fueled strikes into the dragon, Uriel activates his belt of Nyroth, the Storm Queen and flies through the prismatic wall and cuts into the underbelly of Nadranth. Nadranth gets another breath weapon in on Knott, Rosemary's spirit guardians tear a wound open further, Rosemary punches into it and hits Nadranth's spine. Nadranth starts to fall into the prismatic wall, the party passes through the wall as well. The party lands on the ground and looks up, the corpse doesn't appear.
Duromar exacts vengeance on the corpse of Gregory Bridgeford and Uriel asks Duromar to get rid of the prismatic wall, they need to be sure Nadranth's Avatar is gone. When the wall disappears all that remains is few specks of ash, the party exits the building, Uriel asks Duromar to level the building with the earthquake spell, Duromar obliges. The building starts to shake and supports collapse, Uriel use the control weather spell to start a localized lightning storm, and several bolts start to hit the ruins. The party could swear they saw some bolts in the shape of dragons breathing lightning as the strikes hit. After several minutes, the building is left in rubble, Knott goes up and plant a feather that turns into an oak tree (reclaiming the land for nature). With the death of those who lead Runsha astray, Duromar says a prayer, and starts his journey back to Bronze Cliff. Uriel tells Duromar he can bring Runsha back if he desires it, Duromar says that's only if Runsha truly wants to return.
Epilogue
The party long rests, In the morning the party sets out to the gala, Uriel picks up a wand of detect magic. The gala is located on the coast and the party approaches the bridge leading up to an old looking cathedral, the party slowly approaches. There are several guards along the perimeter and there are masses of guests and staff, the party approaches the entrance and realize they need an invitation. Knott grabs some refreshments and goes looking for some an invitation to steal; after socializing for a while he finally finds someone and offers them a dwarven ale. The guest takes Knott up on his offer and she drinks it, she gets woozy, and Knott takes her invitation. Knott heads back to the party and gives them the invitation, Uriel hands it to Rosemary and the party decides Uriel and Rosemary will go through the front door and find an empty room for Duromar to open an arcane gate into. The guard at the front door asks for their invitation and Rosemary hands it over, the guard asks about Uriel, who explains he is Rosemary's personal knight (he's new). The guard scrutinizes this (as it seems like a flimsy reason), Rosemary asserts her perceived nobility, and the guard backs off. Uriel and Rosemary start looking around and finds an empty room (under the pretense of wanting privacy for each other), they find an open room and use the wand of detect magic. They find the windows have the alarm spell cast on them, Rosemary uses the sending spell to let Duromar know where the go. Duromar leads his group around the outside of the building, they wait for the area to clear out and then duromar opens a magical gate into the building and the party heads through. The party regrouped and decide what to do with Bob, a horse at this gala would stick out. Knott says he has a potion of gaseous form and Duromar gives it to Bob, he has Bob go into his robes (giving Duromar a slight smoking effect). The party hears the music pickup, and they head to the ballroom.
The party enter and they start investigate the ballroom, they see Rikher Vorgoz, Bror Dolon, and Kaza Versk (the royal councilors who aligned with House Bridgeford). The party spreads out and overhears the conversations, they hear about a ceremony that the Bridgefords will be conducting (in a very general sense). Uriel starts to talk to the royal councilors and asks when they will see the Bridgeford's. The councilors say the Bridgeford's are making some preparations for the ceremony, then asks who Uriel is. Uriel explains he had dealings with both Bridgefords back in Eastbrook, this draws their curiosity. They start to speak about the plans they've been working towards in the last year, speaking of the various forms of corruption they've been taken part in to bring the kingdom down. Uriel is glad he's wearing his armor, he wishes to strike them down. Uriel starts talking of Runsha, the councilors say he was useful, it's a shame the welp disappeared, they commented how it was strange they never figured out what actually happened (see Kingdom on the Brink - Session 34). The music stops and they announce that those with invitations can come forward to witness the ceremony, the councilors head towards a set of double doors and shows the guards their invitations. Uriel goes up and use dominate monster on the Blackguard and tells him to order the Iron Golem to move away and asks about what's beyond the doors. Uriel has the party follow him quickly and they hear a commotion behind them, they move through the hall, and they find their way blocked by 2 War Machine Golems, a War Priest, and a Champion. Uriel tells them they need to get a handle on that commotion, but the guards won't let anyone through. Uriel intimidates them to let the royal councilors through, the guards bow to his commands, but let no one else through. The party is blocked, the Blackguard that Uriel dominated stumbles in and points to the party, saying that they should die, then he falls over dead.
Rosemary and Duromar move up, Rosemary stuns the Champion and attempts to stun the War Machine Golem (but it's resisted). Bob charges the 2nd War Machine Golem, the War Priest attempts to cast dominate monster, but Duromar counter spells it. The War Machine Golems fire off several boulders into Duromar, Bob, and Knott; they then slam into Uriel, but his invincible conqueror ability allows him to resist the damage. Knott moves in and punches a War Machine Golem several times, Rosemary casts spirit guardians and the spirits start to rip through their opponents. The War Priest summons a spiritual weapon and critically hits Rosemary, then it follows it up with two strikes with his maul. Amber opens a portable hole and the Shield Guardian comes running through, the War Machines fire more boulders at Amber and the Shield Guardian. The War Machines then start to slam Uriel and Rosemary, Uriel is able to resist the damage. Bob charges one of the Golems and smashes it into the ground, Amber fires off her eldritch blasts. Uriel lands several critical strikes on the War Priest, Knott follows up with a killing blow on the War Priest. Rosemary lands several strikes on the Champion, striking him down, her spirit guardians continue to shred the remaining War Machine Golem. The Golem attempts to attack Uriel but does minimal damage Duromar charges on Bob and kicks out a leg, the Golem collapses to the ground.
The party runs down the hall, not wasting any time and they find themselves in a large courtyard, the Bridgefords are performing some sort of arcane ritual. The party is faced with the three royal councilors and two Star Drakes between them and the Bridgefords. Duromar is first to act and casts sunburst, Kaza attempts to counter spell it, but Uriel counters her. The sunburst blinds a Star Drake, Rikher, and Kaza as well burning them. Bob charges forward and tramples Kaza, Uriel shouts to Rosemary to give Merigold the signal. Rosemary casts sending to tell Merigold to blow up the obelisks, the ritual Gregory Bridgeford is performing starts to become unstable. The unblinded Star Drake flies down and uses its fire breath on Amber, Knott, Rosemary, and Uriel; the blinded Star Drake attempts to attack Duromar, but is kicked by Bob. Amber casts mirror image on herself, and Rosemary moves up into melee, Rikher is accosted by her spirit guardians, he then shifts into an Invisible Stalker. Knott moves up and uses his thunderstep ability on the three councilors, killing Kaza in the process. Gregory Bridgeford starts to scream as the ritual backfires, killing him, Ricard's ritual completes, and he transforms into an Ancient Black Dragon; becoming the conduit for the Avatar of Nadranth. Duromar sees this and decides that it's best to kill Nadranth's minions to even the odds, he sings his bladesong and strikes down the blinded Star Drake. Nadranth's scales start to shimmer, and the dragon takes flight and closes in on the party.
Knott, Uriel, and Rosemary are locked in melee with Bror Dolon and the Invisible Stalker. They trade blows and Rosemary's spirit guardians continue to shred them, Uriel manages to land a critical smite on the Invisible Stalker, knocking Rikher out of that form. Uriel comes back in with another strike to kill Rikher, Dolon doesn't go down without landing a few more strikes, but Uriel shrugs off most of the damage. Knott finishes off Dolon, Bob charges at the last Star Drake, getting up on his hind legs to reach the flying creature. Amber, seeing Nadranth, drinks a potion of Supreme healing, Nadranth lines up Uriel and Knott and breaths a line of acid on them. Duromar resists being incapacitated by the Star Drake and together with Bob, they strike it down, Nadranth uses a lair action to summon an insect swarm that catch Uriel and Knott. Duromar uses scatter to get Rosemary, Knott, and Uriel onto the flying dragon, Nadranth uses a wing attack legendary action into an attempt to dislodge the party. Nadranth barrel rolls and is able to shake Uriel off, he then starts to attack Rosemary with a bite and claws. Amber misty steps up and starts to hurl eldritch blasts into Nadranth, Rosemary's spirit guardians slowly whittle away at Nadranth. Knott and Rosemary punch into Nadranth, finding he is immune to being stunned, Nadranth responds by swiping at Knott with his tail. Nadranth scales start to shimmer and Bob moves up with Duromar, Nadranth breathes another line of acid on Uriel, but Uriel drank a potion on invulnerability (resisting most of the damage). Duromar uses dimension door to teleport himself and Bob onto Nadranth, Amber continues to hurl eldritch blasts. Nadranth uses another wing attack on Bob, Duromar, Rosemary and Knott. Bob is unable to stay on the dragon and falls 80 feet to the ground, Duromar is able to dismount and maintain his position on Nadranth. Duromar realizes they need to contain Nadranth and casts prismatic wall in a sphere around Nadranth, allowing the party to go through it, but not Nadranth. Nadranth scales begin to shimmer again, making them harder, and is able to breath another line of acid on Rosemary. Rosemary fires off a guiding bolt into Nadranth and Knott continues to pummel ki-fueled strikes into the dragon, Uriel activates his belt of Nyroth, the Storm Queen and flies through the prismatic wall and cuts into the underbelly of Nadranth. Nadranth gets another breath weapon in on Knott, Rosemary's spirit guardians tear a wound open further, Rosemary punches into it and hits Nadranth's spine. Nadranth starts to fall into the prismatic wall, the party passes through the wall as well. The party lands on the ground and looks up, the corpse doesn't appear.
Duromar exacts vengeance on the corpse of Gregory Bridgeford and Uriel asks Duromar to get rid of the prismatic wall, they need to be sure Nadranth's Avatar is gone. When the wall disappears all that remains is few specks of ash, the party exits the building, Uriel asks Duromar to level the building with the earthquake spell, Duromar obliges. The building starts to shake and supports collapse, Uriel use the control weather spell to start a localized lightning storm, and several bolts start to hit the ruins. The party could swear they saw some bolts in the shape of dragons breathing lightning as the strikes hit. After several minutes, the building is left in rubble, Knott goes up and plant a feather that turns into an oak tree (reclaiming the land for nature). With the death of those who lead Runsha astray, Duromar says a prayer, and starts his journey back to Bronze Cliff. Uriel tells Duromar he can bring Runsha back if he desires it, Duromar says that's only if Runsha truly wants to return.
Epilogue
2517 AGF was a time of great trials for Bralor, many sought to work against it, but a group of heroes were chosen by the dragons (see Order of the Dragon) to set things right; their names would be remembered. Uriel and his wife Ashara would rebuild Lakecliff (see Lakecliff Ruins), a sanctuary for the marked. Merigold was knighted and received an estate near Lagoon Port with her wife Leree, though her mission to root out corruption there would be an undertaking. Bralor received help in rebuilding from the monastery that both Knott and Del Varis served, setting up in the facility that had the clockwork dragons (see Kingdom on the Brink - Session 57), Rosemary was offered a place in the order if she wanted it. Duromar continued to study his tome, gaining new insights and leading his own archaeological expeditions. With the majority of the royal council dead (as well as house Bridgeford), new leaders were needed, Grankaross was given Crystal Bay to oversee (giving the giants a new home). Lord Valeros ascended fill one of the vacancies on the royal council.
But there are others who played a pivotal role whose names will not be remembered like the champions of the dragons. Gustaf Longstrider and Salwor's actions will mostly be overshadowed and forgotten, except by a few (see Uriel and Ashara setting up a memorial Lakecliff them). Arryn Sylris hasn't been seen inside Bralor since the undead incursion in Highsummit. Finally, there are others who wish to be forgotten (see Amber Kerogen as she severs the last remaining ties as the Gnomebreaker). 2517 AGF took the kingdom to the brink of destruction, but in the early days of 2518 AGF she was brough back and for the first time in a very long time, the future seemed brighter.
It is the 3rd day of Rorso 2518 AGF
Report Date
21 Sep 2024
Primary Location
Comments