The Heroes
Emet-Selch {Vedalken Artificer}
Eralyse Sarrallon {Aasimar Paladin}
Jon Mastiff {Human Wizard}
Mala {Aarakocra Monk}
Mellow Leaf {Tabaxi Ranger}
Campaign:Heart of Annilation
Current Year:756
1
As you are finishing up, a message comes in over your earpiece
"Hello Emet-Selch, this is Edgar Mockette. Something terrible has happened at the island. I would not recommend using the teleportation circle in AutumnCrest. You are wanted for treason by the local authorities. But don't worry Edgar let me know that you are innocent and that it's just a uh, misunderstanding. You need to make your way to the island as quickly as possible. You should still be able to use the teleporation circle on Ember Isle once you get past the realm guardians. Octavia and Edgar have been detained on the island and ask that you free them."
DM Notes
Edgar is a simaculum of Edgar that was sent limited information via memories. He was created 2 weeks ago and doesn't know much about the current sitatution. The communication device he's using was built with assistance from other Emmett to be usedin case of an emergency. It was deemed best if present emmet and his party weren't aware of it. It also has been modified to send messages to a declared indivudal and then the signal gets bounced to the local network.
Zewyn can have a warship equipped with a teleporation circle set sail immediately. But it will takeit 3 days to get beyond the circle. If the group needs any items or supplies she can expedite them provided that the group has sufficient funds.
2
You arrive on the island and immediately smell smoke as the structure you are in is on fire.
Stepping out of the building you see the remains of a battle. Corpses of druids and shrubs lay on the ground and about half the groves are scorched to nothing. The other half are protected by an enery shield generated by the shondae device you were able to get working. Howver, that shield is being assaulted by swarms of grue and it's just a matter of time before it fails. You see a human dressed in silvershade robes standing in what was once the town square surveying and directing the enemy forces. He looks over in your direction and smiles
"I wondered if you were going to show up. Octavia was able to protect the portal building with her magic. But those protections had to come down to let you in and now you get to die"
3
After the last enemy falls you see a semi-translucent image of octavia appear. She seems to motion for you to follow and she walks to her home which sits outside the protective shield. A black throbbing mass appears to be growing out of the structure. The image of Octavia walks through the door which seems to shimmer with her passing.
When you attempt to enter the door you find your hand passes straight through it.
Walking through the door you feel something pull at the pit of your stomach and you feel dizzy for a moment, but then your head clears and you find yourself in a strange room. You appear to be inside of a kitchen that is broken into two levels. The lower level has variety of bubbling cauldrons amongst several prep tables. Each table is strewn with crystaline vegtiables, herbs, and iron cultry. An open stairway leads to a balaony that wraps around the outer edge of the kitchen. on the balcony level there are 3 doors. One of them has a large gear drawn upon it. The second door has a palm tree on it. The third door has a stylized sunflower seed. Each door has a handle with a small cubby inset next to the handle where a keyhole would normally be.
DM Notes
Each door is locked by the thing that the owner of the door would hate the most.
The gear which is Edgar's door can be opened by placing an extremely plain wooden spoon in it.
The palm tree door will open if any item is placed upon it. However, the door can not be closed once it's been opened. Once opened a dark beast will step forth and it will begin draining charcters of resources. Each "round" each charater loses 1 spell slot of their choice or hp equal to 10% of their maximum, or 1 level of exhaustion.
The sunseed which is Octavia's door can be opened by placing a simple white cloth attached to a stick in it.
in both cases of opening the right door. The door shimmers and the person falls forward out of the door and then the door vanishes.
Searching the room turns up 1d4 trinkets from the random trinkets table. A check with a DC 15 or better also turns up one of the following items.
4
After freeing both Octavia and Mockette. Octavia speaks to you
"We need to move quickly. I don't believe they are acting with the full authority of the concil or else they wouldn't of felt compelled to trap me in this place. Mockette has all kinds of shortcuts around the island and so I'm guessing he was trapped to prevent us from doing what we are about to do. Mockette can open a doorway to the place where the the seal is being forced open. I would help you myself but I need to return to the mainland to let the council know what's going on. It should expose whoever is behind this allowing us to put an end to the mastermind behind all of this. "
When you are ready mockette pulls out a metal key with strange revolving metal parts. He inserts it directly into a blank wall a door composed entirely of darkwood appears with the "key" becoming the handle for the door. Mocket turns the handle and ushers you inside. You find yourself in an alleyway with stone cobbled flooring and smooth stone walls on eitherside. After running what feels like forvever you reach the endof the featureless alley way to a metal clad door. mocket inserts the strange key like device into the door and turns it opening the door. Beyond the door is nothingness. But he assures you it's safe to pass through.
When you pass through the door you find yourselves on a stone disc in the middle of the culdera of of an active volcano. 4 manglers seem frozen in the air in the center of the stone platform with their arms and legs spreadwide. In the space between them there is a star shaped rip in space as if your reality was a piece of cloth torn open with a knife. Beyond the void is a starscape with shadowy, things moving about that you only see because their dark bodies temporarily block the light from the stars. Glancing behind you the only evidence of your passage is a small metal sunflower with semi-transparent petals. A flower that you find it's difficult to focus on. As if your eyes simply wish to slide past the flower without registering its existence.
5
Upon killing the last enemy the shimmering star begins to retract. But it's healing slower than expected. It seems that they've done something to it, or perhaps are still doing something to it. Edger appearing from seemingly nowhere looks around.
"we need to figure out what their plan is, otherwise we're just stumbling around blind while a fire rages around us."
6
After a bit of work you figure out what they were planning. By hitting all three locations simultaneously they are trying to free the one trapped by the seals. The one here hasn't recovered because the other seals are under assault. The only reason you can be sure that the others haven't been fully breached is... well you can still reason. You are quite sure that you would be the 1st ones killed standing right next to the elder one's entry point.
Edgar pipes up.
"I can teleport you to either of the two islands. In my opinion we should deal with the one on the sahagin island as it will have the least amount of resistance. If they can force another one of the seals open as this one has been, then elder will be able to overwhelm the remaining location with its minons and I'm not talking just grue, I mean seers and worse."
You arrive in at the beach head you helped create so long ago and... are some what surprised at the lack of resistence. The shurbs are there as before but they don't see you as enemies. You do however see a large number of tracks leading away from this place into the forest toward the looming mountain. Time to hustle.
7
You arrive at what you assume is the guardian temple for this island, as you realize you've never actually been to this location yourself. The temple gates have been ripped apart and you see the corpse of what appears to be an air mephit.
The chamber behind is filled with a dense fog. The air mephit stirs letting out a gasp of smoke that forms into a solid bridge to a circular stone structure in the middle. Not wasting any time you dash across the smoke bridge and are soon at the stone circle. where you see two mangler's pinned in the air like you witnessed before. Two others slash at the air while several robed figures observe impatiently. They hear your footfalls and turn to face you.
8
You dispatch the creatures but the gap in the seal refuses to shift. You then notice in the haze that it's behind held open by dark spirits that vaguely resemble the air mephit corpse you saw before. You try attacking them but your attacks simply pass through them and do not even get their attention. You then recall that all of the other guardians required that you pass a contest of wits. Telling them that you are ready to challenge them seems to get their attention. Perhaps if you can beat them, you'll break whatever dark magic is causing them to manifest.
9
The shades look at you dumbfounded, seeming to forget what they were doing. They then simply fade away and the rift begins to slowly re-seal the same way the 1st one did.
Edgar sighs heavily.
"ok, last stop. Lets hope your vampire friend has been successful in defending against the enemy."
You arrive in a small circular chamber you don't recognize. The door exiting the small circular room leads to a wooden cooridor with doors on either side. Edger takes the 1st door on the right and brings you into a room that holds a single small tree with black bark and transparent leaves. He has you all hold hands and while he casts a spell you feel yourselves being pulled into the tree. You suddenly find yourselves inside of a cylindrical water slide made out of smooth coral. With a solid wall at the end. However, instead of slamming into the wall you find yourselves inside the chamber within the vampire's castle where you planted the staff. In fact where the staff was planted is now a strange looking cluster of semitransparent seaweed.
Around you a battle rages on between vampires and star spawn. It appears 3 manglers have managed to fix themselves in the well, water and the vampires don't recognize the significance of what they are doing. On the plus side they have done a wonderful job of holding back the starspawn, but it's a battle they are clearly losing.
10
Upon dealing with the last mangler, the rift snaps shut and a golden being appears. it has features that you recognize, it appears to be an algamation of the guardians you've previously interacted with. He seems to speak, but you realize that the words are simply in your heads.
"Thank you for your valiant service. Unforuntely, the dark force responsible for these attacks is still at large. Please tak these gifts and use them to vanquish that foe which threatens our realm."
A set of 5 golden orbs float out from the figure and rest before you. Each orb then changes shape transforming into an item.
Before you are now
A cloak (Cloak of invisibility)
A bottle (Spell Bottle)
A Robe (Robe of the Archmage)
A green mask (Green Dragon mask-doesn't have legendary reistance)
A battle horn (Horn of Valhalla)
Edgar turns to you afterwards.
"I don't know how safe it will be on the island for you until Octavia returns. I'll send word to you until its safe. For now all I can do is offer you my personal boat, the shrubs on it will take you back to the port town of your choice and can provide goodberries on a daily basis. I wish I had more to offer you but part of the reason for the expeidition is that this place is not otherwise easy to get to. "
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