Session 12-Mar-2022

General Summary

With Petrus' unit, the party made their way back to Drakar's Hearth where they agreed to arrange a meeting with Julissa and Petrus. They were successful in brokering a meeting with the help of Oru, who was let in on the plan. After an initally tense night at the inn, the group met with Julissa and Petrus. They learned of a long history between Petrus and Julissa and of a debt to be repaid. Julissa made it clear that the only way to both solve the imperial threat and extract Petrus from the empire was to destabilize the place of power they're seeking in the ancient ruins to the north. The plan is to make it appear that Petrus is consumed by whatever magic exists in the north using teleportation artifacts. Lacking expertise in this field of magic, Julissa suggested the party visit an abandoned imperial workshop in the mountains east of Drakar's Hearth. However, time is of the essence and Petrus is ordered to stay here for one week while they get reinforcements and mages from the Sanguine Order. Llywelyn secures some horses and the party sets out on a journey across the forest that takes two days. The journey is uneventful aside from a mysterious ranger that seemed to track them from afar. At the entrance, the group made its way through overgrown web-covered caves and halls filled with long-forgotten security systems of the workshop. They find the journal of a mage in the main office that tells of the troubling history of the facility that ended in madness. After, Anya brazenly rushes into an open courtyard obscured by the dense overgrowth in the main office. It appeared to be the main entrance to the workshop at one time, although the main gate had collapsed. They encounter a mound with a tunnel leading to the depths. Naturally, Anya rushes in with Aurora not far behind. Not far into the cave, Llywelyn dissuades the team after spotting what appears to be a nest of large insect-like creatures in the darkness.

The team heads back and locates the main production room of the facility. Books, unusual machinery, and crystalline lights litter the production floor. They find a large stone vault with a 15' metallic figure in front of it. Anya tries the vault door, but it did not open. Anya pulls a nearby lever, which causes a thud. After, the group find what seems to be a forge in a nearby room filled with strange and unusual artifacts. Their looting is interrupted by four demonic-looking figures covered in chains.