Session 70 - Kylar
General Summary
The “Emissary” exploded into raw power and invaded Vater von Berg’s body. It ripped his flesh apart, twisted his organs and rendered his muscles into a heaping mass of undulating tentacles. Red and Lat’num realized that this creature was a product of the Far Realm, a progenitor of aberrations like abelyths and beholders. It reached out and struck at the wounded party members.
“I can hold him off for a while,” Erthok Huntinghawk told them. “I’ll resurrect in Hell. Now’s your chance to escape.” The elf shot into the air and launched a barrage of magic arrows at the creature to get its attention.
The Party ran to Red’s aid, who had fallen in battle with the Emissary’s previous form. Ifrit stabilized the druid while Kylar Bearcharger charged the monster.
“Just like old times, eh, Gorgoroth?” the fey king said.
“No! We aren’t fighting this time. We’re leaving!” Gorgoroth responded.
Kylar ignored the dragonborn and swung his blade.
“Fly you fools!” Erthok yelled. He was harrassing the beast from above its head, using his winged boots to stay out of tentacle-reach. Whenever the monster turned towards the Party, Erthok and his spine devil minions darted in closer to aggrevate the creature once more.
A small black horse figurine that Erthok left on the ground burst to life. It grew to the size of a large warhorse whose mane and tail were living fire. Flames burst from its hooves and steam hissed as it stomped the snow. Erthok shouted at the horse in Abyssal, “Take them to safety! Fly you Fool!”
The Party scrambled to retreat. The horse squated down to accept Red’s limp form and then bucked wildly when the firbolg jumped off its back and transformed into a giant eagle. Ifrit calmed it by shouting in Abyssal.
Gorgoroth telepathicly reminded his old friend about the many battles they fought together during the Scales of War and the time the Heroes of Brindol were defeated in the Underdark because they underestimated their opponent. Kylar finally relented, and Gorgoroth used his telekenesis to pull Kylar away from the battle.
Gorgoroth and Lat'num rode on the back of the nightmare. The horse jumped into the air and galloped through the sky, keeping pace Red. The druid-in-eagle-form struggled with the weight of so many adventurer’s on his back. The Emmisary finally noticed their escape and shot a huge wad of pus and bile into the air at them. Red couldn’t dodge out of the way. He fell once again, and those on his back fell with him.
A flash of flames in the distance suggested that Erthok had finally departed from the Beastlands. Whether he had teleported or died, they didn’t know. The monster began to slowly stalk the fallen Party.
A few seconds later Red was back on his wings and his friends were back on his back. In less than a minute they were out of the Far Realm monster’s range. While they travelled towards the teleportation point that led to Fawnelle, the group asked Kylar about the Seed of Winter and his relationship with Sovacles, the king’s steward. Kylar didn’t have many memories, just a blank space where all the rage about capturing Erthok had been.
The party noticed that whenever he was asked about Sovacles (whom Lat’num suspected was the green dragon Virizan in diguise), Kylar absently scratched at a large braclet adorned with a pearl. When they asked him to take it off, he recoiled. Mentally, he wanted to comply but his body fought against the notion. It took five heroes to gently hold him down and remove the jewlery. When Ifrit cast Identify, he realized that the bracelet was cursed, and would force the wearer to obsessively pursue a desire, without regard to anything else around them.
The Party wondered what this meant. Why had Sovacles / Virizan wanted Kylar out of the way? Did he have the Seed of Winter? What was the missing clue that tied everything together?
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