Sejen Mingari
Floundering flautist, monster meat menu maker, Glentolis gladiator, mist village merc.
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Children
A Memory to Fight
We pick back up with the rest of the party at the arena. People are slowly filtering out.
Keshyk sees a dude that he vaguely recognizes from way back... from the Delfinium! He is with an older man who seems to be under duress.
Suspicious, he tracks them out of the stadium, flying.
Bim and Beau follow slowly out, guided via telepathy through the large crowds.
Keshyk vanishes, dashes mid-air, and silently creeps in close to the pair he's interested in.
Bim and Beau dash into the street, unsure of which alley, waiting for something to happen.
Keshyk can hear the older gentleman say "Please, idk what you want. I didn't mean to offend you!"
The other man snipes "Shut up, I've had enough of this. I'm quite hungry". He hisses and lunges.
Keshyk, hearing this, Psychic Lances him.
He rears back, and Keshyk sees not fangs, but... face-tendrils!
Beau rushes in, casts Fire Bolt.
Keshyk attacks again. There's an old lady who's trying to interfere too?!
He yells at her to leave, and telepathically tells Bim to get closer and save the old man.
Some other older man on the roof hits Keshyk with a crossbow.
Suddenly, the old lady attacks Beau! She has a flickering tongue like the main dude. They both look like... meat golems? With octopi on their face.
As the strange couple battle Keshyk and Beau, Bim steps in to bolster their defenses and take damage for them.
Beau casts Resilient Sphere to make a hamster ball, which he uses to protect himself a few times.
Bim lands that good heal.
Keshyk keeps blasting the first monster.
The monster's skin fully sheds, and he's looking UGLY. The 'woman' follows suit.
The woman monster grabs Bim and starts running, but Beau puts Bim in a magic bubble to save him.
As their fighting, the monsters are putting in work. Keshyk is near death.
He snaps Archimedes out and tosses his bottle to him, as he is sucked in. Archimedes retreats to give Keshyk time to regroup.
Beau hits with the lightning he's been casting.
Keshyk reenters the fight with more blasting.
Feeling left out, Bim decides to make a magic bubble too. It... kind of works.
But, man these monsters are scary. They've got weirdly long reach, weirdly high damage, and weirdly high accuracy.
And some of their damage is necrotic, reducing the max HP of the victim. Beau takes the brunt of this unfortunate effect.
But, Bim's shield does some good work. Tanks some hits, and also hits the monsters with that good fire damage.
Beau lands a Shocking Grasp, and then another Lightning Bolt. It's enough; the last monster slumps over.
The guards show up. One of them surveys the scene, and pukes. The old man lays unmoving, with neck gushing. The monsters are as unsightly as can be. There's blood everywhere.
While the party waits for the guard to figure out what to do, they investigate. They realize that they recognize the neat neck cut inflicted on the old man; it's the same as the husband in the Arget Forest.
I show up, followed by the Captain of the guard, who brings mages from the college to investigate. They collect the bodies for analysis, and leave. We are also allowed to leave, although we are warned that some superior will question us about this later. Whatever.
Later, we decide to hit the town once again to celebrate the fights. We hit the casino, and Bim participates with gusto. He makes good money. Beau and I quit early, losing <10g. Oh well.
Eventually Ryukir leaves, giving a somber goodbye as he laments his near future of assuaging political ties. He gives me the heads up that if he's not back in time, I'll take over as de-facto champion until he returns.
Soon we too finish our beers and call it a night. Tomorrow we'll begin prep for our next adventure, or perhaps visit the new Keep. Perhaps both!
Either way, I'll have to visit the docks to hear my father's decision.
Cheers and good morrow!
A Fight to Remember
Alright, these losers are calling it a night at 8:30. Fuck that! After they settle in, I strike out after Rukyir. We gamble on cards all night, and I come out 150gp richer! I'll have to be careful not to make this a habit... I've seen how that goes.
The next morning, we all have errands to run.
I sell the spices from Belvadon Avor, as well as my old half-plate. Bim and Keshyk both buy spell components.
We all head into the Guild to be officially awarded Diamond status. It's a bittersweet moment, full of pride and also loss.
When we reunite, Keshyk tells us of night. He received news from his mountain hometown of Lluq. Rajamadri relays that the white dragon Elderfrost is subjugating everyone in the mountains, using White Cobalds and Frost Giants as servants.
He disappears for days at a time (phew), but he also demands sacrifices (yikes).
Her cost for this espionage is a promise from Keshyk: "Don't go after him until you are REALLY ready."
Keshyk relays the main thing he knows about white dragons: they aren't the smartest dragons. Definitely something to consider moving forwards. I, as I sense Bim and Beau concur, feel a sense of duty to those people. Hopefully we will soon have the forces to free them.
Later that day, I visit my dad Hawsk at the Saffron Bun at the docks.
I offer dad a job at our Keep. He's proud of my status in Bhailmor, but also excited at this possibility. He's been contemplating retirement and promoting Eithyr to captain. Speaking of, I give Eithyr my Fireweed Cigar to help with the ash. While dad thinks the offer over, I ask that they both come by the free-for-all and bet 500gp on me (I give them each 500gp to bet).
During this, the party visits Orik's castle and relay that we will accept the Keep as a reward.
We meet up, and head to the Coliseum. The party places bets and heads to box seating.
I head into prep.
Same as last fight, but the cheater is replaced with a scary-looking Bugbear named Muscles. The fight is tough, but I know how the Glaive fighter fights, and get up close on her while evading Hardall, who has a vendetta against me. The fighting is intense, but each fighter falls to my blade: first Glaive, then Hardall, then Muscles, all in 12 seconds of swift strokes and footwork.
I'm healed, and take my stance for the next fight. The landscape has changed: platforms have been brought out to make the combat area more interesting.
Out comes Rukyir, wielding that gnarly Scimitar, which looks longer than before.
The fight starts, and I can't get close at first. He utilizes his longbow to get some good damage in.
But when we meet in the center of the arena, I dish some serious damage.
Eventually, I whittle him down to bloodied, at which point he rages, transforming his 'lance' back into a regular scimitar for extra close-range damage.
We exchange blows until we're both concerned about being knocked unconscious. I break away, and jump up to the position he was firing his bow from earlier. I see the bow he dropped, and pick it up. I took some shots at him, wounding him a bit. He hides under the platform I'm standing on, hacking at the supports. He almost gets through, so I jump down and try to end him. He's wounded, but is able to just remain standing. With his last efforts, he slices through me, knocking me unconscious. He immediately falls over, exhausted.
As we are both revived in the medical area, he looks over and says "What a match. Couldn't have asked for better".
As I doze off, I think of a comeback: "Next time, old man. And when it comes, I won't fight with one clone tied behind my back".
Finders Keepers
After discovering that Thief symbol -- which invites us back the way we came -- we decide to continue ahead.
We move through the catacombs, tracing our way along the route that the princess showed us before.
As we pop out of the sewers into a back alley near the guild, we have a strangely familiar sensation. A gray-black ashy powder permeates the air. Almost exactly the same as Besmadon Avor, but with a slightly more sour, acrid taste.
Likely, it's the same effect, but without fireweed to filter it out.
Ah, it must be that the volcano erupted.
As we approach the guild, we note that there are more low-level adventurers passing through... not many highly ranked adventurers around at all! Not a good omen.
Neither is the quest board, which is thin with jobs available to the vast majority of new adventurers.
Gembin, the Dragonborn front desk worker, perks up at our entrance.
"Fate's Pendulum! Good to see you! We've been anxiously awaiting you."
He pulls out a small wrapped box. "This one is for Keshyk. Oh, um, which one of you is Keshyk?" XD
Next, we visit Rukyir, who was stressed out and hyper-focused (and talking to himself) as we enter.
He dispatches a message of our arrival to Orik, and then fills us in:
The ash is hurting Bhailmor's trade relationships, which were already hurting because of lack of access to the Craghaids.
As he lays out the scope of the issue, Rukyir mentions 'Chult', which Bim/Beau recognize from their past. He goes on to detail the "Triceratops Society", and they definitely remember that. Those are the leaders of Port Nyanzaru, as well as Chult at large. They are responsible for the independence that Nyanzaru currently enjoys. The society is composed of powerful individuals with trade interests the world over.
Rukyir says he must visit Chult, and then continue onwards to visit other trade partners. There are many allies to renegotiate with (and make feel better).
This conversation prompts Bim to remember that his family runs the "Jade Serpent" inn there. Beau remembers that his family works there as clockmakers.
As conversation stalls, we head over to the castle to meet with Orik. Rukyir and Marais are here to be looped in.
We give a full briefing of our travels. There is cautious optimism shared about potential for trade and for magical study.
Next Marias shares. She presents a staff that is studded with a diamond containing swirling purple energy.
"I think we'll give this to you all. It's called the Staff of the PlaneWalker. It can absorb powerful conduits of energy, each tied to a different plane. It then channels its magic into the conduits, teleporting you to that plane.
There is only one conduit (of 12 possible) active in there now though.
She also gives us a pouch containing 7 diamonds, each of which is worth 1000g+, for powering up the staff!
Wow, what an expensive tool!
The second thing Marais mentions to us is a barrier generator technology she's been researching, possibly at the behest of Rukyir. It's for emergencies only. She has one charge available: it can be expended to create a force-field across Bhailmor for 1 hour.
Lastly, Rukyir updates everyone. "I'm leaving to shore up our relationship with our allies. Also, the other (diamond) group we dispatched to the Creghaids is still missing."
Now Orik speaks up. He believes we're due a reward for our service.
He approaches from the throne, draws his shortsword, and taps us on the shoulder. "I promote you from Knight of Bhailmor to Baronette of Bhailmor". We all understand that this makes us eligible to own land.
"Now that you can own land, I have a gift: 5000gp each, or some land at the foothills which is named 'Daldreth Keep'. It is slightly Northwest of here, and it is an old stronghold that I have recently begun renovating".
He explains that if we choose the Keep (worth multitudes more, but requiring more responsibility) we'd get a small fleet of cooks, guards, maids, hirelings, etc. In addition, the Keep comes with some general rooms and the potential for some specialized rooms.
In exchange for these elaborate gifts, Orik requests that we stay on Glentolis. He feels overwhelmed with the duties of ruling at the moment; and he feels our group can help.
He also requests that I show up for the tourney tomorrow. The big event is a needed distraction.
And, who is the champion who I will face if I win the general fight? FUCKIN RUKYIR! Called it!
Here's hoping.
Anyway, as we depart, Rukyir mentions that he will be promoting us to DIAMOND! What a meteoric rise for Fate's Pendelum.
Before she splits off, Marais asks if we have some way to power up this staff... some sort of condensed planar energy?
Oh yeah! The orb Zagarus tossed me.
She inspects it and declares it to be compatible with the magic. Great! Hopefully Beau can figure this one out.
Speaking of, Beau announces his desire to head to the inn for the night. At only 8:30? That's now how I was raised!
Everyone else agrees, so I'll join them. For now. Once I freshen up, I'll go find Rukyir for some cards. Perhaps his strategy will give me some insight into his fighting style?
Homeward Bound
We're leave through the caves, back hence we came.
We approach the lava river & bridge where that lizard.
The lava rose above the bridge, leaving a 40ft long puddle that breaks the path.
Big rats are hanging out, and digging? One made a sound like it was dying. Is the salamander over there?
We try to stealthily teleport/fly across. We fail.
The rats see us and try to leave.
Bim and Beau use Dimension Door across the gap.
I cast a clone on a nearby stone, but the rat kills it, with magma foams out of it's mouth.
As we run, the salamander stops us.
We skirt around it with Levitate + Fly.
The rats turn golden and look ready to defend themselves.
Bim and Beau Blind and Deafen and Paralyze the Salamander, making our traversal much safer.
We were running past it, but I can't help myself, and I take a few swipes. Beau, seeing this, decides "We should make this path safer for the citizens of Besmadon Avor".
Works for me! I have my clone do the up-close work, since each attack yields magma splashing.
As we defeat him, we grabbed a large trident that the salamander had. It's a "great trident". Quite large.
The rats scurry away.
I navigate towards the rats, curious. We do some minor combat to look around.
I found a hidden area. It hosts bedrolls, long since abandoned. There are some extra supplies though.
As we rummage through, we find: 300gp, potion of greater healing, and a strange large metallic coin.
It is more of a medallion, which is over an inch thick, and 5" wide.
Beau magically reads the runes on the coins.
He's done just enough research to have an inkling of what this is.
It's something... 'not right'. Typically used to bind a creature, or SOUL, to the coin.
He tries to identify the magics surrounding it. Oh, it's a soul coin. Used by devils in the 9 hells as currency, it's fairly valuable. And it has 3 charges. Each charge can be expended to gain life, ask the soul a question, or free the soul. We can also free the soul by destroy it.
I think we'll talk to it, then free it.
In the meantime, we walk back to the central crossroads.
I see the symbols, and see one we haven't really discussed.
The lightning bolt. "The salt sands"?
On that note, Keshyk hears noise down that way.
A mix of sounds... faint shuffling footsteps? Maybe a crackle, snap, pop?
Some people are coming from that way.
We hide, and Keshyk sees... orcish pirates?
Their gate is off. They are limping and shambling.
A spark pops off one of their skin.
As they get to the center, and they look about.
While we hide, Keshyk asks, 'Who wants to fight?' Obviously, I draw my rapier.
He casts Synaptic shock. It's a great shot!
Then Beau hits them with lightning, which unfortunately has no effect.
I can't reach them with my echo, so I rush in.
As we fight, we figure out that Thunder and Lightning both seem to have no effect.
Bim rushes in and casts Word of Radiance.
He's able to kill one, and it explodes into thunder/lightning damage!
Staying far away doesn't work either. They use a ranged lightning, hits small AOE.
One of them (who was not affected by Synaptic) pulls out a glass cylinder with metal side panel. He then squeezes it, and it goes off like a crossbow-style-slingshot. It's called the 'Plint Blaster'.
One NAT 20's and gains a thot.
We see that as we attack, we draw no blood. Electricity runs in their veins.
As we kill the last one, the Plint Blaster skitters off of the edge.
I grab it via featherfall, but start slowly falling to my death. Luckily, Keshyk saves me (again).
As compensation, I give it to him, which he promptly bottled.
Next, we have to decide:
Do we go back to Bhailmor? Or do we try to just start towards what we expect is the next quest.
We decide to go back to the city, since I have fight, and the King needs update on dwarves.
We hike back to the catacombs of Bhailmor. I see a symbol carved on a wall, which I missed before. Now that I've met Eikthyr and remember my past better, I recognize it as "Base/Safety" in Thieve's Cant. We decide not to explore that area more due to our general urgency. So, we continue along the route that the Princess once showed us.
Graduation
We stand over the old, injured duergar leader, and pull the book from him.
Do we kill him?
He looks OLD right now. Fearful, and worried.
He tries to exchange his life for the equipment in his possession. Tempting, but we don't bite.
Bim breaks off to heal Gwen... and is successful! Phew! Cutting it close.
Thulgrim approaches, and sees her alive! He thanks us (as does she).
Under his direction, we give the book to a friendly Cogart, "Bendain".
He's visibily excited, and thinks that he can decipher it to operate the forge.
Since Zagarus will likely see him as an enemy, we escort him into the forge. On the way, we pop into Keshyk's bottle for a short -- but luxurous -- rest. Bendain is impatient, but he waits for us.
Inside the bottle, we're greeted with a cool atmosphere that smells of ocean breeze and pine. The walls were a blue-gray glass. In the center sits a low coffee table, surrounded by couches, animal furs, blankets, and pillows. An armoire looms on one side.
As we finish our rest and approach the forge, we see a four-legged lizard creature coated with magma & rock which is doing the same. It is engaged in combat with Zagarus to the Southeast of the forge (near the river). He beheads it easily; it melts back into the river. As it does, we see a large opal of energy, its heart. Zagarus snatches it out, tampers the energy out of it, and absorbs it.
"That's one of the many wild elementals from my home plane. Strange to see them here; but I guess if I got here, they could too".
We enter the forge. Bendain mutters to himself about the runes on one of the panels.
"Pressure, temperature, mana, lava control, etc. It's all here."
"Ah, an interesting setting". He hits a switch, and it gets cooler in here. The magma bubbles and swirls. "This may stop our unwelcome guests. The forge is powered from underneath: it's described as 'a portal to power'. If you don't channel the power from the portal, it will run rampant."
Zagarus looks at us "Well, I suppose it's time to mention it. I think I came to your plane via that portal. I felt something just now -- when he channeled the forge -- something in my veins. It felt like something nearby receded, and so I feel less called to. It makes me think that your fire creature problems are over."
He says that he's ready to go home, and tosses the heart to me. Unlike our previous interactions with such hearts, it isn't burning me. Yet I still see that characteristic swirling across the stone.
"Come visit if you're ever in the City of Brass. Speaking of, my father, the King of that region, is jealous and greedy. If he finds out about this portal, it might prove enticing to him. I will do my best to stop him from hearing of it. It would help if you stopped anyone from coming through, lest they be caught by the nightmare cavalry.".
At that, Thulgrim and Gwen enter. Zagarus bids farewell, and then vaults into the lava below.
Behind them trails Tormil the Traitor.
He looks up at the forge, tears welling.
Thulgrim ignores him. "Things are going as well as expected"
Gwen looks stronger than when she was first resurrected. "There is much still to be done. The hearts and minds of the people will not heal easily. But we've started."
Bendain fills them in with the goings-on of the forge. "I think it'll be no trouble! The work of our ancestors can guide us back towards their level. I found a switch to reduce the number of incoming creatures. Ah, but we should still guard the portal; for there may be small intrusions from time to time."
Thulgrim asks, "Does that book contain a recipe for Mordikite?"
"Yes! The shape-changing armor. Some of the instructions for it are more complex, but... we could at least make a breast plate or shield!"
At this, Tormil falls to his knees. "I know what I did is unforgiveable. But please, son... my life has been leading up to this. I feel it's calling. At least, let me do this before I am punished."
"I am very disappointed in you father. There are few things more despicable than betraying your family."
Looking to us, "I will give my new friends a choice."
I plead to give him a job at the forge: but not to forgive him.
He says that Tormil will be punished no matter what. People know of his treachery, and so how it is handled will be somewhat public.
But, he sanctioned Tormil working to make it.
It's a reskin of the wondrous-item named molten-bronze-skin.
After some internal discussion, it is decided that I will inherit this impressive gift, in the form of full-plate.
It will be a bit heavy, but I will get used to it.
"We don't have much else to offer you. If you have that crown, keep it. We do not want it. Actually, Bendain, can we do anything more for them?"
Bendain replies "Not unless we have Noctite, the gem which shines like a night sky. It appears to be a catalyst to reforge magic items".
Keshyk and I at once realize that the crown & dagger that Bengram wielded are made with this process.
After this discussion, we ask: "Do you look for a way out?"
"Some of us do. Some with likely try to leave with you. Others will be content simply taking what is rightfully theirs, here."
We'll leave in the morning, after the celebration.
We recall that our necklaces open the doors, and disarm the traps for those wearing it.
We share that with the Forgehearts, who then decide not to tell everyone that there's a way out with these necklaces.
The doors to the North have always a potential exit. Some Jailbreakers left through it once. One made it back, said the whole party died in a confusing, dark place.
The Strothgan 'hunters' who were ordained to leave... never returned. They're likely dead. We presume that those tunnels likely the Underdark.
We leave towards the shelf. As we wander the city, there are some -- mostly Strothgan and Cogart (but some forgeheart) -- who resent our actions.
We have a feast, which includes Fire Brandy (which feels briefly like lava coming down your throat).
It's a bittersweet celebration, full of love and loss.
As the food and liquor settle, Gwen walks to the Forge and then addresses the people using the ring we gave her. She reads from a script:
"Friends, family, allies, and enemies. I come to you after today's events to give you a bit of hope. Let me explain some of our true history."
She talks about the history of the clans, the discovery of the forge, the camaraderie of the groups to create the city. She summarizes the sins they committed to anger Gond. And she describes the original Strothgans: concerned friends/fam sent to prevent a repeat tragedy, or join those who were imprisoned. She points out that many of them were empathetic to their cause, and chose to join in imprisonment. Everyone was sealed, branded heretics & traitors. It has been a long time; surely they have paid their penance. She theorizes that because the forge has reactivated, perhaps they have been forgiven.
Now they should unify, and honor their ancestors and Gond with the Forge.
"We have a long road ahead. You may not see us as equals.. but the MountainFists and the Cogarts are equally responsible for the imprisonment. We are equally imprisoned. And we can become one clan; the Tahmajal -- the expert craftsmen. We can break free of the jail of the caste."
She looks down, but continues. "We sorrow for those we have lost. I hope we shed no more blood. Let us be one people. For the Forge!".
We hear cheering everywhere, but see mixed reactions from the crowd.
Then she returns the ring.
A MountainFist approaches, holding my necklace. He found it in Bengram's office.
We Identify the elemental heart orb:
It's a condensed plane of fire. Many creatures there are formed of magic & fire. It's basically a pearl, generated by fire & mana.
Like... condensed Fire Elemental plane energy.
Zagarus must have sealed the creature energy from the orb within.
We also Identify Bengram's Dagger and Crown.
It's an Anti-Magic Dagger, which disrupts spells, concentration, and also can incite greed on nearby people.
The Crown makes the wearer more skilled in deception, and allows them to disrupt magic as well. The two items synergize.
As we rest up, I feel attuned to the armor.
And as we leave, I ask Thulgrim & Gwen to consider not killing Tolrim. I feel a sad sympathy for him.
They give us 10 fireweed cigars, which are high quality. In addition, they give us a satchel of spider silk, fire resistant. That satchel contains 1000gp.
We leave while they conveniently distract for us. As we leave, I turn back to see the city a final time. I feel a wish bubble up; a wish to be back, and to help these people regain some of their former glory and expertise.
The Principal's Office
Zagarus delivered us a message from Thulgrim that Gwen isn't back from the school, as expected.
Zagarus can lock it down, so we run off to the school.
One of the casters telepathically communicates to Gwen, who reports that she has been taken hostage by Bengram. She wants us to focus on finding the book of history which was her goal here.
Bim and Beau enhance Keshyk, who is sent in to stealthily investigate. He creeps through and spots some guards, so he sends me a message to try the other side of the compound. I jog over, armor clanking, and a guard from inside spots me through the window. Busted. I wave at him and politely knock at the door. As he opens it, I try to lie, saying that I'm bere to report a fight at the well. Be sees right through that, and asks me to follow him, as Bengram expected me. Shrugging to my hidden compatriots, I follow him in.
Inside, I follow him past a few other guards, into Bengram's office, where I see Gwen tied up. I also see him put the book away into his robes. Keshyk was invisibly trailing me through the building. I find this out when he whispers "get ready" and then blasts Bengram.
Bengram was trying to negotiate for Gwen, but upon being attacked, he sours and stabs her with a magic dagger.
The guards start swarming in. An intense battle begins, and Bim and Beau are out in the cold, having just been alerted to the danger.
Keshyk and I are gettin pummeled as Bim and Beau teleport wildly towards us. Bengram's crown is seriously limiting our abilities. Apparently it casts Antimagic Field. Eventually, Keshyk is able to get in close and snatch the crown from Bengram. He leaves out a window with it.
The battle is now raging on 3 fronts;. To the North, Keshyk defends the crown he took from those who followed. In the main room, I (and now Bim) are trying to handle the guards who rushed in. At the rear, Beau is attacking the remaining guards who didn't get a chance to make it it.
With the crown gone, and our reinforcements arrived, the tide turns. Although our party looks to be confidently on the upper hand, I cannot help but start to flee. Bengram and his men did a number on me, and I am close to death. However. Bim actually looks a bit hurt himself, so together we flee out the western window. I leave a clone there as a distraction. It... doesn't really work. and a guard follows and knocks me out. When I come too, Bim is healing me after having defeated that pesky guard.
As we reenter the main room, so do Keshyk and Beau, seemingly finished off their guards. However, Bengram is still up, and streaks out of the room, fleeing out the Southern exit. We follow, alternating sprinting and attacking. When it seems like he'll make it out, my clone FINALLY lands a hit on him as he flees, stopping him in his tracks. Thank you Sentinel.
And Into the Fire
We rush straight into a wall of fire. The Watchmen were still wary of an attack on the forge. Everything is roaring flame, and suddenly silent. I see Bim sprint away and explode into sunlight. I follow him out of them flames, my tattoos glowing and glistening with the heat. We separate, I get Held in a spell. Keshyk also activates his tattoos. Bim and Beau take turns slinging bolts and controlling the battlefield, plus supporting. Zagarus is barely being damaged, with his intimidating presence. He summoned a fire elemental to take a lot of the "heat". Speaking of , Beau got targeted by Heat Metal and took quite a bit of damage.
Meanwhile, people are trying to break into the southern doors. Beau teleports down there and stops the doors from fully opening. A few get through, but he jams his immovable rod into the mechanism to stop it.
The people who made it through were both Watchmen and MountainFists, who are now fighting.
While stopping the flood of new enemies, Bim and Beau go down out in the middle. The enemies line up and a front and back line.
A potion and some healing magic later, and the party is up and fighting. Zagarus, Keshyk and I alternate attacking the front and back lines to finish the fight off.
Once done, Bim and Beau look rough, and Keshyk looks spent. Zagarus promises to watch over the Forge while we rest briefly to the east of the main stairway, since the Forge feels like a sauna.
He also appears interested in the rod, being an item with dense magical runes.
We watch it and see no Cogart reinforcements while we rest.
We hear Zagarus shout for us, and as we reenter, he claims "Thulgrin told me (motions to earpiece he wears) that Gwen did not return within the expected period." We believe him, and now have to decide how to proceed.
Forge Ahead
Beau teaches Keshyk some magic while Bim and I meander through the Forge District, observing the renewed passion of the local smiths.
Bim casts Clairvoyance to check out the inside of the Forge. A pipe system overhead terminates in a conic shape with a 4ft diameter glass container for collection. There is a panel of buttons with dense intricate runes. Forging tools are scattered. Brass grates. Double doors on both sides. 2 watchmen at guard, 5 more inside. The forge doors have a bar to barricade them. Strangely, no workers are inside.
Bim then casts on Bengram, who's conversing with Bromnor, the guard captain. He casts tongues, then listens in. "Tomorrow at noon? We'll prepare for it. And actually, get a couple of MountainFists to start the fight an hour early. Threaten their family if you must."
"And what of the old man who gave us the info? He wants to use the forge as compensation."
"Eh, we'll see. Might end him and his wretched family."
We tell Thulgrim, who is saddened but isn't too surprised. Says if we set the fights for an hour early, it'll help.
After we suggest feeding false info, he stages a fight with us so his father overhears. "So now we have to switch targets to the Mines."
We notice his father was listening, and then retreats.
We leave, after making plans to meet up with Zagarus below the stairs near the temple.
We try to go the mines to sleep, but there are guards. So we stay at the temple again, but with watches this time. Didn't notice anything.
As we prep for battle, Bim casts Emboldening Bond on the party. I pop out an echo. Beau casts Gift of Alacrity on himself. Keshyk casted Armor of Agathys on himself.
Ready, we start for the bridge into the Forge. The 2 guards at the gate go flying as Zagarus reappears from invisible, knocking them 20 feet. We charge into the Forge, not seeing a ton of other guards.
Fire and Spice
This Efreeti is named "Zagarus". He speaks in Tongues, so we all hear it in our own languages.
"Lovely to meet yall. I have heard good things, and am looking forward to working together".
He sizes us up.
Beau & Keshyk know of the Efreeti. They are evil, and there's often bad blood between them and the Djinn (fire genie vs air genie).
Thulgrim says "He's young for an Efreeti, which helps. He's intimidating, but alone he may falter. With you all, we can turn the tides though."
Zagarus claims he owes the family a life-debt, due to son Dolgram 'rescuing' him from a lava drift.
He's from the City of Brass in the Elemental Plane of Fire.
He fell into a magical volcano that should've killed him. He was playing games with other children.
I'm calling him "Red Rover" in my head from now on.
Anyways, Dolram pulled him out of the river of lava which he ended up in.
He's got a black metal Scimitar. Large, almost great-sword sized.
Our party gives him a promise to be neutral or better in the coming conflict.
I mention that I would see the revival of the smithing talents, and this resonates with the family.
Thulgrim gives us a history lesson on the Jailbreakers:
"For the last 200 years, we've had this name. 2 reasons we fight: To leave the city, and to leave behind the shackles of the Strothgans. The Forge is the Key!"
Gwen: "Ever since the Forge came back to life, and the lava flowed from underneath, the Strothgans & Cogarts have been researching in the archives of the Academy to get it back up and running. I have been apart of that and have learned some info, which I have passed on. The majority of tombs/journals that we REALLY need are outside of our reach. A corner of the academy houses them under lock&key (and guard)."
"We need 4 things:
the locked away info
access to the Forge
our history, as seen in this script I've read to you
a distraction"
Fulgrim: "In 2 days we host the 'hauling', the monthly competition to hoist water from the deepwell. Each clan sends representatives to pull out their water."
"We plan to take advantage of that. The mountainFists will be active to distract those in the Watchman District, since they've been more vigilant lately."
"Then, we launch 2 efforts: wrest control of the Forge and garrison it. Zagarus will help here. The second is to go to the Library and retrieve those documents stealthily."
"So, in exchange for your help, perhaps we could help you? Why did you come down?"
We recall that Orik sent us to track down the fire creatures, suspecting that the long lost peoples or their ruins down here might be related.
We've heard reports of creatures coming from the Forge down to the lake.
Beau brings out the ore we were given from the Dwarves. Perhaps that can be our reward? It's called Mordikite, and can be used to make shape-fitting armor.
With some new knowledge + skill, some dwarves could maybe make it, or something else interesting.
We learn that the pale blue crystals that Beau and I have store some energy. They only glows while in the caves -- they require processing to utilize frequently.
After Zagarus mentions some things about 'his father' in the Plane of Fire having guards, we think he is the 'Prince' that the Fire Elemental we recently slayed was looking for.
When we recall the Prince, and generally Planar phenomena, we remember our conversation with Marais Arcellius in the Adventurer's Guild: There have been magical contractions (intervals getting shorter, length getting longer) occurring, where the planes get closer. She speculated that it is this phenomena we are experiencing now, what with many planar threats looming.
We decide to help the Jailbreakers take the Forge, not fully trusting Zagarus, and also wanting to guarantee that we resolve the fire creatures we were sent down to take care of.
To avoid suspicion, we once again sleep at the Temple of Gond.
The next morning, we plan our day. First we hit the market, and then we do some spy-craft.
Bim spends a few hours and finds a critical component needed for scrying: a finely-crafted silver mirror for 1000g.
I find some excellent metal-framed nets, and buy them out.
I also sell out my spices, and then buy out remaining ones.
Beau finds some super-fine gray-white silk from that spider farm we found. He buys a square-yard and a couple of spools. They appear to lend themselves to magical infusion.
Mining for Information
... We pick up having just dropped off the dwarves we saved from that Fire-Elemental-Looking-Dude(TM) and his Magma Mephit minions.
The heat, even in the mines, is causing some of us exhaustion.
Bim & I suspect these Dwarves look a bit more like Duergar.
As we explore, we climb a cliff that has Mephits at the top. We see them consume crystal off of the walls. We kill them & an Ash Elemental.
(I stashed one of these crystals -- pale blue).
We identify the emerald ring we picked up: It has 6 charges per day, and a charge extends your voice up to a mile, and allows any creatures you can see to understand you (requires attunement).
We also identify the necklaces we got from the room with the Forge Art + Guardians.
We refill our water skins via Create Water (tanx Cleric :))
We realized that I don't have my necklace (my clone dropped it atop the stairs when we entered the city)
We head to Thulgrim's (head of the Forgehearts, and also of the Jailbreakers), seeing no guards.
He has a neat blackened shell that appears akin to a walkie-talkie (might only be one-way).
We wait for Gwen and Dolram to show up. They do.
Sounds like a hatch in the kitchen ... where did Gwen disappear to?
"There are skirmishes between the clans. Never dethroned the Strongthams. Gwen found out that ..."
She speaks in good common (cuz she almost a Cogart :p)
She has a dwarvish script "I extracted this paper in the Academy's library. An excerpt of the original clansmen, the perpetrators. I read a few pages before I had to return it to the restricted section."
"This was a small settlement back then. MountainFists were the OG miners. Get the most blame for delving too deep. But, were controlled by the Menland, the Watch of the Cogarts (called the 'priests of Gohnd' back then ... just normal ass priests from the mainland). She blames a few of those priests for commanding it. Said the MountainFists were being worked to exhaustion. What were the Strothgans? Friends and Family of those responsible, VOLUNTARILY choosing to be exiled to warden && 'care' for the rest of us. The mainland exiled those responsible for the eruption. This has been warped since then.
She says the Forge was put over something very powerful.
Grandpa shows up: "The forge is everything".
Gwen: "Yes. We need to control it to take the city"
Grandpa "The forge is the sole reason that our people still survive. Gives us the power to survive here. The crafts and glory it has produced were leagues above what they are now".
"Rumors are that it can do impossible things. Reforging magical weapons. Melting down metals and alloys unseen" *he gets fervent, zones in on the forge and starts ranting*
Grandpa's name is "Tormil". Daydreaming of the forge. He's been desperate to use it.
Bim asks what the note in Dwarvish script will do.
Gwen: 'It'll shake up everyone's belief about the relationship between the commands. Break the rigid caste'.
Thulgrim, to Gwen: "We will also show them *something*. Bring them here please".
Thulgrim: "These will strike fear in those that oppose us, and take the forge... We have 2 goals: take the forge, take the book"
Heavy thuds sound from kitchen, and a glow emits from it.
Gwen brings in a large fiery red/yellow skinned individual, coal-red eyes, rippling large muscles. imposing figure, looks down at us. Large horns, flaming hair.
"This is Zagharus, he's our weapon".
He's an 'Efreet' or 'Efritti' . Basically a fire genie.
Ego Death
Once there was a man named Sejen.
Remember that?
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