Session #18: The Heroes

The party stopped to catch their breath, reeling a little bit from the fight. As they did, from above, Sheshka applauded their victory. She then informed them that all visitors to her castle are hers to do with as she pleases, and most of the time, for humans, that means they get turned to stone, or worse. Their little vendetta with Zelian has sufficiently amused her, and their victory has sufficiently impressed her that she is willing to give them the gift of leaving with their lives. The party fumed, and Tselem in particular was itching to attack Zelian, but they simply weren't able to mount another attack in their weakened state. So they took her offer, and left the castle. The guards gave them itchy looks as they passed by, but they were able to depart unmolested.

By this time, dusk was hastening on, so the party made their way back to the caves outside of 'town' to rest for the night, and plan their next attempt on Zelian's life. They devised a strategy where they would lead Sheshka to believe that Zelian was about to betray her, and parley another chance to attack him through these means. They wrote fake letters for this purpose, then went to sleep.

The next morning, the 5th day of Dravago, the party awoke, prepared, and headed out. To their surprise and alarm, as soon as they started coming down from the caves, they met Zelian! Their battle commenced, with Zelian being joined shortly by six hulking ogres! The fight was vicious and choatic, but Azeri and Elane surrounded Zelian and laid into him with their most impressive spells. The wicked sorcerer was knocked unconscious by the force of their attacks. At first, Azeri was hesitant to kill him outright, and even persuaded Elane to not go for the killing blow just yet. But then she reconsidered, and Elane needed no encouragement to deliver the final strike.

Moments later, the last of the ogres fell too, and Elane let out a shout of triumph.

Zelian d'Deneith, the power-hungry, filicidal public enemy, was dead!

Rewards

• 3,700 XP. Time to level up to 11, and enter the paragon tier!

Session #17: The Long Fight

The party struggled against the remaining two Medusas. They eventually realized that Tselem's stinking cloud wasn't doing what it was supposed to, since Medusas aren't damaged by poison attacks. Azeri and Elane found themselves being worn down by the powerful warriors. Edge and Taumir landed some serious blows, and finally, both vile creatures were disintegrated by lightning attacks.

Rewards

• 3,125 XP! Time to level up!

Session #16: The Bargins with Monsters

The party roused themselves, as well as Reita & Akta. While gathering some food for breakfast, Azeri and Reita chatted a little bit. As they were all about to continue on their way to Owl's Perch, a few days journey north, they saw some people coming down the road. The party and co. made themselves inconspicuous, only to realize that it was Elane and some of her guards! Taumir and Tselem were still a little apprehensive, but Azeri welcomed her with open arms, and everyone's fears were soon put to rest. Elane expressed astonishment at all that had happened, and then delivered grave news: Zelian had gone Cazhaak Draal, in the heart of Droaam. She feared he was courting the favor of Sheshka, the Queen of Stone, a wicked Medusa, in hopes of gaining dark allies. Elane revealed that she had known for some time that Zelian wants House Deneith to take over the world, and fears this is him escalating his plan.

Troubled by this new development, the party put Reita and Akta into the hands of the Church of the Silver Flame, and then headed back to Varna, along with Elane. Once there, they used Elane's money to teleport them her and themselves to Sylbaran, the last civilized city before the Droaam border. They arrived there around mid-day, and spent the next two and a half days traveling across back roads and increasingly wild territory before finally arriving at Cazhaak Draal.

Cazhaak Draal is a ruin, a crumbling fortress. By human standards it is a haunted, deserted place, but here in Droaam, such places teem with monster life. Creatures of every variety were found roaming, bartering, and fighting with each other. Given the lateness of the hour, the party decided to hole up in one of the caves outside of town, and wiled away the evening sharing stories. The next morning, on the 4th day of Dravago, they went back into 'town', asking questions of the denizens and trying to formulate a plan. They had learned from a friendly Tiefling (Tselem posed as one and won his trust) that Sheshka will tolerate human visitors if they bring her large, expensive presents. The party had been hanging onto some armor that was a little too heavy for them, and they decided to use this as a present to get in the door. They approached the castle, presented their gift, and were admitted.

As they party had discussed, when they were finally permitted to speak to the queen a few hours later, they revealed they had a vendetta against Zelian d'Deneith, and demanded the chance to face him in battle. The queen was amused, and with a wicked smile, agreed to the tournament. The party was ushered into a courtyard, but it appeared the queen had double-crossed them, as she sent two Medusas and two Snaketongue cultists to fight them instead. The cultists proved easy prey, and Tselem was even able to take a potshot at Zelian as he and Sheska watched the fight from box seats. But then the Medusas stepped up their game, and suddenly the outcome didn't seem quite so clear...

Rewards

• (As the fight is not yet finished, no XP rewards just yet. Great role-playing though!)
• You have found an Elemental Twist Dagger (level 10 magic item, Player's Handbook 2, p. 204).
• You have found 1,400 GP (to split amongst yourselves).