The party turned to Miri, wanting to know why they had just been attacked by mummies. She was just as stunned and confused as them. She was especially freaked out by the fact that both she and Tselem had contracted mummy rot from the encounter, making it harder for them to recover.
They all cautiously approached the reading room at the end of the hall, but no further attacks came. Inside the room, they searched through the books and found the information they were looking for in pretty short order (no thanks to Taumir). From the literature, they learned that the people best suited to creating counter-rituals are the Order of the Lantern, a mysterious cult of half-orc clerics living in the Shadow Marches near the Lantern Tower. The party was not especially thrilled at this knowledge, considering the Shadow Marches were a long ways away, and not well traveled.
They all made their way out of the library basement, where Miri then took her leave of them. The party made their way to a House Jorasco healing station, where Azeri's membership in the house got them in right away, if not much in the way of discounts. Tselem got himself healed from the mummy rot, and he then purchased a healing for Miri as well. (He sent her a message through House Sivis' magical post office.)
The party then went about figuring out how to get to the Lantern Tower. They went to the local House Orien teleportation station, and the flunky at the front desk told them the only way to get there was to travel to a port city (a trip of several days), then take a boat to Zarash'ak (a journey of a week), then travel through the dangerous marshes for another day or two to reach the tower. He was very blunt in his evaluation of their chances - "you'll probably die." Tselem was annoyed, and asked to speak with a manager. The manager was suitably impressed by their House connections that he was more polite and helpful, but told them the same thing - no one ever wants to go someplace that dangerous, so House Orien don't have services in that part of the world. The party heaved a collective sigh and prepared themselves for the long trip.
They traveled three days north to Otharaunt, where they boarded a ship that sailed around the western edge of Khorvaire, arriving in Zarash'ak a week later. They spent the night in the city, and while there learned that Thrane had joined Breland in the fight against Droaam. The next day they traveled to Glumtown, an aptly named place, where they couldn't even find an inn for the night and slept out under the stars. The next day, they made their way to the Lantern Tower, and were informed they had yet a little ways to go - when asked where they could find the Order of the Lantern, they were pointed in a vague direction that took them deeper in the forest. Which is how the party found themselves, in the cloudy mid-morning of the 20th day of Nymm, traipsing through the Lantern Swamp in the Shadow Marches on the southwestern end of Khorvaire, searching for the Order of the Lantern.
As they searched, they came into a larger clearing, and in the middle there were two trees far larger than most of the rest they had seen in the forest. As they looked around, to their astonishment, the two trees came to life and started attacking them! A furious battle ensued, in which these strange tree-beasts employed other, smaller trees in the area as foot-soldiers. The party was holding their own, but then Azeri realized she knew what these things were - they were Treants, guardians of the forest, and that they generally would not attack those who are friends of nature. In an attempt to convince the creatures that they fit that category, Azeri used her divine power to heal one of the creature's wounds, and then stepped from the battle to try to repair some of the greenery in the area. The Treants immediately took notice, and stopped their assault.
The Treants asked who they are, and why they are here. The party responded that they were looking for the Order of the Lantern. The Treants considered that, and then one lumbered off into the forest, ordering the party to stay put. About an hour later, three male half-orcs, carrying lanterns lit even during mid-day, came striding out of the gloom. They asked the party who they were and what they wanted. The party showed them the Grant Dragonmark ritual, and said they were here to see if a counter-ritual could be made. The Order of the Lantern considered that, and then beckoned the party to follow them deeper into the swamp.
Rewards
- 5,000 XP each.
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