Session #48: The Bargin with Powers

As they had previous planned, the party made their way a short journey out of town and then camped in a copse on the edge of the Nightwood. The evening passed without incident and then in the morning (7 Barrakas) they arose and continued making their way to the cabin in the Karrnwood. 

They arrived there around noon. Immediately they realized that an extensive security system had been put into place - the entire road up to the cabin, and much of the forest around it, had been turned into a minefield of both physical and magical hazards. They slowly began making their way through the forest towards the cabin, being careful not to trigger them. Fortunately they did not have to get too far - when they were less than 100 feet from the building, Tselem was able to use a scrying spell to peer through the walls and see what they were up against. He saw that there were two people in the front room who did not appear in any way to be expecting visitors.

Tselem opened a dimensional portal, and the party stepped through into the front room. They immediately attacked the surprised men on the couches. Their first attacks went wild, but then Azeri let forth a blast of a new power she'd just learned, and burned them to dust!

At the sound of this commotion, three men came down the stairs, two with swords drawn. The third man appeared to be in charge, and when he reached the bottom of the stairs, he appeared to recognize Azeri. Then, to the party's own surprise, he told his guards to put their weapons away. The party said they were looking for Caraas d'Deneith, and the man replied that it was him.

Tselem demanded the guards leave the room, and Caraas grudgingly complied, to the guards' astonishment. Caraas asked to know what they wanted, and Tselem said, "I think you already know." After a measured moment, Caraas revealed his bare arm, the arm where he should have had a Dragonmark. "You're responsible for this aren't you?" Tselem confirmed that they were, and delivered the party's ultimatum: House Deneith was to show greater restraint and compassion, or they would do this again, and again.

Caraas agreed, and asked for his Dragonmark to be restored. Tselem informed him that it would take at least a year to do that. At this Caraas became extremely agitated. He said that he would never be able to maintain control of the House for that long without his Dragonmark, that they had ruined him, and that he would have to step down. Tselem and the party gave the equivalent of a shrug, saying they were just as happy to deal with his successor, so long as the ultimatum was passed on. Caraas stomped around in impotent rage, then collapsed on the couch himself. Defeated, he agreed, and Tselem could tell that he was so thoroughly cowed that he would comply.

Azeri wanted to know how Caraas knew her. Caraas simply said, "Do you really think I don't know who killed Zelian?"

Their work done, the party exited back through the portal and the safe path they'd charted through the woods. They then made their journey back to Korth, arriving in the evening. They treated themselves to a grand celebratory dinner - they had accomplished the object of their design, the thing they had traveled the length and breadth of Khorvaire and literally died and come back for! Azeri felt a little guilty for how thoroughly they'd destroyed Caraas' position, but was mollified by the fact that Korth has an excellent library.

Rewards

• 6,000 XP each

Session #47: The Long-Awaited Victory

The party persisted and brought down the griffon as well. They then continued their journey to Korth.

The next morning, 5 Barrakas, Tselem made another attempt to cast Remove Dragonmark on Caraas d'Deneith, and this time he was successful! Casting the ritual did of course take the entirety of the day.

The next day, 6 Barrakas, the party was able to learn that last night, several high-ranking members of House Deneith left the enclave very secretly. The party remembered that House Deneith had a cabin/hideaway type place in the Karrnwood north of Atur, having once faced Zelian d'Deneith there. Based on the information they had it seemed like the most likely place for Caraas and his lieutenants to have gone, so they decided to head there.

It was evening before they were able to start making their way out of town. At the edge of the city, in the dim light, they rounded the corner of a building to find the same creepy Eladrin they'd fought two days before standing there! He brushed off questions as to how he was now alive, and while he was still an unsettling presence, his manner was more businesslike this time. He gave them a blunt ultimatum: give him the ritual, and he'd let them live.

Naturally, the party refused, at which point several creatures flew down off the roof of the nearby building and began to attack them! The Eladrin himself walked away from the battle. The creatures made powerful use of their aerial attacks, but the party had some tricks up their sleeves as well. At one point, Tselem leapt into the air, and fired a magical blast that soared over the heads of his friends and struck a serious blow to the flying foes! The rest of the party was equally in good form, and the five flying menaces were dispatched.

By the time the battle was ended, the Eladrin creeper was far enough away that they knew they'd never catch up. So they decided to continue making their way towards Atur and the House Deneith hideaway.

Rewards

• 21,000 XP each! Time to level up to 20!!
• In the nearby building, you found a +4 Terror Hammer (see Player's Handbook, p. 236), a Helm of Battle (Player's Handbook, p. 248), and a Ring of True Seeing (p. 252).

Session #46: The Relentlessness of the Obstacles

Maaktol introduced himself to the party, and they invited him to come along with them. Tselem was able to re-cast the portal ritual, and they all transported to Rekkenmark, just east of Korth. Given that it was now afternoon, and casting Remove Dragonmark would take an entire day, Tselem decided that he wanted to wait and start fresh in the morning. So the party secured lodgings and took some time to shop and relax in preparation for what was to come. Azeri busied herself at the local library, and Maaktol purchased some new magical boots, while Tselem took some time to study the magic he had recently acquired.

The next morning, 4 Barrakas, Tselem began the ritual. Azeri and Maaktol were out and about, but Taumir decided to stick around and watch Tselem work. Unfortunately, his arcane knowledge was not quite up to the daunting task of this powerful magic, and he was not able to cast the ritual. After an hour or so of work he was forced to call it quits.

The party regrouped and decided to adjust their plan. They went to a local tavern frequented by House Deneith "middle management" and gathered a little intelligence. From there, they decided to head to Korth, and locate Caraas d'Deneith, the new and current leader of the House. From there they would attempt the ritual again, and set their plans in motion. Tselem knew they were limited in the number of times they could try before they would have to replenish their supply of moon slivers, but felt they had enough to reasonably give it another try.

So by mid-afternoon the party was on the road to Korth, and was passing the fortress of Tanar Roth. Around this time, they saw a figure approaching them further up the road. It became quickly apparent that this figure intended to meet them, and that there was something very unsettling about him. He was an Eladrin male, but his manner was completely unlike the serene and cerebral manner of most Eladrin. He walked with a swagger, and had a darkness to his countenance that made everyone uneasy. He came up to the party, and stopped in front of them. He looked them over one by one, and his gaze fell on Azeri. "Your screams will be very shrill," he said conversationally. And then in a much more insane tone he declared, "I will enjoy it immensely!"

And then two fire creatures, two ice creatures, and a griffon burst onto the road and attacked the party! Everyone lept into the fray, and the Eladrin made for Azeri. The party quickly brought their strongest blows to bear on him. At first he continued throwing out creepy, insane threats, but his haughty amusement quickly gave way to annoyance, and then to desperation. The party's blows felled him, Taumir's arrows splitting him in half.

The other creatures proved much more problematic. It was very hard to hit them - Taumir's bombs and Tselem's spells often failed to land, and Azeri's healing powers to the party seemed muted. However, when their leader was killed, the fire & image creatures abandoned the fight and returned to the planes from whence they came. The griffon, however, was not ready to quit...

Rewards
Nothing yet, the encounter is still on-going...

Session #45: The Shifting Alliances

The morning after the counter-ritual was created (3 Barrakas), the party was gearing up for their next move. As they did, the surly half-orc who'd brought them to Arashuul the previous week stomped into the room and announced that some bounty hunters were here to arrest Edge. Naturally, the party was a bit thrown by this development, and they watched in surprise as three Goliaths entered the room. Apparently the price on Edge's head had not gone down in the months since he escaped apprehension in Varna.

The rest of the party readied themselves to resist, but Edge said no. He said he was tired of avoiding this, and that he was going to go with them. So he bid them a terse farewell and the group of four taciturn warriors left the enclave, Edge whistling somewhat sardonically.

The party was a bit nonplussed by this turn of events. Their disaffection was quickly compounded by the House Tharashk leadership kicking them out, saying they didn't want to be associated with such criminals. The clerics of the Order of the Lantern let it be known to the party as they were leaving that they didn't care about such things (and made sure the party had their copy of the counter-ritual) but for political reasons had to side with the House.

The party decided to leave the enclave without a fuss, and indeed the whole city of Arashuul, where they were feeling very unwelcome now. Before their departure, they had decided to head for Korth, in Karrnath, to try and ply their newfound power against House Deneith. They trekked about an hour into the swamps in order for Tselem to cast the portal ritual.

As he was casting it however, they were attacked by three rot harbringers: ugly, undead creatures reeking of death. As the party moved to defend themselves, a Tiefling male emerged from a clump of reeds and joined in fighting the creatures. Killing off the foul things took a good bit longer than they thought it would, but everyone escaped unscathed.

Naturally, the party was grateful, though a bit wary, of this newcomer, whomever he was. He said his name was Maaktol, and he was just resting from his own journey when he heard the party's battle beginning. He didn't feel right about leaving them to die in the swamp, so he stepped in. The party thanked him for his help, and was there any way they could be of help to him?

TO BE CONTINUED...

Rewards

• 8,400 XP each (this should put Maaktol up to 127,400).
• 35,000 GP total

UPDATE 11/17/2016: Some errors in the sequence of events were corrected.

Recap: The Rituals

Back in Session #28, the description of the Grant Dragonmark ritual was first published. I am reprinting it here in an expanded form, and for the first time, the Remove Dragonmark counter-ritual as well!


GRANT DRAGONMARK

Level 10 Ritual
Casting Time: 4 hours
Reproduction Time: 16 hours
Component Cost: 5 moon slivers
Reproduction Cost: 1,000 GP
Market Price: (party can determine)
Key Skill: Arcana

You speak the incantation, calling on the power of the hidden thirteen moon, focusing on the individual who is to be the recipient of this blessing. When the ritual is ended, the chosen dragonmark appears on the person’s skin, which grants all of the abilities associated with that dragonmark as well.

This ritual has no effect on an individual who already has a dragonmark. It cannot be used to grant a second dragonmark to an individual, regardless of the existing dragonmark. If the target has had the Remove Dragonmark ritual performed on them (successfully or unsuccessfully) within the last twelve months, the ritual fails.

The Arcana check is performed at the beginning, and which mark is bestowed is decided then. If Arcana check fails the ritual cannot be performed that day.

REMOVE DRAGONMARK

Level 20 Ritual

Casting Time: 8 hours

Reproduction Time: 32 hours

Component Cost: 50 moon slivers

Reproduction Cost: 17,000 GP
Market Price: (party can determine)
Key Skill: Arcana

You speak the incantation, calling on the power of the hidden thirteen moon, focusing on the target/victim. When the ritual is ended, the target's dragonmark has been removed, and they no longer have access to the abilities that the dragonmark bestowed.

This ritual has no effect on an individual who does not currently have a dragonmark, but this does not stop the caster from performing the ritual and using it up. A concealed dragonmark (see Eberron Player's Guide, p. 116) can still be removed. A victim can only resist this ritual if they make an Arcana check at least twice that of the Arcana check of the caster performing the ritual. A removed dragonmark can be restored via the Grant Dragonmark ritual, but only after one year has passed.

The Arcana check is performed before the ritual is cast, and if Arcana check fails the ritual cannot be performed that day.

Arcana Check Result	Dragonmarks that can be bestowed/removed
9 or lower	(none, check fails)
10-20	Healing (Jurasco), Hospitality (Ghallanda), Passage (Orien), Scribing (Sivis), Handling (Vadalis)
20-30	Detection (Medani), Finding (Tharashk), Shadow (Phiarlan/Thuranni), Warding (Kundarak)
31 or higher	Making (Cannith), Sentinel (Deneith), Storm (Lyrandar)

As you learned back in Session #25 (on 1 Nymn), moon slivers are pieces of the seventh moon that fell to earth and burned into diamonds as they fell. They only fall to a plain called the Stargrounds on the island of Orthoss (which is on the far northeastern edge of Khorvaire) and are plentiful there. But the Stargrounds is also home to a deadly clan of Driders who jealously guard that area and the slivers.

Errata 11/17/2016: DC values adjusted after some play-testing.

Session #44: The Unrelaxing Break

Five days later, the party was still hanging around the House Tharashk enclave while the Order of the Lantern did their work. Tselem had been trying to learn as much as he could about what they were doing, and the Order had grudgingly agreed to let him watch for the most part. The rest of the party was mostly just relaxing, and trying to stay out of the muggy heat of the swamp.

Late that afternoon, the Order was in the basement of the enclave, doing some more work on the counter-ritual. Edge, Taumir, and Azeri were relaxing in the afternoon sun outside on the lawns & porches of the enclave (such as they were). As they did however, they saw some creatures emerge from the nearby Blackwater River and come swarming toward the buildings! The creatures looked like overgrown tadpoles, but unlike their somewhat tepid appearance, they packed quite a punch, and there were nearly two dozen of them or more! Fortunately, the party was able to defeat the individual monsters fairly easily. Destroying the humanoid wizard that appeared to be controlling them was a little trickier, but he too succumbed. The party then went back inside, tiredly leaving the monsters' corpses on the lawn.

Not long after the battle concluded, the Order of the Lantern emerged from the chambers below to announce that they had finally accomplished their goal, and the counter-ritual had at long last been made!

Rewards

• 9,000 XP each
• 10,000 GP total

Sessions #42 & #43: The Angels in the Night (Parts I & II)

Session #42

Having arrived in Arashuul, the half-orcs, with the party tagging along, made their way to the House Tharashk enclave, where the half-orcs curtly dismissed the party, telling them to come back in the morning when the Order of the Lantern actually arrived. The party poked around town for a little while but found nothing of interest to do, so they found a local inn. They heard some gossip about the war, but not much else. They rented rooms in the inn for the evening, and went to bed relatively early (if you're not a half-orc engaged in half-orc pursuits, Arashuul is a pretty dull place).

The rooms were small, only allowing two occupants each, so Kurtz & Yseult took one, Azeri & Edge took another, and Taumir & Tselem took the next. They were all right next to each other on the same floor. Edge did not spend any time in the room though, preferring to stand in the narrow hallway keeping watch while he rested.

Around midnight, there were three simultaneous crashes. Into each of the rooms, through the window, burst an Angel of Vengence, showering the party first with shards of glass and then with blows from their longswords. The party leaped from their beds and began a pitched battle against the large, silent, glowing creatures. While the rest of the party could hear the sounds of a fight in Kurtz & Yseult's room, they couldn't see what was going on.

The party held their own against the creatures - knocking them out of windows, trapping them in storm cages, blasting them with fire & radiant light. But angels don't have a reputation for being relentless for nothing...

Session #43

The two angels facing the main group of the party suddenly transformed themselves into pillars of blue fire, tearing the roof off the rooms they were in and blasting their opponents. The party responded by hitting back with some of their most powerful attacks yet! It was still some time before they could bring the angels down, but in time, both creatures were vanquished!

During the course of the battle, Azeri had discovered that these angels bore marks that showed they were in the employ of Tiamat, the evil, many-headed dragon god. (Angels are unaligned and will serve any deity, they are mercenary in this fashion.) The party figured this meant the dragons were still not happy with how their ritual could interfere with the Draconic Prophesy, but seemed fairly unperturbed by this realization.

The party opened the door to Kurtz & Yseult's room to find that they had won a battle against an angel too, but at the cost of their lives.

The battle had been intense and attracted a lot of attention from the other guests and the innkeeper as well. He came up the stairs to their floor and was stunned to see his rooms had been completely trashed - the back walls and the roofs were almost gone! He ordered them out, but then Edge gave him the stink eye and the innkeeper realized these were not people to be trifled with, so he slunk off and went back to bed.

The next morning the party made a hasty exit, buried Kurtz & Yseult outside of town, and then went back to the House Tharashk enclave. There they finally met the Order of the Lantern again. The Order agreed to start working on the counter-ritual, and to share this time, and the party decided to hang around Arashuul for the week while the Order did their work.

The party then tracked down a local cleric who knew the Sending ritual, and sent a short message to Baron von Mucharsen updating them as their progress, an affair that cost 600 GP total.

Rewards

• You each receive 9,600 XP. It's time to level up again!
• You found a Cloak of survival +4 (Player's Handbook p.250) that someone left in one of the rooms
• You found 48,000 GP total.

Sessions #40 & #41: The Creatures in the Wilderness (Parts I & II)

Session #40

After their victory over the ghouls at the edge of the Watching Wood, the party continued their journey through said forest. Two days later, on 23 Lhavrion, they emerged, and found themselves on  a hill overlooking Blackwater Lake. The Lake was huge, almost like an inland sea, and indeed had a dark and foreboding look to it. It was bordered on the south (the party's left) by a dank-looking marsh, and there was a large field between the bottom of their current hill and the shore. And in this field was a huge army! The party recognized Fomorian, huge, ghastly looking creatures, who appeared to be in command, and cyclopes.

The party was naturally skittish as to how to proceed. But before they could come to any decision, a small detachment of two Fomorians and two cyclopes came up the hill near them. The huge, ugly creatures attacked these intruders, and a fierce battle commenced!

Session #41

It was a pitched battle. The cyclopes, while not easy to defeat, proved manageable. The Fomorians however were hardy and relentless. The party was wearing them down, but it became a battle of attrition, each side wailing on the other trying to wear them down the fastest.

The party was nearing victory when all of sudden a war-cry split the air. Everyone looked up to see a huge army of half-orcs emerge from the marsh to the south and charge the Fomorian-Cyclops army! A ferocious, rather one-sided battle erupted - the half-orcs were tearing through the cyclopes like it was nothing. The Fomorians who were still fighting the party roared in anger and abandoned their fight with the heroes and ran back to help their troops.

The party sat down to rest and tend to their wounds, watching the battle in horrified fascination. It was clear the half-orc army was going to win, but the party wasn't sure what they themselves should do. The enemy of their enemy was their friend, they supposed, so they figured the half-orcs would be allies in this situation, and if they wanted their good graces, they'd have to join the fray. They were understandably reluctant to do so, but girded their loins and prepared to fight again.

As they were preparing though, two half-orc soldiers came up the hill. Upon seeing them, they reacted as if they'd been looking for the heroes, and ordered the party to come with them. The party was confused and a little suspicious, but curious enough that they decided to follow.

The soldiers led them to the half-orc army's camp deeper in the marsh, and then to a tent within the camp. There, a half-orc cleric greeted them. He informed them that the Order of the Lantern, whom they had encountered a month or so ago (and had more or less declined to help them with their quest for a counter-ritual), had been keeping an eye on them, and was now willing to reconsider their original refusal and make a deal. The cleric then left the tent, just assuming they would follow. The party shouted some questions after him, but he was just the messenger come to fetch them, and he had no answers.

The party was a bit nonplussed. There weren't happy being bossed around by these half-orcs, they weren't happy at the fact they seemed to be getting farther and farther away (both geographically and figuratively) from getting paid, they weren't happy that they didn't feel like their excursions into Droaam had really netted any answers to the questions they'd come here with. They debated for a while what to do. In the end, their desire to continue towards the goal of obtaining the counter-ritual outweighed other considerations, and they decided to go with the cleric.

The cleric, a few soldiers, and the party headed out almost immediately. They crossed over into the Shadow Marches, and followed the Blackwater River downstream for a day (camping overnight). The half-orcs did not have much to say, and gave only terse responses to questions, and the party finally gave up asking.

Around noon on 24 Lhavrion, they arrived in the half-orc city of Arashuul.

Rewards

• 13,000 XP each. You're up to level 18 now!
• 60,000 GP total.

Session #39: The Darkness in their Minds

The party set about to explore the conquered fortress. They were relived to learn that there were no other traps or monsters hiding about. The main and upper levels were pretty boring - they found some loot, but there wasn't much else to see.

When they ventured down into the dungeon, however, it was a much different story. Here, tucked away in one of the dank cells was a human man. He emaciated, filthy, and clearly tramautized. The party tried to coax him out and speak to him, but if they so much as came near him he began to scream and flail. He also kept chanting, "Blackwater, Blackwater, Blackwater..."

The party decided they couldn't just leave him there, so Taumir used a knock-out potion he had to put the man out, at which point Edge flung him over his shoulder and carried him out. Having seen and found all there was to see, the party left the fortress behind.

They debated whether to return to Breland, and if so, how. But the poor wretch's chants of "Blackwater" had made them think of Blackwater Lake, a wicked place ever deeper inside Droaam. Perhaps there there was some connection to the illithids and other monsters that were threatening Breland. After some debate, they decided to go to the lake. This raised the question of whether to go through The Watching Wood, or around. Either way was risky, so they decided to just go through.

About an hour after they started their journey, the former prisoner woke up. He began having another fit, and threw himself off of Edge. He then screamed, "They come from Blackwater!" and tore off into the forest. The party sighed, and felt bad for him, but figured there was nothing more they could do for him, and moved on.

Three days later, late in the day on 21 Lhavrion, the party entered the Watching Wood. Naturally, there were immediately attacked. A swarm of ten ghouls, flesh-eating zombie-like creatures, came at them in the dim light of the dense forest. The party sprang into action, and scoured their enemies before them, slaying all ten!

Rewards

• 5,000 XP each!
• By my count, this means Azeri and Taumir should level up to 18, but the rest of the party stays at level 17.
• 33,000 GP total
• You find a Fire Horn (Player's Handbook 2, p. 210)

Session #38: The Noise and the Fury

The party kicked in the front door to find a whole band of villains waiting for them - a few humans, a few demon-looking creatures, a few lizard-like creatures. A wild, close-quarters battle erupted in the entryway to the fortress. Arrows, spells, and swords flew through the air!

In short order, the humans they were facing were revealed instead to be Rakshasa, vicious, tiger-like humanoids with a flair for illusions. The party members hired by Baron Murchasen were naturally reminded of the time they faced some of these creatures about six weeks prior, but they could not make any connections. Not that they were particularly inclined to - they were fighting for their lives!

One by one, the foes that stood against the party fell. The last few hung on for a while, refusing to die, as the party wearied of fighting them, but in time they too succumbed. The fortress had been won!

Rewards

• 10,000 XP each!
• 11,000 GP total.