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.