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).