Session #60: The Fame and the Fortitude

The exhausted but triumphant party harvested the dragon's remains.

After only a short respite, the party began evaluating their options. They wanted to face a black dragon next, and their map showed several in various parts of the world. After some discussion, they decided to head to Q'barra. Their map showed one in that nation's jungles, and the party wanted to check up on the state of things in that part of the world.

It took them a day's travel, but mid-morning on 6 Rhaan they arrived back at the shore near Illmarrow Castle. The castle and the shore were as gloomy and gray as ever. Thankfully, the boat was still there, and for a pittance they agreed to carry the party back to Port Verge. Another cold and wet journey ensued, landing them there on the 11th of Rhaan.

In Port Verge, Hapselmath took his leave of the party - he was out to find jaunty adventures, not epic battles for the fate of the world! The party bid him a polite farewell and went about the business of buying and selling magical items. They had much still to attend to.

After concluding their business in town, Tselem cast Linked Portal and transported them all to Newthrone, the capital of New Galifar in Q'barra. Upon their arrival, they immediately sought an audience with the king. It was not hard to get one, considering their fame had spread so far and wide. Even just walking down the streets to the palace, people stared and whispered. The party's role in the major world affairs of the last several months had become common knowledge, and their faces well-known, a fact they took great satisfaction in.

The King of New Galifar was not as easily impressed as most people, but the party was still given a relatively quick audience. The party offered the king a bargain - stand down the escalating conflict between his realm and the Talenta Plains, and they will slay the dragon in the jungles in his name The king was very amenable to these terms, but did not feel he was in a position to resist Reidra. The party offered to broker an understanding between the people of the Talenta Plains and New Galifar, revealing their insider influence with the Talenta nomads. The king was surprised, pleased, and agreeable!

Satisfied with the bargain made, the party retired for the evening as guests of the king. Azeri and Tselem took some time to visit the castle's library (which was actually quite small all things considered - New Galifar is after all a nation of refugees).

The next morning, 12 Rhaan, the party departed the comforts of the palace. They traveled for three days in the jungle, following tracks and trails. At night, Tselem would cast Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Mansion, keeping them safe in a luxurious pocket dimension as they slept. Around noon on 15 Rhaan, they emerged from the dense forests onto the edge of cliff. Below them they could see the extinct volcano Haka'torvhak and built into the side of it, the great, ruined Citadel of Haka'torvhak. It was an awe-inspiring sight, the party lingered there for several minutes.

The party then pushed deeper into the jungle. As they marched further south, looking for further signs of the dragon, they were suddenly attacked by two huge thunderhawks! The fearsome beasts strafed them the skies, but the party stood their ground. As they did so, they wondered: why were these creatures attacking them? Azeri remembered reading thunderhawks were territorial - if the party were to run, would they creatures leave them be?

The party decided to go for it, and after a relatively short sprint, the creatures fell back and left the party alone. Azeri and Tselem were relieved that they would not have to destroy such magnificent animals.

By now, night was falling, so Tselem cast the Mansion once again, and the party retired for the day.

Rewards

• 8,500 XP each

Sessions #57-59: The White Demon (Parts I-III)

Part I

The party was unsure whether or not to believe this horrific accusation (of the castle housing cannibals). They poked around the castle for a bit, and didn't find any evidence of it, but the place and its people were creepy enough that they decided to move on. The boat that had brought them there was still moored offshore. The party and Hapselmath decided to spend the night on the boat, which the captain allowed for a pittance.

The next morning (4 Rhaan), they awoke and returned to shore, where they began making their journey to the northern part of the island, where the map showed the great dragon Tonrar living. The journey, even aided by Azeri's phantom steeds, took most of the day.

In the late afternoon, they emerged from the mountains to behold a great valley. Scattered throughout this valley were several huge skeletons, completely picked clean down to the bones. Upon investigation, the party realized that these were the bones of great whales! They were puzzled and unnerved - they were at least a mile inland, how had these poor creatures ended up here? It was then that Tselem looked at the map again, and was finally able to make sense of an unclear aspect of the drawing. The map depicted Tonrar carrying a whale in its claws! These remains were what was left of Tonrar's meals!

The party was not anxious to face such a formidable foe, and made camp for the night in a sparse copse of trees. They debated whether it was advisable to even build a fire, as the dragon couldn't be too far off, but they eventually decided it was much too cold to go without one. The night thankfully passed without incident.

The next morning, 5 Rhaan, the party and Hapselmath awoke and started going through their morning ablutions and breakfast. They had scarely finished when they heard a giant wind rushing down the mountain. They looked up, and saw the ancient white dragon Tonrar flying down upon them, his jaws open wide!

Tonrar landed in their midst. He was surrounded by a swirling haze of ice which cut the party's skin if they got too close. Undeterred by the creature's massive size and defenses, the party launched themselves into the fray!

Part II

Tonrar quickly proved to be the most formidable adversary the party had ever faced! The party soon exhausted their most powerful spells and attacks trying to bring the beast down, and while Tonrar certainly did not shrug off their attacks, he hardly seemed to fatigue! Azeri summoned her chariot, and used it to bring her and Maak Tol and Hapselmath a little higher up for better attacks.

Tonrar's painful haze cut into the party time and time again, as did the blasts of his ice breath. His vicious claws raked the party and his frozen hide did not easily yield to them.

Taumir kept his distance as usual, and employed his archer's skills to great effect, landing many powerful hits. Hapselmath found himself a little frustrated with his inability to do much damage, and decided to start straight-up throwing things at Tonrar, including some of his precious musical instruments! Sadly, even a huge harpsicord the Goliath had managed to bring with him failed to hit the beast, and crashed into the snow with a off-key death rattle.

Maak Tol was inspired by this failure however, and lept from the chariot onto Tonrar's head, bringing him into a bunch better position to attack. At long last, the dragon began to slow down. (A good thing too, as the seriousness of the situation had made the party wonder if they should run from this fight and live to fight another day.)

Part III

Tselem was also frustrated at some spell failures, and began looking for innovate ways to attack. He began using some minor spells to pick up things and hurl them at Tonrar. The hits that landed weren't the most damaging ever, but they proved that the party was not out of this fight yet!

It was here that Azeri pulled out some powerful spells of her own. She was able to bless the party with more damaging attacks and cast spells over the dragon that weakened its own resistance to attack. Tonrar was already looking beat-up, and now the party redoubled their efforts. From on top of his head, Maak Tol struck again and again. When Tonrar tried to buck him off, Maak Tol used his beast forms to sprout wings and however just above Tonrar's head so the dragon couldn't shake him off.

Round and round the party went, each member landing blow after blow. Azeri and Hapselmath still flew around in the chariot. Tonrar weakened and began to lash out in desperation, even knocking over some of the trees.

Finally Azeri had had enough. From her chariot, she left forth a blast of radiant light. The beam struck Tonrar, and very nearly seared flesh from bone. The great evil beast cried his last, and collapsed into the snow, dead!

Rewards

• 30,250 XP each!!
• You found a Rod of Blinding Awe +6 (Player's Handbook 2, p. 205)
• 2,400 platinum pieces total (equivalent to 24,000 GP)

Session #56: The Castle of the Damned

The map that party had obtained showed that there was a white dragon named Tonrar living on the island of Farlnen, the northern-most island of Khorvaire, almost to Eberron's north pole. They decided this would be a welcome change from the desert. They used Linked Portal to get to the city of Port Verge in the Lhazar Principalities (the next morning, 27 Barrakas), and from there chartered a boat to the island with some pirates. (While in Port Verge they stocked up on some equipment.)

Five days later, late in the afternoon of 3 Rhaan, the island came fully into view. The air was bitterly cold, and snow was falling on the deck of the ship. Ominous peaks loomed over the sea and the boat. As they pulled into shore, they would see a figure standing on the beach, dressed in white furs and glowering. The pirates began to quickly unload the cargo. The party could see way up in the hills a huge castle, painted white. Tselem had heard stories, more rumors really, about this castle - it was named Illmarrow Castle, and the rumors were all bad (though Tselem was not inclined to believe them).

The pirates had also been transporting another passenger, a Goliath bard named Hapselmath. He tagged along with the party as they went ashore, and asked the man on the beach if he might come see the castle. The man, whose name was Svern, scowled and said they didn't usually welcome visitors. But Hapselmath was able to charm him into grudgingly agreeing to let him and the party come up.

Other figures had now come down from the castle, pulling sleds to load up the cargo. They had the same dress and expression Svern: stern, covered in furs, and kind of ugly. The pirates took their payment and quickly went back to the ship. The inhabitants of Illmarrow Castle began making their way back up to the keep with their supplies, not paying much attention to their visitors.

When the party arrived in the castle, they found it a somewhat dank place, though certainly warmer and drier than the wind and storm outside. Azeri was the first to realize that there was something a little off about these people - they seemed a little inbred, truth be told. Maak Tol was unbothered by the oddness of the place, though, and managed to secure himself a tankard of ale. Azeri's fox huddled close to her for warmth.

Tselem was curious to know if there was any magic in this castle that he could investigate. He quickly found out that there was, and not the kind of magic that he wanted to find. Poking around in the lower levels, he found evidence of some very dark necromancy. Upon coming back up, he and Taumir were feeling more ill at ease about this place.

Before they had much time to dwell on the matter, though, there was a commotion, and the doors to the castle were thrown open. In stormed a giant! Taumir was able to recognize the creature right away - it was a Death Giant, an evil being that harvested and enslaved souls! Some of these captive souls he could see hovering in a shroud of evil magic that wrapped around the giant. Behind the giant were several other creatures they couldn't quite see, but quickly got a good view of as they squirmed past the brute, even crawling up the walls! These ghoulish figures snapped their teeth and scratched at the stones, trying to get to the people within. The inhabitants of the castle ran for their lives, screaming.

Tselem took some more productive action. He cast Stormcage in the narrow entryway to the castle where the giant and his allies were. The magical lightning cage slammed into the approaching monsters, killing most of the ghouls in one go! The giant waded through it though and began to attack them, followed by another figure. This figure looked male, and human, but it was hard to tell - it was dressed from head to foot in robes, its hands were covered in gloves, and its face was covered by a dark mask that showed none of the features behind it.

A fairly one-sided battle ensued. The figured turned out to be a powerful sorcerer, and the giant had some mighty attacks of his own, but the party stood their ground firmly. Hapselmath had a bag of alchemical weapons, and while those didn't do much, he was able to cast a spell that confused and distracted the giant and the sorcerer from making powerful strikes. The giant, true to its evil nature, waded into the fray, and took the bulk of the hits, and soon lay bleeding to death on the ground. The party then turned their attention to the sorcerer.

The sorcerer proved fairly resilient, but the party wasn't worried. As the battle continued, however, Azeri noticed that the giant was still not dead. In fact, she could see that some of the soul shards were disappearing, sustaining the giant's life even as it slipped towards death. Out of concern for the trapped souls, Azeri rallied her allies and they began to lay down blows on the giant again. Only two shards still remained when the giant's life finally left him. They hadn't been able to save the other souls from being consumed, but these last two were freed.

The sorcerer by this point was struggling to stand. From behind his mask and under his robes maggots were leaking out and falling the ground - he seemed to be bleeding them instead of blood. The party was grossed out but did not hold back. Azeri finally tired of it all and let forth a blast of radiant light against the undead monster, which finally brought it down and dragged its corpse over to her feet.

Tselem finally recognized the sorcerer for what it was - a Larva Marge, a necromancer whose spirit reinhabited his own maggot-ridden corpse after death. He realized that the residues of necromancy he'd seen in the 'basement' was his work. As this coprse lay at their feet, gasping out its last bit of unlife, the party asked him why he had come here. He grabbed Azeri's robe and said, "These people are cannibals."

Rewards

• 21,000 XP each. Time for everyone but Maak Tol to level up!