Session #28: The Ritual Secrets

The party dusted themselves off from the battle, and decided to go out into the woods that surround Korth to make a copy of the ritual. Doing so took the better part of the day - Azeri did the copying while Edge and Taumir stood guard. As evening drew on, they returned to town and made plans to make their way to Fairhaven. They debated several methods, but in the end decided on the way that was fastest, and remarkably also the cheapest - lightning rail. They knew there was a price on their heads, but they also knew that the upheaval of the war and the House Deneith succession crisis provided enough cover noise that they could probably slip through town unnoticed. Still, they took no chances, and arrived and boarded seperately.

The three day journey to Fairhaven was for once, completely uneventful. They did however learn some important world news: Breland had attacked Droaam. The Eldeen Reaches responded by saying they will remain neutral. Some responded to this by saying it means they are cowards, hiding behind the Byeshk Mountains where Droaam can’t harass them. Zilargo started locking down its borders – it sees this conflict as a particularly bad omen, as Nymm is supposed to a month under the mark of hospitality and forgiveness.

On the 6th day of Nymm, the party arrived in Fairhaven. The University of Wynarn was closed already, so they found an inn and settled in for the night. The next morning, 7 Nymm, they followed Tselem onto campus to the office of Miri, a human woman who had been one of Tselem's teachers of magic. She was a sweet middle-aged lady who was happy to see her student again and to meet the newcomers.

After the pleasantries were aside, they showed the ritual to Miri. She was initially very skeptical that they had what they said they did, but after looking it over she realized to her astonishment that they had something extremely rare and valuable. Tselem asked if there was a way to create a counter-ritual, one that removes dragonmarks. Miri said through her shock that every ritual has its opposite, but it would require some very powerful magic, far beyond her knowledge. She said she might know where to look up some information on such things though - the restricted section of the library.

The party and Miri made their way to the library, then down several flights of stairs into a dusty, gloomy basement. As they made to enter the room at this level. they were suddenly attacked! Almost a dozen mummies emerged from the walls and set upon them! Miri was just as surprised, and joined in the fight, but she was no adventurer, and contributed very little, though she managed not to die. The party cut through their attackers and blasted them back into dust.

Rewards

• 4,750 XP each. Time to level up!

Session #27: The Uncertainty of the Victors

When the dawn came, the party deliberated for quite a while, trying to decide what to do next. Many different goals were proposed, and at times different party members were quite opposite in what they wanted to see happen with this ritual. In the end, they decided they needed more information than they had now, so they decided to travel to Fairhaven. Tselem wanted to know if there were ways to reverse the ritual and make it so they could remove dragonmarks, and believed his old teachers at the University of Wynarn could help. Taumir was less focused on the ritual's political uses and more interested in learning more about what his people had been seeking, but felt that Tselem was on the right track. Azeri had grown quite tired of politics and dragonmarks, but was interested in the Wynarn library, so agreed to come along. Edge felt this whole adventure was ill-advised, but was not ready to abandon the group.

As the party made ready to travel to Fairhaven, they were suddenly attacked by four human-looking individuals. The fight was intense, and vicious, and the party was thrown off balance by the fact that their enemies seemed almost to be swiping at them with claws more than attacking them with weapons. As the strangers began to falter at the party's tenacious counter-attack, however, these villains began to reveal themselves as Rakshasa, shape-changing tiger-like creatures. The battle left the party drained, but when it was done, the party remained standing, and their enemies all lay dead.

Rewards

• 4,800 XP each.
• 10,300 GP total.

Session #26: The Greed of the Mror Holds

The party had several hours to kill before the return portal opened up, so they settled in for the night. It was uneventful, and the next mid-morning (2 Nymm), they stepped through the portal and arrived back at the Goradra Gap. From there, Vondal invited them to come to his home in Frostmantle for a celebration dinner, which they accepted. He arranged for another portal, and they stepped through to arrive in his living room.

Vondal's home was no mansion, but very fine and spacious. Vondal invited them to make themselves at home, and said he would summon them when it was dinner time. The party explored the house, availed themselves of the generous library, and wondered what their next move would be.

When dinner came, Vondal had invited a few of his friends, but made no introductions. The party asked him what was to happen next, and it became clear that Vondal was cutting them out of the deal they had made. He had no intention of democratizing dragonmarks - he wanted to sell them to the highest bidder! The party left the dinner feeling annoyed and betrayed, and resolved to do something about it that evening.

Around midnight, while all the rest slept, the party awoke. Azeri made ready to cast a portal while the rest searched for where Vondal had hidden the ritual. After some doing, they found a locked box in a locked room in the basement that seemed the most likely culprit. As they headed back upstairs though, Vondal was alerted to their prescence and came after them. A short but intense battle ensued. It was cut short by Azeri casting the portal and bringing the party to Korth, and closing it before Vondal could follow them through.

The party, now in Korth in the very wee hours of the morning of 3 Nymm, found a inn and set to work opening the locked box. To their delight and relief, it contained the ritual they sought!

Rewards

• 1,000 XP each.
• 1,800 GP total (looted while searching)