Sessions #66 - 68: The Death in the Deceit (Parts I - III)

Part I

The party trekked all day through the territory of Clan Watros. They often saw, off in the distance (very far off in the distance) members of said Clan observing them, but they never came close. The fear of them had spread far and wide across the land.

When evening fell, the party was deep in the jungle, and felt they were getting close to the dragon at last, though they were not there yet. They made their camp for the night, and built a fire.

As they were relaxing before turning in, they saw several figures approaching the camp. The figures made no effort to hide themselves, and soon came into the light. It was a group of Eladrin females - one was clearly a warrior, while the others looked like peasants. They all looked very bedraggled and wary. The warrior introduced herself as Evanora, and the other women as Koume, Nyx, Thessaly, Lavina, Keziah, and Thais. They claimed they were fleeing yet another clan dispute far to the northeast (the party was now in the central-western part of the jungle). 

The refugees asked if they might share the party's fire for the night. The party let them come and sit, but were suspicious of them. Tselem in particular doubted their story, and they all began to look for ways to find out the real truth.

But before anything could be done, an unseen force began attacking the party. They leapt to the ready, only to have their new guests turn on them! These women were not at all what they seemed - as the fray commenced, all but Evanora transformed into hideous hags with sharp, cruel claws and raspy voices. 

Taumir used some of his magic to turn invisible and take up an striker position outside the close, intense contetst. As the party rained blows on these deceitful females, they were surprised to see another form appear, somewhat: a ghostly apparition that was launching itself at them and draining their energy! It was dark and malevolent, but they could hardly see it, and it kept disappearing and reappearing.

One of the hags was able to kick the fire out, snuffing out the only light in this heart of the jungle, but the battle still raged on in the sinister darkness...

Part II

Tselem recast the magical light, centering it on a pine-cone he tossed up in the air, restoring light to the battlefield. The hags began shooting out blasts of necrotic energy, sucking away the party's life force and restoring themselves. But the party was not down and out by any means. Tselem and Azeri let out blasts of powerful energy too, searing and blinding their foes. The dark phantom that had been vexing them was annihilated, and Evanora, Thessaly and Lavina soon fell to these attacks as well.

Part III

The night grew darker, and both sides of the fight grew tired. Koume, Nyx, Keziah, and Thais continued to try to suck the party's life force away, and even succeeded a few times. But the party was not out of tricks yet, and a long battle was finally brought to a close with arrows and several blasts of magical lightning.

The exhausted party then filed into Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Mansion, which Tselem had cast with the door in a tree, to rest out the rest of the night in peace.

Rewards

• 19,500 XP each! Time to level up to 25!
• 55,000 GP total!

Session #65: The Territory of the Vanquished

Their guide bid them farewell, and wished them luck on their travels through the territory of Clan Watros, which began on the other side of the river. Azeri and Maak Tol crossed the river first, with Tselem and Taumir hanging back. This turned out to be a good decision, since as soon as they were on the other side, a warrior of Clan Watros, flanked by several wild hunt hounds, attacked these intruders.

Azeri had had too much fun the night before and was very tired, and her heart wasn't in fighting another territorial dispute, so she hung back. Maak Tol reveled in the fray, and he was quickly joined by Taumir and Tselem. Tselem cast a few spells that seared their new enemies, as well as the riverbank, leaving much of the vegetation dead from acid burns. He then began to swim the river. Taumir stayed on the far bank, launching arrow after deadly arrow.

The protectors of Clan Watros were valiant, but not on the same level as the party. The bank and the river were soon stained red with their blood. After defeating them, the party tossed their bodies into the river. Taumir then leaped the entire way across the river, and the party marched off into the jungle, leaving their Clan Feymight guide supremely over-awed.

Rewards

• 16,000 XP each
• 30,000 GP total

Session #64: The Foolishness of the Factions

As the party moved through the jungle towards their guide's clan (Clan Feymight), the party, with their superior perception, became aware that they were being followed. They debated for a moment whether to tell their guide. When he was informed, he tried to act if nothing was happening, though he asked his new compatriots to describe the hidden Eladrin to him. The party related to him the colors they were wearing and he became agitated - this was Clan Ilzom, he declared, come to ambush them.

The group came to a fork in the jungle path, and the scout seemed unsure of how to proceed. Azeri however was tired of waiting for the ambush to be sprung, and called out to the hidden figures to just go ahead and make their move already! There was a moment of pregnant silence, then some muttered Elven curses, and the attack began!

These warriors of Clan Ilzom did not seem particularly interested in the party's neutrality or non-neutrality, they quickly moved to attack them just as surely as their guide. This turned out to be a grave error on their part, as they were badly, badly outmatched. Taumir used an attack that created lethal plants, and it crushed one of these warriors to death in an instant! Tselem was so impressed by it that he could not help but audibly mock how pathetic their opponents were. The rest of the party were similarly lethal, and in a very short order, the would-be ambushers lay dead. (Maak Tol went through their pockets and looked for lose change, but all he found were some scimitars - see "Rewards" below.)

The Clan Feymight scout stared in shock at the defeated enemies. His earlier arrogance and dismissiveness towards the party was now replaced by a downright sycophantic attitude. He wasted no time leading them the rest of the way to his clan's enclave. En route, Tselem tried to draw out of him why Clan Feymight and Clan Ilzom had been enemies for so long, and was treated to a rambling, semi-coherent mythology that told of some ancient feud. The story so bored him that he couldn't even remember it when it was done.

Arriving at the enclave, the rest of Clan Feymight regarded them with curiosity and suspicion. The scout led them directly to the elders, and told the tale of their victory! After the tale the elders were impressed and accommodating, though not much more welcoming. They granted the party several boons, including food and a place to spend the night. They agreed to lead the party deeper into the jungle, to the edge of their territory and the territory of a clan that was supposed to be near the realm of the dragon. Tselem was able to buy some rituals from them that would have been hard to find otherwise too (see "Rewards" below).

By this time it was evening. The party was treated to a fine meal, and was able to spend some time relaxing. Azeri entertained the clan's children, giving them annoying little trinkets, telling stories and playing pranks. Her fox (who had nipped at the attackers heels during that afternoon's battle) enjoyed running around and playing. Maak Tol was pleased to be surrounded by forest again, and was even able to capture and tame a small spitting drake!

The next morning, they arose early and hiked several hours further into the jungle. Azeri's fox trotted alongside her, while Maak Tol rode mounted on his new drake. Again Tselem tried to get the guide to share more of their history and culture and again tedious stories ensued. Taumir saw trees.

Around noon-day (on 24 Rhaan) they arrived at the edge of Clan Feymight's territory, where a modest river marked the boundary and the beginning of a new unknown.

Rewards

• 2,500 XP each
• 2 Magic (+6) Scimitars (heavy blades - see Player's Handbook p. 235)
• (Tselem is able to choose any three rituals scrolls level 20 or lower)

Session #63: The Search for More Foes

The party was still taking stock of their situation when a new threat appeared! Several dusty, dry skeletons shambled out of the darkness at the back of the cave and began to attack them. Evil magic radiated off them, and they tried to combine their powers against the party. But whatever horrors they had once had in store for hapless travelers seemed to have badly decayed, as the party was able to defeat them quickly.

The party decided there wasn't much to do but head back to Newthrone, arriving there in the afternoon of 19 Rhaan. The king was much more pleased than they by the outcome of their battle - he didn't care what the dragon was, he only cared that it was gone. True to his word, he agreed to deescalate the conflict with the Talenta Plains. True to their word, the party agreed to make introductions to Shaena. They drafted a letter and left it with the king.

The next day (20 Rhaan), they went back and looked at their map. After examining it and consulting the palace library, they decided they would travel to Ravar Orioth, also known as the Jungle of Simitars, on the southern edge of Valenar. They knew that this land was inhabited by warring Eladrin clans that they might have to fight their way through, but were confident that this would pose no real trouble. In fact, Azeri and Taumir were optimistic that, as part of elven bloodlines, they might be able to build a repertoire with these clans and help broker some peace.

Tselem disguised himself as an Eladrin and cast Linked Portal, transporting the party to Jal Paeridor, a mid-sized town in central Valenar. From there they took another three day journey south to Pylas Maradal, on the shores of the Kraken Bay. After a hearty lunch, they made their way into the outer edges of the thick, forbidding jungle (it now being 23 Rhaan).

They had scarcely entered the jungle when they encountered an Eladrin sentry. He demanded they leave his clan's territory immediately. The party was unintimidated, and let him know that they were there to slay the dragon that lived deep in the jungle. This caught his attention, as the dragon, though semi-mythical, had long cast a long shadow of fear and death across their lands. He agreed to let them come meet the clan elders and began to lead them deeper into the jungle.

Rewards

• 22,500 XP each!
• You found a Cloak of Invisibility +6 (Player's Handbook p. 249)