Sessions #54 & #55: The Arrogance and the Wisdom of the Ancients (Parts I & II)

Session #54

The party stepped over the bodies of the fallen guards and went around the bend. There they saw the mouth of a huge cave, undoubtedly the dragon's! They marched in confidently. The cave entrance was a narrow-ish passageway flanked by a thirty-foot cliff on the right side. When they rounded the side of this cliff and entered the main cavern, they were awed by the size of it. But their attention was much more focused on the huge red dragon lying on an enormous pile of gold and treasure at the far end of the cave.

The dragon rose from his repose with a surprised look, and then let out an evil laugh. "I give you full marks for bravery," he cackled. "Now come and meet your death!"

The party launched into the fray, while the dragon let out blasts of fire. At first the great wyrm still seemed bemused by them. However, Azeri then summoned an ethereal chariot and steed that gave the party the ability to fly up to meet the dragon in the air and gave them extra protection. The dragon recognized this as powerful magic, and became less casual. And then Azeri was able to actually inflict some damage with a fire attack! At this the dragon looked downright stunned and gave the party his full attention.

Around and around they went, the magic of the party's weapons and staffs pushing back the dragon's lethal claws, teeth, and breath. Azeri guided her chariot through the air with Maak Tol riding in the back delivering blows against their foe even in mid-air. The dragon grew more harried and concerned as the battle progressed, and lighted on the top of the cliff.

Session #55

Now beginning to show the strain, the dragon let forth might roars that caused Maak Tol and Tselem to both retreat several paces in momentary fear. But their courage quickly returned to them, and once again they rained blows and spells down upon him. Fear began to show in the ancient creature's eyes, and his attacks became both more desperate and clumsy. He tried to back away from the party, to find some cover, but then he flew up into the air once more and this time, Taumir arrows found their final mark. With a scream and crash, the beast crashed to the cavern floor, dead!

The party was exhausted from the fight, and took some time to savor their victory. Then they got to the messy work of stripping the corpse and collecting the bones for their mission (particularly the femur, arm, and skull bones). They also set to work looting from the hoard. The enormous pile of treasure gave them cause to mourn that their bag of holding wasn't infinite!

As they were thus engaged, Azeri suddenly heard and felt Shaena speaking in her head! She recognized this was the Sending ritual. Per the brevity of the ritual, Shaena said only a short phrase: "Friends, I owe you an apology. Please come again soon - you won't believe what we have found." Azeri was not able to respond, but she felt the genuineness of Shaena's message. So the party decided to return to Clan Ulantra on the Talenta Plains.

Azeri summoned her magical steeds and the party arrived back with their former hosts on the evening of 26 Barrakas. Shaena was waiting for them, and greeted them with warmth and an apology. She asked their forgiveness for having blamed them for the death of her people. She thought that the mummies had attacked the camp that night because of the party, but she has since learned otherwise. The party frankly accepted, and asked how she had learned this. Shaena told them to come and see.

Shaena had acquired a large bruise on her face. When asked about it, she said simply that in the aftermath of the deaths, she had been challenged for leadership of the clan. Cracking her knuckles, she concluded, "It won't happen again."

Shaena led the party to a spot about a hundred yards outside of the camp. To the party's surprise, a huge pit had been dug, and inside it, was a huge pyramid! Shaena explained that some of her warriors had followed the mummies who'd escaped, and they'd disappeared into the sand here, so her people had dug down, and found all this! They'd ventured inside once, but been driven out by mummies. Shaena asked for the party's help in venturing in once more. The party agreed, but in the morning. Tselem was especially still a bit dazed from the fight with the dragon, and night was quickly drawing on. Shaena agreed.

That night the party and the clan partied the night away. This night saw the light of several of the moons, as well as many burning torches and constant guards, so everyone slept soundly.

The next morning, Shaena and her guards fetched the party and they all went down into the pit and began to search the pyramid. It was several hours before they found anything of interest though. Around noon they entered a large chamber, and saw an orb glowing with evil energy. It sent a blast at them that knocked them all flat and threw Shaena and her guards out of the room entirely. Still on his back, Taumir let an arrow fly, and very nearly destroyed the evil thing; then Tselem finished it off with a disintegration spell. Now motivated, everyone searched the room, and found mention of a library hidden deep within the pyramid.

Azeri heard this and was off like a shot! A few minutes later they entered said library and found it to be huge and full of dusty tomes. Tselem quickly realized that much of the magic in here would be offensive to all Lawful Good and Good gods, though not all of it was strictly evil. Taumir searched for books about the thirteenth moon for some reason. Azeri, her little fox in tow, found some books about dragons. And in one of them she found a map of all the known dragons in Khorvaire! It was a hundred years old, but for dragons that is nothing, so this was a very promising lead!

Shaena and the guards had not descended to the library's level, choosing to go back out and get some lunch. After an hour in the library, the party followed as well.

Rewards

• 23,350 XP each! (Maak Tol will now level up to level 22.)
• A Dragondaunt Shield - Level 26 magic item (Player's Handbook p. 245)
• 3,100 PP (equivalent to 310,000 GP), plus 5,000 GP worth of gems & jewels

Session #53: The Victors and the Spoils

The party stood outside the burning tent, waiting to see if their foes might just burn up and be done with it. Alas, all three made their way out of the inferno, badly scorched but still fighting. The flaming tent collapsed and the party resumed the battle. Each mummy was returned to the dust, but each managed to strike at the party with their drying breath.

The battle was over, but the party realized they could hear still screams and confusion throughout the camp. They left the embers of their tent behind to see the shapes of three other mummies fleeing into the night. Several other tents had been torn apart, and seven halflings lay dead. Shaena confronted them, furious, and demanded they leave. Tselem tried to offer some money by way of compensation, but Shaena rejected it. The party left, dejected.

The party then traveled a short distance away and camped for the rest of the night. When they awoke on the morning of 22 Barrakas, they were feeling the effects of the battle. The mummies had poisoned them! Fortunately, Azeri was able to cast Cure Disease on everyone (she herself was less affected). Now back to full health, they resumed their journey to the northern end of the Endworld Mountains, reaching the foothills that evening. They spent the next day searching for signs of dragons, and found some promising leads.

They camped that night in a bowl-shaped depression high on one of the mountains. When they awoke on the morning of 24 Barrakas, they heard something moving on the ridge above them. It was a pack of Grimlocks! The party was on guard, but remembered that these creatures were blind and didn't seem to sense them at this distance.

There was a slope leading up to the ridge, so Taumir went up and spied on the creatures. They were marching back and forth they were guarding something, and Taumir could see something around the bend that looked like they were still on the trail of the dragon. He snuck back down to the party and they decided to take out these guards. They dropped four with long-range strikes before the other two even realized what was happening. The remaining two ran down the slope to attack, but were also dropped easily.

Rewards

• 15,928 XP each! This means everyone but Maak Tol will level up to level 22!
• 2,370 PP total! (That's platinum pieces - a platinum piece is worth 100 GP)

Session #52: The Wanderers in the Wilderness

In the aftermath of the battle, the party returned to Lathleer. They had decided to head to the Talenta Plains, partly to check up on the haflings, but also to make their way to the Endworld Mountains to find a red dragon to slay. They were thinking of using a House Orien teleportation station to take them Gatherhold, one of the few cities in the Talenta Plains, but the attendant at the station was snotty and the price was somewhat high (there wasn't much demand for travel to Gatherhold.) The party decided to go directly across the street and have Tselem cast Linked Portal to take them to Gatherhold instead. Tselem then sent a fig through the portal as a way of snubbing their noses as the attendant.

The party spent a quiet evening in Gatherhold (which is something of a ghost town during the late summer), and then next morning set on foot across the Plains towards the Blade Desert. They entered the desert on the 18th of Barrakas. They were hoping to make contact with Clan Ulantra, whose chief was Ostran, and whose daughter was Shaena, whom they had first encountered in the Desert months before. They did not happen upon Clan Ulantra that day, but they did meet another halfling clan, who told them they thought Clan Ulantra was traveling to the southeast. This other clan did say they thought there were some dragons to the northeast. In order to hide their purpose, the party headed southeast.

The next day they encountered another halfling clan, but again it was not Clan Ulantra. These halflings though said they had seen Clan Ulantra just a few days ago, heading north, so the party turned and headed that direction instead. The same scene repeated itself the next day as well with yet another halfling clan.

On 21 Barrakas, the party found Clan Ulantra! Ostran had fallen ill, and Shaena was more or less ruling in his stead. She welcomed the party, and they had a nice reunion with her and her father. She told the party that New Galifar had started building forts along the edge of the desert and was generally being a nuisance, but as of yet no real hostilities had broken out.

The party decided to stay the night with Clan Ulantra while planning their next move. That night, it was very dark - all twelve moons were hidden, and the stars, while beautiful, cast little illumination. The party was sound asleep, and then was rudely awakened as something began attacking them in the dark! Tselem created a torch, and the party was stunned to see huge mummies had invaded their tent! As befitting epic heroes of their caliber, they did not shrink from the fight, battling the mummies in these close quarters. The spells thrown around caught the tent on fire. The party members untangled themselves from the inferno, with the mummies still inside...

Rewards
(nothing yet, encounter is still ongoing)

Session #51: The Road Towards Blasphemy

The next morning, 9 Barrakas, was a bright, clear day. Maak Tol awoke early and went out for a morning constitutional. As he was exploring one of the palace's courtyards, however, he was attacked by several dragonborn fanatics seeking revenge for the death of Rthumar! A intense but quiet battle followed. Maak Tol displayed a legendary ability to take damage - he outlasted his enemies, and then struck them down.  When the rest of the party awoke they were quite enthralled with the tale.

Sirnas wished to get going as soon as possible, but the party had a few things to take care of first. They replenished their supplies and bargained for some better weapons. The members of the court and the palace staff continued to fawn over and kowtow to them, to the point that Azeri was even able to persuade someone to give her a pet fox!

They still set out relatively early. The higher-level clerics that Sirnas wanted to meet with was his old order, who lived in a monastery outside Lathleer, in central Aundair. The party chose to take the lightning rail to Fairhaven - they slept on the train on the night of the 9th, and arrived in Fairhaven on the evening of the 10th. The next morning (the 11th), they sent out for the monastery, arriving late that afternoon.

When they arrived, they received a kind if subdued reaction from the clerics of Sirnas' order, who called themselves the Children of the Unequal Family. They were taken to see the abbot, an Eladrin named Boreshk. Boreshk turned out to be an insanely old Eladrin - most Eladrin pass on at around 300 years old without having visibly aged, but Boreshk was pushing 500 and was gnarled and milky-eyed. His mind appeared strong, even if he was a bit easily distracted.

Boreshk told them more about what was going to be required for this epic quest. While the party could slay the dragons, only one being could forge the weapon from the bones that they needed - a being named Orisis. The party naturally asked who Orisis was and where to find him or her, and Boreshk took some dark delight in announcing that Orisis lived somewhere in the depths of Khyber, and that no one knew quite what he or she was or where to find him/her/it. He also made it clear that Orisis was a evil being, but would forge the weapon if the party could defeat him/her/it in battle.

The party was naturally a little daunted by this prospect. They asked about where to find portals to Khyber, but decided they would focus on slaying the dragons first. Sirnas and Boreshk reminded them that generally speaking, blue dragons are the least powerful dragons, followed by red, then white, then black, then green. Rthumar had been a blue dragon, so seeking out a red dragon seemed like the best thing to do next. Red dragons are known to populate the Ironroot and Endworld Mountains, both of which bordered the Talenta Plains, and the party had long wanted to check and see what had become of the people they'd spent time with there, so they decided to turn their attentions that way.

One other important piece of information the party learned was that one of the dragons slain to forge the weapon had to have been or be a consort of Tiamat. They were relieved to learn that Rthumar already satisfied that element.

The party and Boreshk talked for some time, and then they had a meal and turned in for the night. Before they finished however, Boreshk emphatically emphasized how crucial secrecy would be! There are many who would feel that slaying a god, even an evil one, constitutes blasphemy. And of course if Tiamat herself learned what they were doing, their quest would become exponentially more difficult. (The gods are not omniscient - with the exception of psionic ones, they cannot hear unspoken thoughts. So a secret can be kept from the gods if you are careful and do not encounter a psionic minion.)

The party awoke the next morning (12 Barrakas) and set out to leave. They had barely stepped out the door though when they were attacked by an Eladrin flanked by four monstrous hounds. The Eladrin appeared to be one of these whom Boreshk had warned them about, those would interpret their quest as blasphemous, as their attacker said little besides calling them heretics and such. The party was able to defeat these enemies before the rest of the Order could come to their aid. When the dust settled, the clerics were surprised and dismayed to see it had been one of their own, Kerugerd.

Rewards

• 16,000 XP each
• 25,000 GP total

Sessions #49 & #50: The Wrath and the Powers (Parts I & II)

Session #49

The next morning (8 Barrkas), the party awoke slowly, having partied the night away. Tselem went down to deliver a message to Miri, his old professor in Fairhaven while the rest of the party slowly got themselves together. They then discussed what their next move was going to be. Now that their main objective had been accomplished, they decided to go back and see how some of their side quests had turned out, specifically the time they delivered a warning about an imminent attack to the halfings of the Talenta Plains.

As they were preparing to go however, an earthquake-like tremor went through the building. They began to near explosions and screams int the distance. They rushed outside and saw that a large part of the city was engulfed in flames. A huge dragon was flying over the city and sending out blasts of lightning, causing explosions and mass destruction!

The people of Korth were fleeing from the dragon and his fury as fast as they could, but the party girded up their loins and ran towards the dragon. (Taumir trailed a little further behind, but he eventually caught up.) Once they were close enough, they sent spells and arrows flying at it. This caught the dragon's attention immediately, and once he saw them, he roared, "There you are!" and began to attack them!

As the battle commenced, Tselem realized that he knew who this dragon was - this was Rthumar, a great blue dragon that had terrorized the northern shores of Karrnath for decades. He was a fierce devotee of Tiamat.

Very quickly the party was able to force Rthumar to land, and began blasting him with their most powerful magical effects. In the heat of the battle, both sides took massive damage. And yet in the midst of this fury, Azeri showed that she was truly was a follower of the mischievous fox spirit and tried to climb into the dragon's back to ride him!! She was knocked off when one of Tselem's spells knocked Rthumar onto his side and restrained him with magical chords, but once Rthumar broke free, she climbed up yet again!

The severity of the attacks against him and the audacity of this cleric's approach sent Rthumar into a rage, and he fired lighting attacks all around him in a storm of spitting, thrashing destruction. He attempted to put some distance between him and party by flying up into the air, but Maaktol gave chase, and Taumir pelted the monster with arrows. Tselem tried to put a lightning cage around him, only to realize a little later that that probably wasn't going to do much good against a lightning creature.

Session #50

Both Tselem and Azeri had conjured ghostly familiars to launch secondary attacks against their foe - Tselem had a ghostly sword that made some ineffective whacks against the monster's tail, while Azeri had a full-fledged ghostly warrior which engaged him at point-blank range.

Tselem decided to try a new tactic, and created an arcane gate that would allow his allies to move from the ground to Rthumar's back. Azeri once again tried to mount the beast (having been knocked off once again earlier), and succeeded again! This time Maaktol joined suit, leaping through the arcane gate to bring his sword to bear against the dragon's neck. Rthumar tried to claw these two annoyances off, but could not, even after he returned to the ground.

The party was struggling to maintain the fight, but at last Rthumar began to falter. Tselem's ghost sword and Azeri's ghost warrior now began to show some mettle of their own, finally landing some serious blows. The party saw actual fear begin to well up in the evil creature's eyes. And then Azeri's ghost warrior fired a magical arrow directly into the monster's brain. Rthumar screamed in one last throe of agony, and then collapsed in a heap.

The scourge of Karrnath was dead!!

The party gasped with relief, having thrown all their considerable abilities into this battle. After resting a minute, they surveyed their surroundings. The city around them was razed and burning - the destruction was immense. Once they had caught their breath, they began to look for people in the rubble. They found a few - some were already dead, but some were still alive. Tselem and Azeri worked to heal one particularly injured man they found. Meanwhile, Taumir and Maaktol began cutting trophies off the dragon's corpse.

As the dust settled further, people began to gather around the scene of the battle. They gawked with fear and adoration at the brave adventurers who stood triumphant over the corpse of this mighty dragon! After a little while, some of the city guards began to show up as well. One particularly brave and astonished fellow came up and offered voluminous and subservient praise, and asked them if they wanted to come meet the King. The party agreed.

The guards led the party down the main boulevard of Korth, out of the destroyed section of the city and into the royal section, which was unharmed. People lined the streets to watch them as they went. Azeri tried to pump the crowd up, but the people were too terrified of them, so she settled for cowing them into applauding. Tselem created a small enchantment over the party's heads depicting their glorious battle.

When they arrived at the palace, they went directly into the throne room, where King Kaius III received them as he sat in court. He heaped praise upon them, though there was something oddly rigid about it. The party received his thanks, and then asked if he might have a reward for them, specifically a very powerful magic item.

The king only looked at them blankly, at which point another man, who appeared to be one of the king's vizers, stepped forward. He said that he would be happy to discuss such matters with them, but could they do so in private? The party said they would speak to him this evening, at which point the party was taken off to freshen up and settle into royal guest chambers, before a grand feast was thrown in their honor.

That evening, weary from battle and stuffed with food, the party met privately with this vizer, who gave his name as Sirnas. He said he was a cleric of Aueron (who happened to be marginally the deity that Tselem honored) and that Aueron had appeared to him and shown him a vision. Aueron, said Sirnas, has learned that Tiamat is a trying to extend her reach into this plane, that that is why Cyre became the Mournland, that that is why Rthumar came so far south to attack Korth directly. Sirnas said that the party has proved that they are mighty warriors, that they can succeed at tasks that whole nations could not. For this reason, Sirnas said, Aureon has chosen them to fight Tiamat and her evil.

Azeri was the first one to realize what Sirnas was getting at: "Are you saying you want us to kill a god?"

Sirnas leaned forward and said with great intensity: "That is exactly what I am saying!"

The party took a moment to process this momentous news. The first question that arose of course is 'how???' Sirnas said that there is a way, that if they slay one ancient dragon of each of the chromatic orders and fashion a magical sword from the bones, they will have a weapon that can defeat Tiamat and destroy her completely.

The party was tired, and wanted to go to bed, so they suggested that they and Sirnas consult with other high-level clerics of Aureon to know more about how to go forward. Sirnas agreed and the party retired after an intense and exhausting day.

Rewards

• 14,000 XP each!
• 70,000 GP total!
• A Tooth of Choas (it's a level 24 [+5] dagger; see Player's Handbook 2, p. 204)

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).