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).

Session #46: The Relentlessness of the Obstacles

Maaktol introduced himself to the party, and they invited him to come along with them. Tselem was able to re-cast the portal ritual, and they all transported to Rekkenmark, just east of Korth. Given that it was now afternoon, and casting Remove Dragonmark would take an entire day, Tselem decided that he wanted to wait and start fresh in the morning. So the party secured lodgings and took some time to shop and relax in preparation for what was to come. Azeri busied herself at the local library, and Maaktol purchased some new magical boots, while Tselem took some time to study the magic he had recently acquired.

The next morning, 4 Barrakas, Tselem began the ritual. Azeri and Maaktol were out and about, but Taumir decided to stick around and watch Tselem work. Unfortunately, his arcane knowledge was not quite up to the daunting task of this powerful magic, and he was not able to cast the ritual. After an hour or so of work he was forced to call it quits.

The party regrouped and decided to adjust their plan. They went to a local tavern frequented by House Deneith "middle management" and gathered a little intelligence. From there, they decided to head to Korth, and locate Caraas d'Deneith, the new and current leader of the House. From there they would attempt the ritual again, and set their plans in motion. Tselem knew they were limited in the number of times they could try before they would have to replenish their supply of moon slivers, but felt they had enough to reasonably give it another try.

So by mid-afternoon the party was on the road to Korth, and was passing the fortress of Tanar Roth. Around this time, they saw a figure approaching them further up the road. It became quickly apparent that this figure intended to meet them, and that there was something very unsettling about him. He was an Eladrin male, but his manner was completely unlike the serene and cerebral manner of most Eladrin. He walked with a swagger, and had a darkness to his countenance that made everyone uneasy. He came up to the party, and stopped in front of them. He looked them over one by one, and his gaze fell on Azeri. "Your screams will be very shrill," he said conversationally. And then in a much more insane tone he declared, "I will enjoy it immensely!"

And then two fire creatures, two ice creatures, and a griffon burst onto the road and attacked the party! Everyone lept into the fray, and the Eladrin made for Azeri. The party quickly brought their strongest blows to bear on him. At first he continued throwing out creepy, insane threats, but his haughty amusement quickly gave way to annoyance, and then to desperation. The party's blows felled him, Taumir's arrows splitting him in half.

The other creatures proved much more problematic. It was very hard to hit them - Taumir's bombs and Tselem's spells often failed to land, and Azeri's healing powers to the party seemed muted. However, when their leader was killed, the fire & image creatures abandoned the fight and returned to the planes from whence they came. The griffon, however, was not ready to quit...

Rewards
Nothing yet, the encounter is still on-going...

Session #45: The Shifting Alliances

The morning after the counter-ritual was created (3 Barrakas), the party was gearing up for their next move. As they did, the surly half-orc who'd brought them to Arashuul the previous week stomped into the room and announced that some bounty hunters were here to arrest Edge. Naturally, the party was a bit thrown by this development, and they watched in surprise as three Goliaths entered the room. Apparently the price on Edge's head had not gone down in the months since he escaped apprehension in Varna.

The rest of the party readied themselves to resist, but Edge said no. He said he was tired of avoiding this, and that he was going to go with them. So he bid them a terse farewell and the group of four taciturn warriors left the enclave, Edge whistling somewhat sardonically.

The party was a bit nonplussed by this turn of events. Their disaffection was quickly compounded by the House Tharashk leadership kicking them out, saying they didn't want to be associated with such criminals. The clerics of the Order of the Lantern let it be known to the party as they were leaving that they didn't care about such things (and made sure the party had their copy of the counter-ritual) but for political reasons had to side with the House.

The party decided to leave the enclave without a fuss, and indeed the whole city of Arashuul, where they were feeling very unwelcome now. Before their departure, they had decided to head for Korth, in Karrnath, to try and ply their newfound power against House Deneith. They trekked about an hour into the swamps in order for Tselem to cast the portal ritual.

As he was casting it however, they were attacked by three rot harbringers: ugly, undead creatures reeking of death. As the party moved to defend themselves, a Tiefling male emerged from a clump of reeds and joined in fighting the creatures. Killing off the foul things took a good bit longer than they thought it would, but everyone escaped unscathed.

Naturally, the party was grateful, though a bit wary, of this newcomer, whomever he was. He said his name was Maaktol, and he was just resting from his own journey when he heard the party's battle beginning. He didn't feel right about leaving them to die in the swamp, so he stepped in. The party thanked him for his help, and was there any way they could be of help to him?

TO BE CONTINUED...

Rewards

• 8,400 XP each (this should put Maaktol up to 127,400).
• 35,000 GP total

UPDATE 11/17/2016: Some errors in the sequence of events were corrected.

Recap: The Rituals

Back in Session #28, the description of the Grant Dragonmark ritual was first published. I am reprinting it here in an expanded form, and for the first time, the Remove Dragonmark counter-ritual as well!


GRANT DRAGONMARK

Level 10 Ritual
Casting Time: 4 hours
Reproduction Time: 16 hours
Component Cost: 5 moon slivers
Reproduction Cost: 1,000 GP
Market Price: (party can determine)
Key Skill: Arcana

You speak the incantation, calling on the power of the hidden thirteen moon, focusing on the individual who is to be the recipient of this blessing. When the ritual is ended, the chosen dragonmark appears on the person’s skin, which grants all of the abilities associated with that dragonmark as well.

This ritual has no effect on an individual who already has a dragonmark. It cannot be used to grant a second dragonmark to an individual, regardless of the existing dragonmark. If the target has had the Remove Dragonmark ritual performed on them (successfully or unsuccessfully) within the last twelve months, the ritual fails.

The Arcana check is performed at the beginning, and which mark is bestowed is decided then. If Arcana check fails the ritual cannot be performed that day.

REMOVE DRAGONMARK

Level 20 Ritual

Casting Time: 8 hours

Reproduction Time: 32 hours

Component Cost: 50 moon slivers

Reproduction Cost: 17,000 GP
Market Price: (party can determine)
Key Skill: Arcana

You speak the incantation, calling on the power of the hidden thirteen moon, focusing on the target/victim. When the ritual is ended, the target's dragonmark has been removed, and they no longer have access to the abilities that the dragonmark bestowed.

This ritual has no effect on an individual who does not currently have a dragonmark, but this does not stop the caster from performing the ritual and using it up. A concealed dragonmark (see Eberron Player's Guide, p. 116) can still be removed. A victim can only resist this ritual if they make an Arcana check at least twice that of the Arcana check of the caster performing the ritual. A removed dragonmark can be restored via the Grant Dragonmark ritual, but only after one year has passed.

The Arcana check is performed before the ritual is cast, and if Arcana check fails the ritual cannot be performed that day.

Arcana Check Result	Dragonmarks that can be bestowed/removed
9 or lower	(none, check fails)
10-20	Healing (Jurasco), Hospitality (Ghallanda), Passage (Orien), Scribing (Sivis), Handling (Vadalis)
20-30	Detection (Medani), Finding (Tharashk), Shadow (Phiarlan/Thuranni), Warding (Kundarak)
31 or higher	Making (Cannith), Sentinel (Deneith), Storm (Lyrandar)

As you learned back in Session #25 (on 1 Nymn), moon slivers are pieces of the seventh moon that fell to earth and burned into diamonds as they fell. They only fall to a plain called the Stargrounds on the island of Orthoss (which is on the far northeastern edge of Khorvaire) and are plentiful there. But the Stargrounds is also home to a deadly clan of Driders who jealously guard that area and the slivers.

Errata 11/17/2016: DC values adjusted after some play-testing.

Session #44: The Unrelaxing Break

Five days later, the party was still hanging around the House Tharashk enclave while the Order of the Lantern did their work. Tselem had been trying to learn as much as he could about what they were doing, and the Order had grudgingly agreed to let him watch for the most part. The rest of the party was mostly just relaxing, and trying to stay out of the muggy heat of the swamp.

Late that afternoon, the Order was in the basement of the enclave, doing some more work on the counter-ritual. Edge, Taumir, and Azeri were relaxing in the afternoon sun outside on the lawns & porches of the enclave (such as they were). As they did however, they saw some creatures emerge from the nearby Blackwater River and come swarming toward the buildings! The creatures looked like overgrown tadpoles, but unlike their somewhat tepid appearance, they packed quite a punch, and there were nearly two dozen of them or more! Fortunately, the party was able to defeat the individual monsters fairly easily. Destroying the humanoid wizard that appeared to be controlling them was a little trickier, but he too succumbed. The party then went back inside, tiredly leaving the monsters' corpses on the lawn.

Not long after the battle concluded, the Order of the Lantern emerged from the chambers below to announce that they had finally accomplished their goal, and the counter-ritual had at long last been made!

Rewards

• 9,000 XP each
• 10,000 GP total