The Butterfly Campaign Session Logs
Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 7:19 am
Thanks kindly to all who played or passed through the campaign. In order of (awful) memory... CD, Ronan, Orangetree, Twin Axes, WitchDoctor, Xanathar, OGR, Paazin, WildWombat, Zelknolf, Boom, and others whos name escape me. I hope you enjoyed while you were involved, however briefly.
Below are the session logs from the sessions, written for the benefit of all, containing what the PC's think they know. All spelling mistakes are mine, and I make no apologies for them! Excerpts from stories from Orangetree and CD have been quoted, and art from Orangetree and Twin Axes has been linked.
Hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed living it.
The main cast
Ander - A silver haired half elf, with a high opinion of himself.
Golinar Goldforge - A dwarfern Orator and warrior.
Gwylla - A grumpy and fearsome dwarfern axewoman.
Hala Rendor - A thayan priestess of Oghma.
Robert Twobellies - An Obese mage, mute.
Susana - A hin sorceress, obsessed by beauty.
...
Golinar, Ander, and (another dwarf) witness the attack of five men and women on Dina and Jakor at the Anglers inn. They come to the rescue. They are well rewarded for saving them with a ruby each. A very odd pair Dina and Jakor seem desperate to hire protection. The party undertakes to help them further (in return for more gems).
...
Deep within the Silverwood the group found the bodies of the "friends" of Dina and Jakor. Four men, all seeming having been killed without a struggle, their throats cut where they lay on the grass. Twobellies was the first to see the flash of red amongst the trees, and though he shook with fear alerted the party to the impending attack. The red robed wizard and his bodyguard fell in the fray to the axes of Gwylla and Golinar, and the sword of Ander. A small supply of potions and scrolls was recovered from the wizard and his guard. A closer inspection of the dead men showed their hands were calloused and strong. Ander would note that such hands mark them as sailors from the rope scars, something he saw often in the isles.
Dina and Jakor were shaken when told of the murder of their friends, though the red robed wizard seemed to bring no recognition. Jakor talks softly of being all alone now, and that their needs for the group is great. He promises further reward if the party will continue to act on their behalf. He and Dina seem more than a little desperate.
...
Cooter, Gwylla, Golinar, and Twobellies travel to the old (human mined) copper mine Jakor contracted them to clear (though he was very vague on "why"). They locate the mine without incident, guided by the elf Luer'i'thil. The first level is completely clear... though there is sign of just how old the mine is from the rockfall and state of the place. What is remarkable is just how clean the ground is. Completely free of dust and debris...
*Artwork by Twin Axes
Descending deeper into the mine has the party on edge. The air is thicker here, and humid. The humans begin to become uncomfortable, though the dwarfs barely notice. Golinar is caught unawares as a oozing acid creatures drops from the ceiling, just missing him, but finding its way into Gwyllas chainmail before being dispersed with axe blows.
A few oozes later the party attempts to cross an ancient rickety bridge, twobellies bulk sending him through the ancient timbers... only to be caught by his belly. As he flails in place Gwylla goes to help... and Golinar holds two oozes at bay by himself at great personal danger though he takes the pain without complaint like a true dwarf. Deeper again they travel, hacking oozes in their wake. As robart falls behind he hears a noise following them... a man who attacks... and then transforms into a rat, scoring a bite on Golinar.
Perhaps he followed them in.. for there are no signs that he lived here...
The party find an underground lake, filled with milky scaled blind fish. Cooter amuses himself by playing with them and treating them a golden waterfall which sends them to the deeps.
At the bottom most level of the mine the party finds and defeats an even larger ooze (or collection of oozes?) which releases a myriad of (very, very clean) metal items as it is ruptured. The mine has been cleared as best the party is able, and Jakor speaks of hiring guards and a few miners until he finds just the right "blue crystal"...
...
Golinar and Twobellies patrol the mine, spending long uneventful weeks watching labourers make it safe again. A dwarfern expert has been hired to sniff out a large blue crystal, the size of a human arm. As Golinar and Twobellies watch the milky white fish they seem them dart into an underwater passage. Shortly after a labourer finds them, warning of swarms of rats above, devouring all in their path. Golinar and Twobellies rush up to see for themselves. Alas, it is true, a mass of rats biting and clawing at each other swarm the passages of the mines. Golinar and Twobellies retreat to the lower levels, finding Dina, Jakor, and a labourer. Twobellies leads them to the underwater passage. The labourer does not surface with them, presumably drowning on the way.
Dina in particular appears highly distraught. The group pauses for a moment to think of the dozen or so dead miners that must have fallen to the rats. Eventually they regather and advance deeper into the caverns, where they see a blue crystal, in amongst many lrge mushrooms. As they advance Twobellies brushes against a mushroom, which lashes out at him. More do the same, and a battle is joined. The group is able to put them down easily enough. The mushrooms having almost no weight within them, and cutting and breaking easily.
After gathering the crystal they follow the caverns further through a myriad of tunnels. Eventually finding their way back to the surface. Jakor promises a full explanation in a few days time after he and Dina have rested.
...
As Golinar, Gwylla, and Robert seek out Jakor and Dina they are confronted by a brutal scene. Jakor body, with his throat slit in his inn room. The party questions the room guard who appeared to have been charmed. She is not able to give much information beyond a nice man in red who entered the room earlier and left with the woman (presumably Dina). In one last gesture of determination Jakor seemed to have left the party a clue - a small picture of a broken tower, written in his own blood. Robert recognised it as possibly a broken tower to the east of Rivermoot. The party sought out the Marshall to tell him of the murder - and ran into another group of adventurers. They were enlisted and the now much larger party went in search of the Red Robed man and Dina, following their presumed trail to the broken tower.
Outside they found a group of gnolls who were put down in quick order by the axes of the dwarves, and the missiles of the others.
Inside Gwylla walked into an ambush on the third floor where a brutal fight ensued against tall blond humans. Not only did they wield weapons but magics as well. Robert went down with a sword in the guts, and Golinar took a viscous axe blow to the helmet that sent him reeling back. Despite this, the party was able to emerge victorious. There was no sign of Dina, but the group did find red robed ones... dead in another presumed ambush. There was a mix of consumable magics found, a holy symbol of Umberlee, as well as a small sum of high value coinage.
The party left, the trail seems to have gone cold...
(for now)
...
Thre is much more discussion over Torpic. The party is suspicous of the stranger to Rivermoot who showed up shortly after the mine was recomissoned. Ander, Susana, Gwylla, Golinar, and Robert follow him as he leaves Rivermoot. Ander picks up a chanting noise from the nearby farms and the Gwylla confronts the hiding man. Susana identifies him as having some kind of connection with the cowled wizards of Amn. After threats back and forth the group pledges to help find and give Dina over to his care (in return for 2000 gp each). They agree though some hold doubts as to wether he is leading them to an ambush. They party and Torpic heads to an old manor in the Silverwood, where they attack and are attacked by presumed minions of the clergy of Umberlee. In a brutal fight Ander goes down after taking a mace to the ribs, but quick healing sees him live.
Almost as soon as the party has won they make out two tied and bound women in the manor. Dina, and an adventurer - Hala Rendor. As soon as Hala is freed she goes about healing the party. Torpic makes his way over to Dina, and then turns a wand on the party. He demands they move back...
As they move forward there is a crashing sound from outside the manor. Risking a glance out the window Torpic yells out it is the red Wizards, and the party must join him in fighting them off...
...
The group hastily frees three captives in the room, who quickly arm themselves. Quick looks out the window show a group of large muscular orcs with grey tinged skin. They are identified as "Thayan Orcs", magicly bred and infused with the blood of demons! Not only this but three red Wizards are also there in the fringes of the group, clearly the leaders. One seems to have a magicly augmented voice, and shouts out demands at the manor for them to free "The Pilot". After some stalling from the party and a few stray missles the manor is attacked!
The fray is brutal and fierce. Torpic goes down, his head caved in by an orc. Anders scoops up his wand, but not knowing the command word he stashes it away for now. Multiple times party members are beaten down, but quick reactions and healing consumables means that no one dies. Eventually two of the red wizards follow the orcs in, seeking to turn the tide. They prove dangerous foes with their spells of magical force and confusion. It is a close thing, but the party wins through in the end, taking a red wizard captive, and chasing the last out into the forest.
The leader of the red wizards is defient to the last, summoning flaming hounds from one of the hells to engage the party. Once again the party wins through, barely.
Back at the manor the captive is tortured and questioned - much to the consternation of a few of the earlier prisioners. Gwylla in particular shows no qualms about breaking his fingers to get the answers they need. The party learns of their leader "Kossom Slass", a wizard with a reputation for taking risks with the lives of others, but little else. Robert Twobellies is slowly overcome by his fear and hatred of his former Red Wizard captives and stabs the wizard in the neck, shaking all the while.
Also of note is what was found on the body of the leader...
The group is able to identify...
A magical short sword that is able to spit a gout of flames once. It can be recharged by the light of the morning sun. (Masterwork, Burning hands 1/day)
An amulet that augments the wearers voice so it can project further, often used for shouting out commands on the battlefield. (+3 perform (oratory))
The wand of lightning (2 charges remain)
There is also a scroll of Tongues... that in theory would allow Dina to speak with the group...
And a note
Breem,
I trust you are enjoying your little excursion to the marches? Perhaps next time you will think a little more carefully about the proper chain of command, no?
In any event – consider this. If you bring me the pilot alive, your slate will be wiped clean and all is forgiven. You will do well under me. If the pilot dies, well, your slate will be broken, and I will take great pleasure in enslaving your children.
Also, be a good chap and return via the enclave in Soubar if you please. The princes blade has been completed and is ready to be collected. They know you by sight, and the code is “The prince is owed”. I trust it will be worth the time and considerable expense we have poured into it.
Kossom Slass
(It is also marked with a wizards sigil, two steepled hands with a burning circle beneath)
.
...
Dina summons the group from the manor to meet her in Silverymoon.
In a room above the Smiling Satyr they find her, in the company of a pale man (Muir). Offering them a seat she begins to speak, explaining about the "Tongues" spell found in one of the Red Wizards spell books that lets her do so. She swears them all to secrecy and explains the following. She was the relieving pilot on a ship that sails between worlds, colloquially known as a "Spelljammer". The ship in question was attacked by pirates possibly because of its cargo (Smuggled rubies). It crashed in the icy wastes far to the north. The helm which allows it to fly has been damaged, and is in need of repair. Gwylla in particular was very skeptical but a shield made from an otherworldly wood everntually proved the truth of Dina. She was allowed to the keep the enchanted shield.
*Artwork by Twin Axes
She needs the help of the group to repair the helm, and leave this world. What she offers in return is a fortune in smuggled rubies, and the riches of worlds.
She answers many questions...
Jakor was a member of the crew (first mate) in addition to others found killed by the red wizards in the Silverwoods.
There was a sailor who fled the others when they reached civilization, what happened to him is unknown, but presumably he is how other groups found out about the crashed ship.
A very few nations own "spelljammers" but none know how to make the helms, her knowledge of how to potentially repair one is worth the wealth of kingdoms.
The ship is called "The Butterfly" which reminded Hala of one of the prophecies of Aulando.
Their next destination lies "south" though she was not specific with the where or why.
They are each given four rubies with which to equip themselves for the journey. (Robert and Anders will also be provided the same information in a private meeting off camera, and the same sum - 750 gold).
Muir is also given away by lack of a shadow (where his hands should be) as being a Tiefling. After much shock the group accepts him as being needed. In particular Dina seemed adamant he is needed.
...
The party (Gwylla, Golinar, Redmond, Robert, Hala, Muir) meet Dina again. Hala speaks of the prophecy of Aulando that may mentions the "Butterfly" which she recounts to the party.
The star in the north trailing light
The maidens drain and sailors sight
Powers gather and nations game
Lacking heart and lacking shame
Fools covet and saints greed
Seeking power unwise indeed
Powers gather and nations test
The broken bu’erfly at rest
So sayeth the wise Alaundo
- Seventh Portents
She also mentions a gnome that was mentioned (by a helpful scribe) to be also looking into Aulandos prophecies, and was thought to be headed out High Hold way. Dina informs them of their destination. Serpents Edge, in the Western Heartlands. The group head out, and overnight in The Anglers Inn, in High Hold. Dina heads upstairs for rest, but the others strike out chasing rumors of a gnome about town. Eventually they find him in the crypts outside High Hold, where he apears to have animated some of the corpses. They group deal with him, but find a greater oponent in a Mummy which drags itself up and out of its tomb. Eventually they are able to beat it into dust, despite their weapons being largely innefective.
The gnome himself was alive at the end of it all, but seems mostly deranged. Clearly he thought of himself as something of a prophet, and spoke of raising bhaal at the bridge. The party paid little heed to him after they realised he was most likely insane. He was given over to the guards at High Hold and the party continues on its way to the Heartlands where great adventure awaits!
...
In Rivermoot Dina gathers the group and speaks of a need to return to the copper mine where a valuable artifact was abandoned during the flight from the rats. They are tasked to retrieve (but under no circumstances to use) a seemingly normal deck of playing cards. The party ventures to the mine, finding it swarming with thousands of rodents. Every step is like wading through a river of vermin. They scuttle over boots and legs, occasionally nipping at flesh. The stench (needless to say) is something awful. The group work well together and push their way down into the depths fending off both seemingly spontaneous bursts of swarm activity and rat-men ambushes.
Eventually they reach the lowest level of the mine where they fight a very hard pressed battle against large were-rats who regenerate their wounds. The party curse their lack of silver or magical weapons. As they finally defeat the last of the rat-men warriors, and push off the swarm - a rat-man sorcerer flees through a magical gate. Without hesitation Gwylla jumps though, and is swiftly followed by the others with varying levels of dread.
One gut-wrenching and churning journey later they find themselves stripped of all items, and clad in simple black robes. Exactly where they are is a mystery. The group sets out to make sense of their situation and find the rat-man sorcerer. They come across strange oddities. Statues of things that make no sense, automated forges... and vast corridors long since abandoned. The party is able to scavenge some improvised weaponry and armor through breaking up ancient furniture. Hala showing some skill in such.
Robert discovers that he is able to speak in this place.
After much exploring and accidental combat (and fleeing of giant automations)... the group re-gather in the original room... starting to feel hunger and first - and worse yet Hala and Robert unable to regain any used magic. Robert lacking his spellbook, and Halas connection to her god seeming weak and distant. The party is already battered and bruised when a small swarm of rats backed by the sorcerer attacks. The party is able to win through in the end - and find a deck of cards in the rat-man sorcerers pocket.
After a little debate the "portal" card is used to call forth a portal, dumping them back in the mines - where they find a great pile of equipment (theirs) piled nearby. They return to Rivermoot. Robert seems greatly saddened by having known, and lost his voice again.
...
Shortly after the group has returned to Rivermoot they meet in the house dina rented. As they discuss their mis-adventure the bristly hair on the back of gwyallas neck stands up. She begins to have the feeling that they are bing watched. Robert alo has the same feeling... and realises that they are being scryed upon. As Dina becomes aware she cautions the other prcs into silence and fetches the spell books that the party recovered for her. Turning page after page she eventually finds what she is looking for and is able to turn back the magic... losing the scribed spell in the process.
She seems unsure of wether the scrying was inteded to locate robert... or use robert as a focus to track her. Either way is it presumed that the caster is a Red Wizard... and should be dealt with approriately. Dina was able to determine that the scrying came from the North east... Looking at the map, the only settlement worth mention is Winters Edge. The group is dispatched to find the scryer... and eliminate the threat.
The journey is a dangerous one through wild lands. Worst of all is an orc ambush, where they slide with abandon down a steep gully either side of the party. A shaman cast a spell which called forth the very soul of winter and chilled Golinar to his soul, yet with his stout dwarvern heart he was able to battle on, despite the hoar of frost that coated him. The fighting is fierce and the parties resources depleted. They recover a few useful items from the shaman who led the attack.
Pressing on, they make Winters Edge, where they learn of a Red Wizard staying in the inn. After much arguement about risks, bribing of guards, and failed attempts to enlist the local potion maker in their task the group settles on a plan to fake a fire and smoke him out in to an ambush. As they enter the inn to scout... they find him having breakfast in the taproom. He looks up with rhummy eyes... and back down. Robert is able to identify him as Thom. A powerful diabolist... or demonologist with notoriously bad eyesight. They quickly shuffle upstairs. Robert pleads with the party to leave due to the great danger they are in... and so they do. Despite the objections of Ander.
Returning to Dina they find Gwylla who had earlier stormed off. Dina is disheartened by the news of the wizard, and of the group running. However, what is done is done. She declares that she can no longer travel with Robert. As he turns to leave she calls him back. He is not yet released from his duties. Instead he will pave the way for her to go to the Moonshaes, even as she travels south into the western heartlands.
The company of the Ruby Death is split. Redmond, Hala, and Gwylla will go with dina to Serpents cowl far to the south, in search of old snake magic. Meanwhile Golinar, Ander, and Robert head to the Moonshaes to fufil a mission of great importance - the notes of which as handed to Robert along with a sum of rubies for their expenses. Muir is bribed to stay safe in the marches until Dina calls upon him again... it is implied that he is enormously valuable to her efforts to rebuild the butterfly, because of his tainted blood.
...
Moonshaes Group (Dina, Gwylla, Hala). (Zelk has excused herself from the pc of Redmond who is presumed to be resting from recent injuries and off camera for the forseeable future).
The group arrives in the heartlands. Walking over the boareskyr bridge (where Bhaal fell to Cyric) they make their way to Soubar, to rest for the evening. The place has surely seen better days, being run down and filled with low lifes and despair. The party stays at the Wandering Way - a converted inn that seems on the brink of collapse. There seems great potential for trouble, but Gwyllas harsh stare keeps the trouble makers at bay.
After an awful sleep interupted by tavern brawls and a possible stabbing the party leaves in the morning. They make Serpents cowl and speak with the locals about the history of the place. It was once the Yuan-ti city of Ss’thar’tiss’ssun, laid low by war. It has been warded against their return. It is here that Dina hopes to find "a weave node", a site of great power.
The party ventures inside and finds ancient warnings. Great statues and altars lay, covered in dust. There is a brief scuffle with a bug which the party bests easily. Further into the compound there is another - this time another bug, with a great set of pincers, that charges like a great bull, scattering the party left and right. Dina and Hala are felled in short order, with Gwylla falling back - the bug in pursuit. Gwylla is able to bring Hala back from the brink during the chase. Hala in turn heals Dina, and they rejoin the fray. Dina expends all her magic in the fray, and it is only then that Gwylla and Hala are able to bring the bug down - Hala striking the final blow, and caving in its chintinous skull.
The party limps out to lick their wounds, and plan their next move. Dina seems adamant they must return...
...
The WHL group (Ander, Golinar, Robert). Robert and Golinar are "off-screen" following rumours...
The group arrives in the isles with Dinas notes and the crystal recovered from the copper mines. Dina wishes it "empowered" by a weave node. It is spoken that there is one off-shore near the isles. Ander is nursing a mug of cheap ale when he hears tell of a mermaid who has been seen by sailors recently. Leaving the tavern to seek more information he comes across a hin and druid discussing the same story with a local guard. The hins name is Susana, and the druid Bu. Bu is adamant there is no mermaid, and that it is fanciful sailor stories. A gnomish woman nearby declares it absolute truth - and in fact that her airship is running "mermaid tours" for 7 gp a head (including wine and apples). Bu storms off as the gnome woman invites Susana and Anders aboard the ship. He seems angry at the potential for harm coming to the mermaid from such clumsy interaction.
The airship flies out to sea, and soon spots a great pod of dolphins, with a silvery streak following. Susana seems to recognise the mermaid, and the ship moves down closer to see. Susana is lowered on a rope ladder to speak with the mermaid, but falls as the ship banks... and crashes into the sea. She loses consiousness in the water, but is born back to the surface by a dolphin... who changes into a man... the druid Bu. The mermaid swims around them both, darting in and out, touching Susanas hair.
There is chittering between Bu and the mermaid.. who takes Susana in her arms, and swims around with her cradled like a child. Anders meanwhile leans over the whole scene, trying to get Bu to ask her about what he seeks. He catches the mermaids eye with his fine half-elven features... and she seemingly invited him into the water as well...
After more excitable chittering between Bu and the mermaid Susana is returned to the rope ladder by the reluctant mermaid... who leaps into the air... and dives under, swimming away in a silvery flash.
The group returns to land, Bu choosing bird form over flying in the airship.
Ander strikes a deal with Susana - in return for her and Bus help in finding the weave node (talking to the mermaid) he will tell them why... (and so he does, mixing truth and lies with great aplomb).
Bu later informs them (not being privy to the why of why the group seeks the site) that the mermaid also asked that Ander beings some handsome friends, for the mermaids sister on the next full moon, so that they may all swim together. Bu seems willing to cast the spells needed for the party to breath underwater...
...
Far south in the heartlands...
Hala makes it known that she is seeking hirelings from Soubar and Serpents edge. As can be expected in such an unruly land, the full gauntlet of thugs and scum turn up. Hala recruits judiciously with her allotted funds, eventually choosing three hirelings – a huge half orc, and two humans. She refuses the services of four others, who leave – their contempt clear.
The newly enlarged group heads down into the ruined complex (again). It is as dark and desolate as last time. This time however, with more sword arms the group is able to press to the second level, fighting another few large beetles in their path.
The second level holds more statues and presumed temples... but none seem to be the site of power Dina is looking for. In one remote flooded corner Hala spots something down in the water... and heads down to investigate. Bones.
Shortly after she enters the water, ripples move to meet her own, and a huge snake drags her from her feet, and under the water. The party jump to her rescue, hacking into the snake. In a few brief, bloody moments she is freed. Gwylla brings the remains out of the water, and notes that they are dwarf bones. She also finds a small rune stone, which she tucks away for investigation later...
The party proceeds on, facing a handful of large spiders, before concluding they have searched all that can be searched. The way further down appears to be warded... from below. Suggesting the Yuan-ti may still be in the levels below.
As the dis-spirited group returns to the surface they find five figures awaiting them. The four of the prospective hirelings, and a gnome with a crossbow. They demand gold. When Gwylla moves to push through them, they attack. Thugs they may have been, but well equipped killers they were not. The battle is brutal, and short, and once again blood coated the weapons of the party. They were left where they fell, a testament to the folly of foolish greed.
As the hirelings are paid and thanked and wander away, Dina turns to Hala and Gwylla. She is clearly unhappy, and seems almost lost. For a moment they see her drop the mask of competent wizard, and that below it she is a truly homesick and scared woman. That evening she speaks to Gwylla of the fallen dwarf and take the time to read the runestone found... by the dying embers of the fire she reads aloud the translated rune...
To the kin who may seek us out, know this. The great city of Kanaglym is lost to both time and memory, and I fear it will remain lost. Pride was our downfall, for ‘twas pride that brought us low.
No longer shall the forges sing
No longer shall the picks ring
No longer shall we know anything
I watched kin wander away into the tunnels, bereft of any sense. I watched them sit and starve to death, forgetting to eat. I watched our city wither and die. Our city was great and powerful. Our forges which were powered by the weave of the land itself now lie abandoned. Our warriors who were without measure now starve, their living weapons left in the armoury. Our king who was wise beyond reason, sits on his throne and stares at the wall.
Know that I am the last, and I must leave this place to tell its tale.
I beseech thee, kin. Find us.
Kargnag, son of Kanaglym.
“Living weapons?, if they speak of the metal which lives... then this may be what i seek! For it is only in sites of power that the metal may take a life of its own. Gwylla, Hala, we must find the lost dwarfern city of Kanaglym!”
...
Meanwhile, on an isle in the distant ocean...
The group prepares for their forthcoming journey under the water. It is decided that it would be prudent to appease Umberlee in advance, as she was denied the earlier drowned death of Susana. And so it is that they seek out a priestess in the town of Caer Kingsbay. They find her standing in the shallow surf, a knife in her hand, and blood dripping from the other. She smiles as they approach... and Ander a feeling he has seen her somewhere before...
She was Selma of Umberlee, yet he knew her as Selma the Sow, a girl from the village he grew up in. And a girl he teased and belittled as a child. In a twist of fate, ‘twas now her who held the upper hand. She extracted concessions and sacrificed from each of them. Roughly sawing off some of Susanas beautiful golden hair, and making Golinar bleed into the sea as she had done. Robert refused to cut himself, and she rebuffed him, telling him his denial of Umberlee would be remembered... all the while smirking at Ander as she took her petty revenge upon him.
His task was the most onerous and demanding. Travel to Ruathym and retrieve a helm of water breathing from Throgar of Valkur, who had forsaken Umberlee the bitch queen for Valkur, lord of war on the water. Throgar was said to be a great beserker, and it seemed a very dangerous task. The group set out with heavy hearts, wondering how they could take his prized helm.
The weather on route to Haven in Ruathym was spectacularly good and calm. Even seasoned sailors remarked they didn’t remember the last time it was this good. It was almost like the calm before the storm...
They found Thorgar celebrating his last raid in the field outside Haven. He had celebrated by getting drunk with his crew, and killing his brother over a dispute in who killed the most warriors. Atop his head sat a horned helm, surely the one they were sent to find. They approached carefully, and Golinar found common ground with Throgar when he introduced himself as a warrior. Throgar called for the mead, and as there was a shortage of cups, dipped his own helmet into the ale to drink from. The helm was passed from person to person, even Golinars tiny dwarf wife, Susana, who looked far more attractive than he remembered than the last dwarfern women he had seen.
Susana wandered off to use the “bathroom” and surreptitiously cast detect magic, identifying his axe and helm as magical. His axe he had left buried in the ground, next to the body of his brother. Susana used the spell “Prestidigitation” to create a crude copy of his axe...
Meanwhile the conversation with Throgar had taken a turn for the worse when Golinar was far to honest in his conversation with the beserker. He wanted Thorgars helm. Thorgar refused, and instead challenged Golinar to take it from him in combat, if he wanted it so much. Ander weighed in, talking up Golinars battle prowess and how he could likely defeat Thorgar with just his beard. Thorgar called for his axe, and Susana called out that she would fetch it for him...
As the other northmen (and women gathered around) Susana quickly dragged her faux axe over, placing it in the hand of the very drunk Throgar. Meanwhile she dragged his original axe into a hollow in the snow... amazingly no one noticed. Throgar whirred his axe in a great circle, cutting deadly arcs in the air. As he pulled back to swing at Golinar... his axe snapped at the haft.
He stared at the handle in his hand, a look of drunken incredulity on his face. Ander and Golinar were quick to jump on the situation, convincing him with blistering oratory, smoothness, and deceit that Valkur had deserted him. Shamefaced he offered them the helm to keep their silence. All to quickly they agreed and hurried for the ship that would take them home... a long hour later... their ruse had not been discovered, and they set sail for Caer Kingsbay.
*Artwork by Twin Axes
They found Selma again, and returned the helm. Ander belittled her again, as they traded testy barbs, and eventually he spurned her demands of attention, walking off as she shouted after them of her hatred for Ander.
It would seem that they had dealt with Umberlees possible wrath, while earning that of Selma. Only time would tell how this would affect their journey to the depths of the ocean...
...
In the heartlands Dina turns to a ritual to divine the wherabouts of Kanaglym...
Meanwhile in the isles the others are preparing for a refreshing swim in the ocean...
Ander, Golinar, Robert and Susana meet Bu who takes them to the awaiting mermaids. As the sun dips low on the horizon they enter the water enchanted to both swim like fish, and breathe the same by Bu. Golinar seems to struggle with the concept that he can now breathe underwater, and keeps his mouth clamped firmly shut, sinking to the sea floor. Slowly all eyes turn to him, as after a few minutes he is forced to expel the expended air from his lungs, as his brain demands he breathe. As breathe he does, water. The mermaids laugh, and cavort, and play with the group. The silvertailed mermaid attempts to wim off with Susana a few times, but Bu herds them back to the group (as a dolphin). Eventually Susana present Silvertail with a small silver mirror as a gift, and is soon suurounded by the other mermaids who greedily fight over the trinkets she passes out. Eventually the mermaids begin to lose interest and swim away into the ocean, and Silvertail leads them back to the shore they came from.
Bu translates their questions on finding a site of power under the water.
The mermaid speaks of an old place, a volcanic vent that used to amplify magic, many years ago. Then the shark-men came and built a great temple over it. Sometime in the years since the sharkmen deserted the place for reasons unknown, yet the merfolk dare not return.
The group sets out led my the merwoman and Bu. As soon as they arrive she flees, clearly afraid of what lies below. Bu enchants the party again, notably allowing them to move freely under the water. Down they swim, Bus warning about time spent here reverberating in their ears. The sea below is cold and ominous.
They swim down to the sea bed, and head for the ancient wreck of a ship. Susana spots a dark shape moving overhead, a shark. It heads straight for Robert, trying to swim over Golinar who gut it with two swings from his axe. Within a few seconds the sea is tinged red with its blood. Quickly they move away, overhead they see more sharks streak, moving for the carnage they left behind them. They cannot help but remember the words of Selma of umberlee who warned Robert that he has denied Umberlee and would suffer for it. A few moments later they gain the lee of the broken ship. A savage tidal surge sends them towards its barnacle encrusted side. Susanas small form is lifted high and swept straight towards the ship... but golinar catches her by the leg. Holding them both safe by clinging to seaweed. The current is gone as quickly as it came.
Moments later the surge returns as they pass through a great coral arch. Susana is again caught in the current, and scraped painfuly over the coral, opening many small cuts upon her. Tiny little swirls of blood drift into the water...
Minutes later four hammerhead sharks find the party. The combat is a vicous one. Golinar is largely able to hold his own in the fray, but Ander is caught between two sharks. His sword arm is seized and the shark thrashes back and forth, trying to rip it from his body. His rapier drops from his hand towards the sands below as he passes out from pain. Robert is close at hand, and moves through the water with surprising grace. He loops an arm over the thrashing shark, and stabs inwards with his butchers knife, again and again. The shark releases Ander who slowly sinks. Golinar hauls him to the surface, where they expel the water from Ander and force healing draughts in. There is no time for rest however, the thrashing and blood in the water brings more sharks.
The group swim down as fast as they can. Overhead the ocean churns as dozens of sharks rip into the carcasses. One shark seperates from the rest, and slams into the shield on Anders back. Golinar, ever the quick thinker moves forward, and slams it right back with a powerful jab of his axe. The shark recoils, before streaking back up to feed above them.
The party makes haste towards the shelter of a reef, where they find a small opening. The enter...
And discover chambers, seemingly grown out of the coral itself. Jellyfish sit in the water here, trailing great tendrils. The group moves further inwards, before emerging in a great carvern. Towers of coral grace the water here, raising high. Robert removes Dinas crystal and it thrums in his hand, pulling them onwards. It leads them to a great temple of the shark men, evident from the motifs on the wall. Sharkmen sacrificing lesser races, victorious in battle and so forth. Deeper into the temple they find a great alter, that radiates and glows in time with the crystal in Roberts hand.
Five fish men swim over and around the alter, they spot the party and move in... Golinar and Ander close the gap quickly. Robert following close. Susana, near to helpless under the water without her magic remains back, clutching her small dagger and hoping for the best. As Golinar and Ander collide with the fish men, Robert moves his hands in a deliberate fashion and calls upon his magic to summon forth a sea creature to aid the battle. To his surprise two sharks apear in the water, and swim towards the fish men. Even with the sharks on their side, the battle takes a dire turn, as Golinar bears the brunt of their attack. Their spears thrust through his soft leather armor, yet by force of will he battles on. Again and again they thrust, and again and again their spears find their mark, the barbed tips doing as much damage on the way out as in. Susana seeing the desperation of the situation swims as fast as he can towards them, praying that somehow she will be able to make the difference in the fray...
Golinar swings a blow and drops a fishman... then realises he has left himself wide open. The fish man stabs, just as golinar is able to reverse his axe...
Its spear skids of his shield, even as his axe bites deep into its skull, having cleaved down between its bulging eyes. Moradin, is he was watching would have been proud and his tenacity and skill in such a foreign place.
Golinar yet lives and breathes, but his blood streams out of multiple wounds. Surely he will not make the return journey. He looks at the others with a resignation in his eyes... and Robert once again begins to move his hands in a deliberate fashion, concentration upon his face. A single bubble forms at his finger tip...before all hells burst loose and the chamber is transformed into a violent swirling maelstrom of air and water. After a few disorientating moments the wind gust has risen to the ceiling of the temple, and Robert gestures them upwards where they clear their lungs of water. Ander produces a familiar wand of healing, and touches its tip to Golinar.
Ivavu
The wand tip glows for a moment, before blasting Golinar savagely back in the water, a moment of shock later the party reslises that he has not been hurt, but healed beyond all measure. Far more than should be possible from the lightly enchanted wand. Ander with a disturbing smile turns the wand on the others, painful blasting them back in the water. Clearly something in this temple has been amplifying magic...
Robert swims to the temple alter, waving Dinas crystal through the glow. It begins to pulse bright, as the lights over the alter dim. even as it does so, water begins to swirl behind them... with looks of panic the group waits for the lights of the alter to fully dim before they swim away, as quickly as they can. Behind them the temple surges and roils as some great force is awakened. By the skin of their teeth they escape outside the temple entrance, and up to the cavern above. Ander leads them through a hole in the cavern, where they find the rising sun to greet them. They strike out for shore, and are met by bu along the way.
Back on firm land (where Bu departs again) they celebrate, each reflecting upon what they have acheived. Susana in particular is especially radiant, blessing each of them in turn. With crystal in hand and companions at his side, Robert turns to face the sun, wondering what his next contact with Dina will bring...
*Artwork by Twin Axes
...
In the Dusty Dragon inn, in far away Serpents Cowl, on the edge of the forest of Wyrms, a young and very lost mage locks herself into her inn room, leaving Gwylla and Hala standing outside. They are given strict instructions that under no circumstances should they enter.
They hear the occasional scratching and shuffling noises of Dina moving around some hours later. Followed by her voice, speaking in some terrible awful language that sends a vague sense of dread up the spine even of the battle tested and stout Gwylla. She speaks, and awaits for a moment as though listening to an answer, before speaking again a handful of times. Eventually there is more shuffling noises and Dina opens the door looking drawn and pale. On the hem of her robe is chalk marks and beyond her on the floor are overturned candles and the vague rubbed out chalk outline of a summoning circle.
She looks to Gwylla and Hala with bloodshot eyes.
"It is done, I must send to Robert now, and have the others come to us, I know how we may find the path to Kanaglym".
Leaving the door open, she moves to a spellbook on her deak flipping through its pages. A short time later she stops and carefuly intones, sigils vanishing from the page as she speaks...
Though they stand thousands of miles away both Hala, Gwylla and Robert hear the same words spoken by Dina...
"Robert. All well. We need you and the others. Gather companions, travel to Serpents Edge. Perpare for travel and war beneath ground. Tell Golinar, Kanaglym. Dina."
...
After a long journey at sea, and a long wait, the split groups finally regathers themselves in Serpents Cowl. Gwylla and Hala meet with Golinar, Robert, Ander, and Susana in the Dusty Dragon Inn. The group trades stories, even as Dina finds them. Dina is surprised to find Susana with them, but allows her to remain with the group, providing she goes with them into Kanaglym. Ander is given a map, and away they travel. Dina remaining behind, pleading fatigue.
They follow the map she gained from her divinations, which leads them to a gnomish mine. They speak to the elder who allows them to pass through for ten gold each... where they find themselves in the Undermoor. A dark section of caves that runs under the High Moor.
Susana calls forth a ball of light to illuminate the darkness. A myriad of twisting caverns and passages soon have the party well and truly lost. After some misadventures they stumble upon an old dwarvern road which leads them through a small outpost.
They come to a ruined bridge, where the group decides to cross. Ander jumps in, and finds a treacherous current awaits him, even as Gwylla takes a running jump. The current sweeps Ander up against the middle piller, which shifts under Gwyllas weight. She jumps again, even as Ander pushes off with powerful strokes. Gwyllas stubby legs propel her to the other side, while Ander is pushed against the far wall by the surge of water from the toppled pillar. With much difficulty and no small effort the group crosses with the aid of ropes. Susana and Robert in particular struggling with the journey and almost drowning.
The battered party dries out.
After more twists and turns the party comes to another ruined bridge, which Gwylla is able to clear after a painful misjump. With the aid of some ropes, they cross again... and find themselves in Kanaglym.
It is eerily silent . Surreal almost. Some undead haunt the hauls, and orc bodies are found. The group finds some forges, but they lie dormant, and there is no sign of recognition from the altar. Ander who presses ahead of the group, finds himself in a great webbed room. He brushes against a web... and the room erupts with spiders, who burst from great sacks upon the wall.
His sword flicks out, killing one, but two more take its place, then three and four, in short time he is surrounded in spiders. Gwylla and Golinar come to his rescue, but find themselves covered in spiders as well, which crawl through their armor, biting at any exposed flesh. They are forced back to the hall. Robert covering their retreat with a great burst of flame from his body which turns the webs to smoke as soon as it hits.
The group regather down the hall... when they realise that Ander did not escape with them. With heavy hearts Golinar and Gwylla return to the room, ever wary of spiders. They recover his body, and a pair of twinned war axes from the wall.
They fall back to the great well of Kanaglym to regather and rest. Hala cradles the head of Ander in her lap. The sneer for once, gone from his face. Reaching into her pack, she reminds the party of the scroll they recovered from the crazed gnome, so long ago in High Hold. It is agreed it should be used to bring Ander back...
Hala chants over Ander, imploring Oghma to return his soul to his body, so that he may continue learn the story of Kanaglym, and bring the knowledge back to the world. The scroll begins to glow brightly at the edges... the glow shifting to her hand, then to the chest of Ander, where it begins to pulse. Black venom is forced from his wounds... and his eyes flick open.
*Artworks by (forgetful) Twin Axes
Below are the session logs from the sessions, written for the benefit of all, containing what the PC's think they know. All spelling mistakes are mine, and I make no apologies for them! Excerpts from stories from Orangetree and CD have been quoted, and art from Orangetree and Twin Axes has been linked.
Hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed living it.
The main cast
Ander - A silver haired half elf, with a high opinion of himself.
Golinar Goldforge - A dwarfern Orator and warrior.
Gwylla - A grumpy and fearsome dwarfern axewoman.
Hala Rendor - A thayan priestess of Oghma.
Robert Twobellies - An Obese mage, mute.
Susana - A hin sorceress, obsessed by beauty.
...
Golinar, Ander, and (another dwarf) witness the attack of five men and women on Dina and Jakor at the Anglers inn. They come to the rescue. They are well rewarded for saving them with a ruby each. A very odd pair Dina and Jakor seem desperate to hire protection. The party undertakes to help them further (in return for more gems).
...
Deep within the Silverwood the group found the bodies of the "friends" of Dina and Jakor. Four men, all seeming having been killed without a struggle, their throats cut where they lay on the grass. Twobellies was the first to see the flash of red amongst the trees, and though he shook with fear alerted the party to the impending attack. The red robed wizard and his bodyguard fell in the fray to the axes of Gwylla and Golinar, and the sword of Ander. A small supply of potions and scrolls was recovered from the wizard and his guard. A closer inspection of the dead men showed their hands were calloused and strong. Ander would note that such hands mark them as sailors from the rope scars, something he saw often in the isles.
Dina and Jakor were shaken when told of the murder of their friends, though the red robed wizard seemed to bring no recognition. Jakor talks softly of being all alone now, and that their needs for the group is great. He promises further reward if the party will continue to act on their behalf. He and Dina seem more than a little desperate.
...
Cooter, Gwylla, Golinar, and Twobellies travel to the old (human mined) copper mine Jakor contracted them to clear (though he was very vague on "why"). They locate the mine without incident, guided by the elf Luer'i'thil. The first level is completely clear... though there is sign of just how old the mine is from the rockfall and state of the place. What is remarkable is just how clean the ground is. Completely free of dust and debris...
*Artwork by Twin Axes
Descending deeper into the mine has the party on edge. The air is thicker here, and humid. The humans begin to become uncomfortable, though the dwarfs barely notice. Golinar is caught unawares as a oozing acid creatures drops from the ceiling, just missing him, but finding its way into Gwyllas chainmail before being dispersed with axe blows.
A few oozes later the party attempts to cross an ancient rickety bridge, twobellies bulk sending him through the ancient timbers... only to be caught by his belly. As he flails in place Gwylla goes to help... and Golinar holds two oozes at bay by himself at great personal danger though he takes the pain without complaint like a true dwarf. Deeper again they travel, hacking oozes in their wake. As robart falls behind he hears a noise following them... a man who attacks... and then transforms into a rat, scoring a bite on Golinar.
Perhaps he followed them in.. for there are no signs that he lived here...
The party find an underground lake, filled with milky scaled blind fish. Cooter amuses himself by playing with them and treating them a golden waterfall which sends them to the deeps.
At the bottom most level of the mine the party finds and defeats an even larger ooze (or collection of oozes?) which releases a myriad of (very, very clean) metal items as it is ruptured. The mine has been cleared as best the party is able, and Jakor speaks of hiring guards and a few miners until he finds just the right "blue crystal"...
...
Golinar and Twobellies patrol the mine, spending long uneventful weeks watching labourers make it safe again. A dwarfern expert has been hired to sniff out a large blue crystal, the size of a human arm. As Golinar and Twobellies watch the milky white fish they seem them dart into an underwater passage. Shortly after a labourer finds them, warning of swarms of rats above, devouring all in their path. Golinar and Twobellies rush up to see for themselves. Alas, it is true, a mass of rats biting and clawing at each other swarm the passages of the mines. Golinar and Twobellies retreat to the lower levels, finding Dina, Jakor, and a labourer. Twobellies leads them to the underwater passage. The labourer does not surface with them, presumably drowning on the way.
Dina in particular appears highly distraught. The group pauses for a moment to think of the dozen or so dead miners that must have fallen to the rats. Eventually they regather and advance deeper into the caverns, where they see a blue crystal, in amongst many lrge mushrooms. As they advance Twobellies brushes against a mushroom, which lashes out at him. More do the same, and a battle is joined. The group is able to put them down easily enough. The mushrooms having almost no weight within them, and cutting and breaking easily.
After gathering the crystal they follow the caverns further through a myriad of tunnels. Eventually finding their way back to the surface. Jakor promises a full explanation in a few days time after he and Dina have rested.
...
As Golinar, Gwylla, and Robert seek out Jakor and Dina they are confronted by a brutal scene. Jakor body, with his throat slit in his inn room. The party questions the room guard who appeared to have been charmed. She is not able to give much information beyond a nice man in red who entered the room earlier and left with the woman (presumably Dina). In one last gesture of determination Jakor seemed to have left the party a clue - a small picture of a broken tower, written in his own blood. Robert recognised it as possibly a broken tower to the east of Rivermoot. The party sought out the Marshall to tell him of the murder - and ran into another group of adventurers. They were enlisted and the now much larger party went in search of the Red Robed man and Dina, following their presumed trail to the broken tower.
Outside they found a group of gnolls who were put down in quick order by the axes of the dwarves, and the missiles of the others.
Inside Gwylla walked into an ambush on the third floor where a brutal fight ensued against tall blond humans. Not only did they wield weapons but magics as well. Robert went down with a sword in the guts, and Golinar took a viscous axe blow to the helmet that sent him reeling back. Despite this, the party was able to emerge victorious. There was no sign of Dina, but the group did find red robed ones... dead in another presumed ambush. There was a mix of consumable magics found, a holy symbol of Umberlee, as well as a small sum of high value coinage.
The party left, the trail seems to have gone cold...
(for now)
...
Thre is much more discussion over Torpic. The party is suspicous of the stranger to Rivermoot who showed up shortly after the mine was recomissoned. Ander, Susana, Gwylla, Golinar, and Robert follow him as he leaves Rivermoot. Ander picks up a chanting noise from the nearby farms and the Gwylla confronts the hiding man. Susana identifies him as having some kind of connection with the cowled wizards of Amn. After threats back and forth the group pledges to help find and give Dina over to his care (in return for 2000 gp each). They agree though some hold doubts as to wether he is leading them to an ambush. They party and Torpic heads to an old manor in the Silverwood, where they attack and are attacked by presumed minions of the clergy of Umberlee. In a brutal fight Ander goes down after taking a mace to the ribs, but quick healing sees him live.
Almost as soon as the party has won they make out two tied and bound women in the manor. Dina, and an adventurer - Hala Rendor. As soon as Hala is freed she goes about healing the party. Torpic makes his way over to Dina, and then turns a wand on the party. He demands they move back...
As they move forward there is a crashing sound from outside the manor. Risking a glance out the window Torpic yells out it is the red Wizards, and the party must join him in fighting them off...
...
The group hastily frees three captives in the room, who quickly arm themselves. Quick looks out the window show a group of large muscular orcs with grey tinged skin. They are identified as "Thayan Orcs", magicly bred and infused with the blood of demons! Not only this but three red Wizards are also there in the fringes of the group, clearly the leaders. One seems to have a magicly augmented voice, and shouts out demands at the manor for them to free "The Pilot". After some stalling from the party and a few stray missles the manor is attacked!
The fray is brutal and fierce. Torpic goes down, his head caved in by an orc. Anders scoops up his wand, but not knowing the command word he stashes it away for now. Multiple times party members are beaten down, but quick reactions and healing consumables means that no one dies. Eventually two of the red wizards follow the orcs in, seeking to turn the tide. They prove dangerous foes with their spells of magical force and confusion. It is a close thing, but the party wins through in the end, taking a red wizard captive, and chasing the last out into the forest.
The leader of the red wizards is defient to the last, summoning flaming hounds from one of the hells to engage the party. Once again the party wins through, barely.
Back at the manor the captive is tortured and questioned - much to the consternation of a few of the earlier prisioners. Gwylla in particular shows no qualms about breaking his fingers to get the answers they need. The party learns of their leader "Kossom Slass", a wizard with a reputation for taking risks with the lives of others, but little else. Robert Twobellies is slowly overcome by his fear and hatred of his former Red Wizard captives and stabs the wizard in the neck, shaking all the while.
Also of note is what was found on the body of the leader...
The group is able to identify...
A magical short sword that is able to spit a gout of flames once. It can be recharged by the light of the morning sun. (Masterwork, Burning hands 1/day)
An amulet that augments the wearers voice so it can project further, often used for shouting out commands on the battlefield. (+3 perform (oratory))
The wand of lightning (2 charges remain)
There is also a scroll of Tongues... that in theory would allow Dina to speak with the group...
And a note
Breem,
I trust you are enjoying your little excursion to the marches? Perhaps next time you will think a little more carefully about the proper chain of command, no?
In any event – consider this. If you bring me the pilot alive, your slate will be wiped clean and all is forgiven. You will do well under me. If the pilot dies, well, your slate will be broken, and I will take great pleasure in enslaving your children.
Also, be a good chap and return via the enclave in Soubar if you please. The princes blade has been completed and is ready to be collected. They know you by sight, and the code is “The prince is owed”. I trust it will be worth the time and considerable expense we have poured into it.
Kossom Slass
(It is also marked with a wizards sigil, two steepled hands with a burning circle beneath)
.
...
Dina summons the group from the manor to meet her in Silverymoon.
In a room above the Smiling Satyr they find her, in the company of a pale man (Muir). Offering them a seat she begins to speak, explaining about the "Tongues" spell found in one of the Red Wizards spell books that lets her do so. She swears them all to secrecy and explains the following. She was the relieving pilot on a ship that sails between worlds, colloquially known as a "Spelljammer". The ship in question was attacked by pirates possibly because of its cargo (Smuggled rubies). It crashed in the icy wastes far to the north. The helm which allows it to fly has been damaged, and is in need of repair. Gwylla in particular was very skeptical but a shield made from an otherworldly wood everntually proved the truth of Dina. She was allowed to the keep the enchanted shield.
*Artwork by Twin Axes
She needs the help of the group to repair the helm, and leave this world. What she offers in return is a fortune in smuggled rubies, and the riches of worlds.
She answers many questions...
Jakor was a member of the crew (first mate) in addition to others found killed by the red wizards in the Silverwoods.
There was a sailor who fled the others when they reached civilization, what happened to him is unknown, but presumably he is how other groups found out about the crashed ship.
A very few nations own "spelljammers" but none know how to make the helms, her knowledge of how to potentially repair one is worth the wealth of kingdoms.
The ship is called "The Butterfly" which reminded Hala of one of the prophecies of Aulando.
Their next destination lies "south" though she was not specific with the where or why.
They are each given four rubies with which to equip themselves for the journey. (Robert and Anders will also be provided the same information in a private meeting off camera, and the same sum - 750 gold).
Muir is also given away by lack of a shadow (where his hands should be) as being a Tiefling. After much shock the group accepts him as being needed. In particular Dina seemed adamant he is needed.
...
The party (Gwylla, Golinar, Redmond, Robert, Hala, Muir) meet Dina again. Hala speaks of the prophecy of Aulando that may mentions the "Butterfly" which she recounts to the party.
The star in the north trailing light
The maidens drain and sailors sight
Powers gather and nations game
Lacking heart and lacking shame
Fools covet and saints greed
Seeking power unwise indeed
Powers gather and nations test
The broken bu’erfly at rest
So sayeth the wise Alaundo
- Seventh Portents
She also mentions a gnome that was mentioned (by a helpful scribe) to be also looking into Aulandos prophecies, and was thought to be headed out High Hold way. Dina informs them of their destination. Serpents Edge, in the Western Heartlands. The group head out, and overnight in The Anglers Inn, in High Hold. Dina heads upstairs for rest, but the others strike out chasing rumors of a gnome about town. Eventually they find him in the crypts outside High Hold, where he apears to have animated some of the corpses. They group deal with him, but find a greater oponent in a Mummy which drags itself up and out of its tomb. Eventually they are able to beat it into dust, despite their weapons being largely innefective.
The gnome himself was alive at the end of it all, but seems mostly deranged. Clearly he thought of himself as something of a prophet, and spoke of raising bhaal at the bridge. The party paid little heed to him after they realised he was most likely insane. He was given over to the guards at High Hold and the party continues on its way to the Heartlands where great adventure awaits!
...
In Rivermoot Dina gathers the group and speaks of a need to return to the copper mine where a valuable artifact was abandoned during the flight from the rats. They are tasked to retrieve (but under no circumstances to use) a seemingly normal deck of playing cards. The party ventures to the mine, finding it swarming with thousands of rodents. Every step is like wading through a river of vermin. They scuttle over boots and legs, occasionally nipping at flesh. The stench (needless to say) is something awful. The group work well together and push their way down into the depths fending off both seemingly spontaneous bursts of swarm activity and rat-men ambushes.
Eventually they reach the lowest level of the mine where they fight a very hard pressed battle against large were-rats who regenerate their wounds. The party curse their lack of silver or magical weapons. As they finally defeat the last of the rat-men warriors, and push off the swarm - a rat-man sorcerer flees through a magical gate. Without hesitation Gwylla jumps though, and is swiftly followed by the others with varying levels of dread.
One gut-wrenching and churning journey later they find themselves stripped of all items, and clad in simple black robes. Exactly where they are is a mystery. The group sets out to make sense of their situation and find the rat-man sorcerer. They come across strange oddities. Statues of things that make no sense, automated forges... and vast corridors long since abandoned. The party is able to scavenge some improvised weaponry and armor through breaking up ancient furniture. Hala showing some skill in such.
Robert discovers that he is able to speak in this place.
After much exploring and accidental combat (and fleeing of giant automations)... the group re-gather in the original room... starting to feel hunger and first - and worse yet Hala and Robert unable to regain any used magic. Robert lacking his spellbook, and Halas connection to her god seeming weak and distant. The party is already battered and bruised when a small swarm of rats backed by the sorcerer attacks. The party is able to win through in the end - and find a deck of cards in the rat-man sorcerers pocket.
After a little debate the "portal" card is used to call forth a portal, dumping them back in the mines - where they find a great pile of equipment (theirs) piled nearby. They return to Rivermoot. Robert seems greatly saddened by having known, and lost his voice again.
...
Shortly after the group has returned to Rivermoot they meet in the house dina rented. As they discuss their mis-adventure the bristly hair on the back of gwyallas neck stands up. She begins to have the feeling that they are bing watched. Robert alo has the same feeling... and realises that they are being scryed upon. As Dina becomes aware she cautions the other prcs into silence and fetches the spell books that the party recovered for her. Turning page after page she eventually finds what she is looking for and is able to turn back the magic... losing the scribed spell in the process.
She seems unsure of wether the scrying was inteded to locate robert... or use robert as a focus to track her. Either way is it presumed that the caster is a Red Wizard... and should be dealt with approriately. Dina was able to determine that the scrying came from the North east... Looking at the map, the only settlement worth mention is Winters Edge. The group is dispatched to find the scryer... and eliminate the threat.
The journey is a dangerous one through wild lands. Worst of all is an orc ambush, where they slide with abandon down a steep gully either side of the party. A shaman cast a spell which called forth the very soul of winter and chilled Golinar to his soul, yet with his stout dwarvern heart he was able to battle on, despite the hoar of frost that coated him. The fighting is fierce and the parties resources depleted. They recover a few useful items from the shaman who led the attack.
Pressing on, they make Winters Edge, where they learn of a Red Wizard staying in the inn. After much arguement about risks, bribing of guards, and failed attempts to enlist the local potion maker in their task the group settles on a plan to fake a fire and smoke him out in to an ambush. As they enter the inn to scout... they find him having breakfast in the taproom. He looks up with rhummy eyes... and back down. Robert is able to identify him as Thom. A powerful diabolist... or demonologist with notoriously bad eyesight. They quickly shuffle upstairs. Robert pleads with the party to leave due to the great danger they are in... and so they do. Despite the objections of Ander.
Returning to Dina they find Gwylla who had earlier stormed off. Dina is disheartened by the news of the wizard, and of the group running. However, what is done is done. She declares that she can no longer travel with Robert. As he turns to leave she calls him back. He is not yet released from his duties. Instead he will pave the way for her to go to the Moonshaes, even as she travels south into the western heartlands.
The company of the Ruby Death is split. Redmond, Hala, and Gwylla will go with dina to Serpents cowl far to the south, in search of old snake magic. Meanwhile Golinar, Ander, and Robert head to the Moonshaes to fufil a mission of great importance - the notes of which as handed to Robert along with a sum of rubies for their expenses. Muir is bribed to stay safe in the marches until Dina calls upon him again... it is implied that he is enormously valuable to her efforts to rebuild the butterfly, because of his tainted blood.
...
Moonshaes Group (Dina, Gwylla, Hala). (Zelk has excused herself from the pc of Redmond who is presumed to be resting from recent injuries and off camera for the forseeable future).
The group arrives in the heartlands. Walking over the boareskyr bridge (where Bhaal fell to Cyric) they make their way to Soubar, to rest for the evening. The place has surely seen better days, being run down and filled with low lifes and despair. The party stays at the Wandering Way - a converted inn that seems on the brink of collapse. There seems great potential for trouble, but Gwyllas harsh stare keeps the trouble makers at bay.
After an awful sleep interupted by tavern brawls and a possible stabbing the party leaves in the morning. They make Serpents cowl and speak with the locals about the history of the place. It was once the Yuan-ti city of Ss’thar’tiss’ssun, laid low by war. It has been warded against their return. It is here that Dina hopes to find "a weave node", a site of great power.
The party ventures inside and finds ancient warnings. Great statues and altars lay, covered in dust. There is a brief scuffle with a bug which the party bests easily. Further into the compound there is another - this time another bug, with a great set of pincers, that charges like a great bull, scattering the party left and right. Dina and Hala are felled in short order, with Gwylla falling back - the bug in pursuit. Gwylla is able to bring Hala back from the brink during the chase. Hala in turn heals Dina, and they rejoin the fray. Dina expends all her magic in the fray, and it is only then that Gwylla and Hala are able to bring the bug down - Hala striking the final blow, and caving in its chintinous skull.
The party limps out to lick their wounds, and plan their next move. Dina seems adamant they must return...
...
The WHL group (Ander, Golinar, Robert). Robert and Golinar are "off-screen" following rumours...
The group arrives in the isles with Dinas notes and the crystal recovered from the copper mines. Dina wishes it "empowered" by a weave node. It is spoken that there is one off-shore near the isles. Ander is nursing a mug of cheap ale when he hears tell of a mermaid who has been seen by sailors recently. Leaving the tavern to seek more information he comes across a hin and druid discussing the same story with a local guard. The hins name is Susana, and the druid Bu. Bu is adamant there is no mermaid, and that it is fanciful sailor stories. A gnomish woman nearby declares it absolute truth - and in fact that her airship is running "mermaid tours" for 7 gp a head (including wine and apples). Bu storms off as the gnome woman invites Susana and Anders aboard the ship. He seems angry at the potential for harm coming to the mermaid from such clumsy interaction.
The airship flies out to sea, and soon spots a great pod of dolphins, with a silvery streak following. Susana seems to recognise the mermaid, and the ship moves down closer to see. Susana is lowered on a rope ladder to speak with the mermaid, but falls as the ship banks... and crashes into the sea. She loses consiousness in the water, but is born back to the surface by a dolphin... who changes into a man... the druid Bu. The mermaid swims around them both, darting in and out, touching Susanas hair.
There is chittering between Bu and the mermaid.. who takes Susana in her arms, and swims around with her cradled like a child. Anders meanwhile leans over the whole scene, trying to get Bu to ask her about what he seeks. He catches the mermaids eye with his fine half-elven features... and she seemingly invited him into the water as well...
After more excitable chittering between Bu and the mermaid Susana is returned to the rope ladder by the reluctant mermaid... who leaps into the air... and dives under, swimming away in a silvery flash.
The group returns to land, Bu choosing bird form over flying in the airship.
Ander strikes a deal with Susana - in return for her and Bus help in finding the weave node (talking to the mermaid) he will tell them why... (and so he does, mixing truth and lies with great aplomb).
Bu later informs them (not being privy to the why of why the group seeks the site) that the mermaid also asked that Ander beings some handsome friends, for the mermaids sister on the next full moon, so that they may all swim together. Bu seems willing to cast the spells needed for the party to breath underwater...
...
Far south in the heartlands...
Hala makes it known that she is seeking hirelings from Soubar and Serpents edge. As can be expected in such an unruly land, the full gauntlet of thugs and scum turn up. Hala recruits judiciously with her allotted funds, eventually choosing three hirelings – a huge half orc, and two humans. She refuses the services of four others, who leave – their contempt clear.
The newly enlarged group heads down into the ruined complex (again). It is as dark and desolate as last time. This time however, with more sword arms the group is able to press to the second level, fighting another few large beetles in their path.
The second level holds more statues and presumed temples... but none seem to be the site of power Dina is looking for. In one remote flooded corner Hala spots something down in the water... and heads down to investigate. Bones.
Shortly after she enters the water, ripples move to meet her own, and a huge snake drags her from her feet, and under the water. The party jump to her rescue, hacking into the snake. In a few brief, bloody moments she is freed. Gwylla brings the remains out of the water, and notes that they are dwarf bones. She also finds a small rune stone, which she tucks away for investigation later...
The party proceeds on, facing a handful of large spiders, before concluding they have searched all that can be searched. The way further down appears to be warded... from below. Suggesting the Yuan-ti may still be in the levels below.
As the dis-spirited group returns to the surface they find five figures awaiting them. The four of the prospective hirelings, and a gnome with a crossbow. They demand gold. When Gwylla moves to push through them, they attack. Thugs they may have been, but well equipped killers they were not. The battle is brutal, and short, and once again blood coated the weapons of the party. They were left where they fell, a testament to the folly of foolish greed.
As the hirelings are paid and thanked and wander away, Dina turns to Hala and Gwylla. She is clearly unhappy, and seems almost lost. For a moment they see her drop the mask of competent wizard, and that below it she is a truly homesick and scared woman. That evening she speaks to Gwylla of the fallen dwarf and take the time to read the runestone found... by the dying embers of the fire she reads aloud the translated rune...
To the kin who may seek us out, know this. The great city of Kanaglym is lost to both time and memory, and I fear it will remain lost. Pride was our downfall, for ‘twas pride that brought us low.
No longer shall the forges sing
No longer shall the picks ring
No longer shall we know anything
I watched kin wander away into the tunnels, bereft of any sense. I watched them sit and starve to death, forgetting to eat. I watched our city wither and die. Our city was great and powerful. Our forges which were powered by the weave of the land itself now lie abandoned. Our warriors who were without measure now starve, their living weapons left in the armoury. Our king who was wise beyond reason, sits on his throne and stares at the wall.
Know that I am the last, and I must leave this place to tell its tale.
I beseech thee, kin. Find us.
Kargnag, son of Kanaglym.
“Living weapons?, if they speak of the metal which lives... then this may be what i seek! For it is only in sites of power that the metal may take a life of its own. Gwylla, Hala, we must find the lost dwarfern city of Kanaglym!”
...
Meanwhile, on an isle in the distant ocean...
The group prepares for their forthcoming journey under the water. It is decided that it would be prudent to appease Umberlee in advance, as she was denied the earlier drowned death of Susana. And so it is that they seek out a priestess in the town of Caer Kingsbay. They find her standing in the shallow surf, a knife in her hand, and blood dripping from the other. She smiles as they approach... and Ander a feeling he has seen her somewhere before...
She was Selma of Umberlee, yet he knew her as Selma the Sow, a girl from the village he grew up in. And a girl he teased and belittled as a child. In a twist of fate, ‘twas now her who held the upper hand. She extracted concessions and sacrificed from each of them. Roughly sawing off some of Susanas beautiful golden hair, and making Golinar bleed into the sea as she had done. Robert refused to cut himself, and she rebuffed him, telling him his denial of Umberlee would be remembered... all the while smirking at Ander as she took her petty revenge upon him.
His task was the most onerous and demanding. Travel to Ruathym and retrieve a helm of water breathing from Throgar of Valkur, who had forsaken Umberlee the bitch queen for Valkur, lord of war on the water. Throgar was said to be a great beserker, and it seemed a very dangerous task. The group set out with heavy hearts, wondering how they could take his prized helm.
The weather on route to Haven in Ruathym was spectacularly good and calm. Even seasoned sailors remarked they didn’t remember the last time it was this good. It was almost like the calm before the storm...
They found Thorgar celebrating his last raid in the field outside Haven. He had celebrated by getting drunk with his crew, and killing his brother over a dispute in who killed the most warriors. Atop his head sat a horned helm, surely the one they were sent to find. They approached carefully, and Golinar found common ground with Throgar when he introduced himself as a warrior. Throgar called for the mead, and as there was a shortage of cups, dipped his own helmet into the ale to drink from. The helm was passed from person to person, even Golinars tiny dwarf wife, Susana, who looked far more attractive than he remembered than the last dwarfern women he had seen.
Susana wandered off to use the “bathroom” and surreptitiously cast detect magic, identifying his axe and helm as magical. His axe he had left buried in the ground, next to the body of his brother. Susana used the spell “Prestidigitation” to create a crude copy of his axe...
Meanwhile the conversation with Throgar had taken a turn for the worse when Golinar was far to honest in his conversation with the beserker. He wanted Thorgars helm. Thorgar refused, and instead challenged Golinar to take it from him in combat, if he wanted it so much. Ander weighed in, talking up Golinars battle prowess and how he could likely defeat Thorgar with just his beard. Thorgar called for his axe, and Susana called out that she would fetch it for him...
As the other northmen (and women gathered around) Susana quickly dragged her faux axe over, placing it in the hand of the very drunk Throgar. Meanwhile she dragged his original axe into a hollow in the snow... amazingly no one noticed. Throgar whirred his axe in a great circle, cutting deadly arcs in the air. As he pulled back to swing at Golinar... his axe snapped at the haft.
He stared at the handle in his hand, a look of drunken incredulity on his face. Ander and Golinar were quick to jump on the situation, convincing him with blistering oratory, smoothness, and deceit that Valkur had deserted him. Shamefaced he offered them the helm to keep their silence. All to quickly they agreed and hurried for the ship that would take them home... a long hour later... their ruse had not been discovered, and they set sail for Caer Kingsbay.
*Artwork by Twin Axes
They found Selma again, and returned the helm. Ander belittled her again, as they traded testy barbs, and eventually he spurned her demands of attention, walking off as she shouted after them of her hatred for Ander.
It would seem that they had dealt with Umberlees possible wrath, while earning that of Selma. Only time would tell how this would affect their journey to the depths of the ocean...
...
In the heartlands Dina turns to a ritual to divine the wherabouts of Kanaglym...
Meanwhile in the isles the others are preparing for a refreshing swim in the ocean...
Ander, Golinar, Robert and Susana meet Bu who takes them to the awaiting mermaids. As the sun dips low on the horizon they enter the water enchanted to both swim like fish, and breathe the same by Bu. Golinar seems to struggle with the concept that he can now breathe underwater, and keeps his mouth clamped firmly shut, sinking to the sea floor. Slowly all eyes turn to him, as after a few minutes he is forced to expel the expended air from his lungs, as his brain demands he breathe. As breathe he does, water. The mermaids laugh, and cavort, and play with the group. The silvertailed mermaid attempts to wim off with Susana a few times, but Bu herds them back to the group (as a dolphin). Eventually Susana present Silvertail with a small silver mirror as a gift, and is soon suurounded by the other mermaids who greedily fight over the trinkets she passes out. Eventually the mermaids begin to lose interest and swim away into the ocean, and Silvertail leads them back to the shore they came from.
Bu translates their questions on finding a site of power under the water.
The mermaid speaks of an old place, a volcanic vent that used to amplify magic, many years ago. Then the shark-men came and built a great temple over it. Sometime in the years since the sharkmen deserted the place for reasons unknown, yet the merfolk dare not return.
The group sets out led my the merwoman and Bu. As soon as they arrive she flees, clearly afraid of what lies below. Bu enchants the party again, notably allowing them to move freely under the water. Down they swim, Bus warning about time spent here reverberating in their ears. The sea below is cold and ominous.
They swim down to the sea bed, and head for the ancient wreck of a ship. Susana spots a dark shape moving overhead, a shark. It heads straight for Robert, trying to swim over Golinar who gut it with two swings from his axe. Within a few seconds the sea is tinged red with its blood. Quickly they move away, overhead they see more sharks streak, moving for the carnage they left behind them. They cannot help but remember the words of Selma of umberlee who warned Robert that he has denied Umberlee and would suffer for it. A few moments later they gain the lee of the broken ship. A savage tidal surge sends them towards its barnacle encrusted side. Susanas small form is lifted high and swept straight towards the ship... but golinar catches her by the leg. Holding them both safe by clinging to seaweed. The current is gone as quickly as it came.
Moments later the surge returns as they pass through a great coral arch. Susana is again caught in the current, and scraped painfuly over the coral, opening many small cuts upon her. Tiny little swirls of blood drift into the water...
Minutes later four hammerhead sharks find the party. The combat is a vicous one. Golinar is largely able to hold his own in the fray, but Ander is caught between two sharks. His sword arm is seized and the shark thrashes back and forth, trying to rip it from his body. His rapier drops from his hand towards the sands below as he passes out from pain. Robert is close at hand, and moves through the water with surprising grace. He loops an arm over the thrashing shark, and stabs inwards with his butchers knife, again and again. The shark releases Ander who slowly sinks. Golinar hauls him to the surface, where they expel the water from Ander and force healing draughts in. There is no time for rest however, the thrashing and blood in the water brings more sharks.
The group swim down as fast as they can. Overhead the ocean churns as dozens of sharks rip into the carcasses. One shark seperates from the rest, and slams into the shield on Anders back. Golinar, ever the quick thinker moves forward, and slams it right back with a powerful jab of his axe. The shark recoils, before streaking back up to feed above them.
The party makes haste towards the shelter of a reef, where they find a small opening. The enter...
And discover chambers, seemingly grown out of the coral itself. Jellyfish sit in the water here, trailing great tendrils. The group moves further inwards, before emerging in a great carvern. Towers of coral grace the water here, raising high. Robert removes Dinas crystal and it thrums in his hand, pulling them onwards. It leads them to a great temple of the shark men, evident from the motifs on the wall. Sharkmen sacrificing lesser races, victorious in battle and so forth. Deeper into the temple they find a great alter, that radiates and glows in time with the crystal in Roberts hand.
Five fish men swim over and around the alter, they spot the party and move in... Golinar and Ander close the gap quickly. Robert following close. Susana, near to helpless under the water without her magic remains back, clutching her small dagger and hoping for the best. As Golinar and Ander collide with the fish men, Robert moves his hands in a deliberate fashion and calls upon his magic to summon forth a sea creature to aid the battle. To his surprise two sharks apear in the water, and swim towards the fish men. Even with the sharks on their side, the battle takes a dire turn, as Golinar bears the brunt of their attack. Their spears thrust through his soft leather armor, yet by force of will he battles on. Again and again they thrust, and again and again their spears find their mark, the barbed tips doing as much damage on the way out as in. Susana seeing the desperation of the situation swims as fast as he can towards them, praying that somehow she will be able to make the difference in the fray...
Golinar swings a blow and drops a fishman... then realises he has left himself wide open. The fish man stabs, just as golinar is able to reverse his axe...
Its spear skids of his shield, even as his axe bites deep into its skull, having cleaved down between its bulging eyes. Moradin, is he was watching would have been proud and his tenacity and skill in such a foreign place.
Golinar yet lives and breathes, but his blood streams out of multiple wounds. Surely he will not make the return journey. He looks at the others with a resignation in his eyes... and Robert once again begins to move his hands in a deliberate fashion, concentration upon his face. A single bubble forms at his finger tip...before all hells burst loose and the chamber is transformed into a violent swirling maelstrom of air and water. After a few disorientating moments the wind gust has risen to the ceiling of the temple, and Robert gestures them upwards where they clear their lungs of water. Ander produces a familiar wand of healing, and touches its tip to Golinar.
Ivavu
The wand tip glows for a moment, before blasting Golinar savagely back in the water, a moment of shock later the party reslises that he has not been hurt, but healed beyond all measure. Far more than should be possible from the lightly enchanted wand. Ander with a disturbing smile turns the wand on the others, painful blasting them back in the water. Clearly something in this temple has been amplifying magic...
Robert swims to the temple alter, waving Dinas crystal through the glow. It begins to pulse bright, as the lights over the alter dim. even as it does so, water begins to swirl behind them... with looks of panic the group waits for the lights of the alter to fully dim before they swim away, as quickly as they can. Behind them the temple surges and roils as some great force is awakened. By the skin of their teeth they escape outside the temple entrance, and up to the cavern above. Ander leads them through a hole in the cavern, where they find the rising sun to greet them. They strike out for shore, and are met by bu along the way.
Back on firm land (where Bu departs again) they celebrate, each reflecting upon what they have acheived. Susana in particular is especially radiant, blessing each of them in turn. With crystal in hand and companions at his side, Robert turns to face the sun, wondering what his next contact with Dina will bring...
*Artwork by Twin Axes
...
In the Dusty Dragon inn, in far away Serpents Cowl, on the edge of the forest of Wyrms, a young and very lost mage locks herself into her inn room, leaving Gwylla and Hala standing outside. They are given strict instructions that under no circumstances should they enter.
They hear the occasional scratching and shuffling noises of Dina moving around some hours later. Followed by her voice, speaking in some terrible awful language that sends a vague sense of dread up the spine even of the battle tested and stout Gwylla. She speaks, and awaits for a moment as though listening to an answer, before speaking again a handful of times. Eventually there is more shuffling noises and Dina opens the door looking drawn and pale. On the hem of her robe is chalk marks and beyond her on the floor are overturned candles and the vague rubbed out chalk outline of a summoning circle.
She looks to Gwylla and Hala with bloodshot eyes.
"It is done, I must send to Robert now, and have the others come to us, I know how we may find the path to Kanaglym".
Leaving the door open, she moves to a spellbook on her deak flipping through its pages. A short time later she stops and carefuly intones, sigils vanishing from the page as she speaks...
Though they stand thousands of miles away both Hala, Gwylla and Robert hear the same words spoken by Dina...
"Robert. All well. We need you and the others. Gather companions, travel to Serpents Edge. Perpare for travel and war beneath ground. Tell Golinar, Kanaglym. Dina."
...
After a long journey at sea, and a long wait, the split groups finally regathers themselves in Serpents Cowl. Gwylla and Hala meet with Golinar, Robert, Ander, and Susana in the Dusty Dragon Inn. The group trades stories, even as Dina finds them. Dina is surprised to find Susana with them, but allows her to remain with the group, providing she goes with them into Kanaglym. Ander is given a map, and away they travel. Dina remaining behind, pleading fatigue.
They follow the map she gained from her divinations, which leads them to a gnomish mine. They speak to the elder who allows them to pass through for ten gold each... where they find themselves in the Undermoor. A dark section of caves that runs under the High Moor.
Susana calls forth a ball of light to illuminate the darkness. A myriad of twisting caverns and passages soon have the party well and truly lost. After some misadventures they stumble upon an old dwarvern road which leads them through a small outpost.
They come to a ruined bridge, where the group decides to cross. Ander jumps in, and finds a treacherous current awaits him, even as Gwylla takes a running jump. The current sweeps Ander up against the middle piller, which shifts under Gwyllas weight. She jumps again, even as Ander pushes off with powerful strokes. Gwyllas stubby legs propel her to the other side, while Ander is pushed against the far wall by the surge of water from the toppled pillar. With much difficulty and no small effort the group crosses with the aid of ropes. Susana and Robert in particular struggling with the journey and almost drowning.
The battered party dries out.
After more twists and turns the party comes to another ruined bridge, which Gwylla is able to clear after a painful misjump. With the aid of some ropes, they cross again... and find themselves in Kanaglym.
It is eerily silent . Surreal almost. Some undead haunt the hauls, and orc bodies are found. The group finds some forges, but they lie dormant, and there is no sign of recognition from the altar. Ander who presses ahead of the group, finds himself in a great webbed room. He brushes against a web... and the room erupts with spiders, who burst from great sacks upon the wall.
His sword flicks out, killing one, but two more take its place, then three and four, in short time he is surrounded in spiders. Gwylla and Golinar come to his rescue, but find themselves covered in spiders as well, which crawl through their armor, biting at any exposed flesh. They are forced back to the hall. Robert covering their retreat with a great burst of flame from his body which turns the webs to smoke as soon as it hits.
The group regather down the hall... when they realise that Ander did not escape with them. With heavy hearts Golinar and Gwylla return to the room, ever wary of spiders. They recover his body, and a pair of twinned war axes from the wall.
They fall back to the great well of Kanaglym to regather and rest. Hala cradles the head of Ander in her lap. The sneer for once, gone from his face. Reaching into her pack, she reminds the party of the scroll they recovered from the crazed gnome, so long ago in High Hold. It is agreed it should be used to bring Ander back...
Hala chants over Ander, imploring Oghma to return his soul to his body, so that he may continue learn the story of Kanaglym, and bring the knowledge back to the world. The scroll begins to glow brightly at the edges... the glow shifting to her hand, then to the chest of Ander, where it begins to pulse. Black venom is forced from his wounds... and his eyes flick open.
*Artworks by (forgetful) Twin Axes
