The Collected Journals of Artemis Heuw Cannith

Azlin's tale, part 4

I hate to get so far ahead of Artemis's journals, but the campaign will be on hiatus for several weeks while we return temporarily to our Greyhawk campaign (Journey to the Sea). So here's my next entry.
sniffles
_____________________

Seems my new companions don't know much about that magic room I saw when I was aboard the airship. They want to go check it out. There's more to it than just a room. But magic doesn't work there. I'll have to buy an ordinary pack. A healer's kit would be a good idea, too. I don't see how that place can be cut off from the Host, but they say it is.

That was weird. Walk through a door, any door, with a special key, and you're there. In that tower. We had to go back and start over so the door wouldn't lead back to Artemis's tower. Just in case someone else is in the Lost Room. That's what they're calling it.

Looks like an ordinary room: bed, wardrobe, desk, fireplace. White bearskin rug on the floor. Staircase in the middle is a bit odd. Can't open the windows.

Searched pretty thoroughly. Not much there. Doesn't look like anyone lives there. Xil says he left a coin under the bed but it's gone now. Artemis found a brass button on the floor.

Surprise - stuff in this room can't be affected. Put some paper from the desk in the fire - won't burn. Can't cut the fur off the rug. Maybe some kind of stasis?

Went downstairs cautiously. Door at the bottom, locked. No keyhole. Artemis unlatched it somehow. Opened into a big room full of colored lights. Oh, it's an orrery! But made of light!

Don't know how that magic works when ours doesn't. I'm already tired of being behind everyone else. I want my boots to work.

Lots of writing on the walls, big letters, floor to ceiling - and it's a high ceiling. Big enough for a dragon. Written in draconic, too. Too bad I can't read it, though Artemis says it doesn't make sense.

Big set of brass-bound doors on the other side. Conshru runs over and opens them. Halfling's got no sense.

There's a beach out there, like you can see from the windows upstairs. Conshru rides right through - and he's gone! No tracks in the sand.

Just realized, this room is bigger than upstairs. Wonder if this room isn't in the same place as the upstairs room?

Everyone's going through the doors, all together so we don't get separated. We're not on a beach - it's a cave, but not a deep one. Not made by people.

The doors are gone! Not a sign of them. Conshru comes riding back. Thank the Host he's okay. Artemis found a keyhole in the wall. That's a relief.

Conshru found some crates and barrels. Full of weapons, supplies. It's all from Sharn. So we're not the only ones here.

Fire! Where did that come from? Oh, it's Conshru. Testing out his magic. Some magic works here, but it's weak.

Conshru comes running back in again yelling something about "don't hurt me!" Says there are bugbears up ahead. I move up to meet them with my waraxe ready. He says he saw four of them.

Bugbears take cover at a narrow spot. I move in. Conshru sets them on fire. Bugbear and I can't hit around the corner. Conshru burns them again and one falls.

Xil steps up with a sword - haven't seen him use one of those before. Uses it pretty handily. Now there's a third bugbear fighting. Conshru runs after the fourth - it went for help.

Sten's got a bow - where was he carrying that? The three bugbears are down - run after number four. Can't let him get reinforcements.

Cave leads outside. There's a stream with a bridge over it. By the time we catch up Sten's taken down the last bugbear, but he's not dead. We drag him back to the cave to question him.

It's starting to get dark here, though we haven't been here long enough. The sky looks funny. There's only one moon. What the Mockery does that mean?!

I bandage up the bugbear's wounds and wake him up. He doesn't want to talk at first, but he's not very bright. Somebody named Garrow hired him - the others seem to know who that is. Garrow's working with a lycanthrope named Gerard, who lives here. Bugbear doesn't know where 'here' is, though.

Bugbear says Garrow's looking for something. He doesn't know what. Nobody's come through the tower for weeks. Apparently not since my friends got the magic key. Sounds like they took it from Garrow.

We promise to let the bugbear go if he tells all. After that he helps us move some of the boxes of weapons into the orrery room. We go back to the tower, then back where we started from - the Red Hammer - then come back again, just to see if anything changed. The crates are gone.

Artemis wants to do some research before we go back there again. We need to prep better for doing without magic. That's hard on him, and on Gwaenna especially. She barely said a word while we were in that place.

The bugbear said something about the natives calling that place Kathera. I've heard that name before. I need to do some research myself.
_____________
Quips & Quotes:
[sblock]
Hedrin: "So I look under the mattress. Anything? under there?"
DH: "No."
Hedrin: "No dragon porn?"
DH: "Is there such a thing? How does that work?"
Zora: "They are called great wyrms for a reason."

DH: "Wait, cosmic reset."
Zora: "Grix backs up. 'Beep, beep, beep.' Grix, quit making that noise."

Zora: "Raaaarr!" (waves a huge plastic dinosaur over the table)
sniffles: "Someone put out a glass of water."
Devo: "Xil just put out some water."
patv: "It's not in a glass."

patv: "Check the walls for writings of a madman."
Hedrin: "Have you written anything yet?"

DH: (draws an amorphous shape on the battlemat)
sniffles: "We're in an intestine!"

Hedrin: (huddles three bugbear minis together after they're killed) "Guys, this isn't working. We're getting killed out there. Why is it so hot in here?"

Devo: "It's firing range."
patv: "Everything for Conshru is firing range."

patv: "Did you put a dinosaur in your pocket?"
Zora & sniffles simultaneously: "No, he's just happy to see you."

patv: "Now we can test to see if the objects from the Lost Room are magically indestructible."
Zora & sniffles simultaneously (again): "Or are they magically delicious?"
[/sblock]

Azlin's tale resumes

We're back!

I've decided to start placing my "quips and quotes" inside the narrative to put them in context. They're sblocked for those who don't want to see them.
_______________________
Quips: [sblock]
DH: "Let us move forward a little bit. No, let us back up."
sniffles: "Beep, beep, beep..."
Patv: "Let's review. No, no, that takes too long."

DH: "Let's do a quick overview of the campaign so far. In the beginning..."
Zora: "...when a mommy loves a daddy..."

DH" "So you met some warforged agents of the Lord of Blades."
Devo: "Cutlass, Sabre, Scimitar..."
Sniffles: "...Pointy Stick..."
Devo: "...Left Elbow...

DH: "You found out the vampire might actually be a changeling."
Jubilee: "He could in fact be Xil. Have we ever seen them both in the same room?"
Devo: "Xil says, 'I killed him. I'll show you the body. Oh no! It's gone!'"
DH: "So Garrow killed Xil and took over his character."
Jubilee: "Because you know Pat loves it when that happens to his characters."
Patv: "I could use the extra levels."
[/sblock]
Azlin's tale, pt. 4

Things are starting to get interesting. My new friends are involved with some pretty unusual stuff.
I meet with them at the Heuw estate and learn that back before I joined - before Gwaenna or Conshru turned up either - Artemis’s old group got into quite a bit of trouble. Got a couple of them killed.

Seems some ancient hero of the Dhakaani Empire left some stuff lying around. Well, not exactly lying around. But it could be trouble in the wrong hands. I’d say a demon-bound sword is trouble.

My companions rescued Khas's breastplate when it was stolen from Morgrave. Then they found the Stone of Khas in the undercity. Now we're off to Droaam after the sword.

The king's interested in the Sword, too. A man called Malekith Kain sends for us and questions us about our plans. I wonder who told him - like Gwaenna said, we haven't told anyone but each other.
[sblock]
Jubilee: “Too bad I didn’t put any ranks in Decipher Script. So I could read the message.”
Zora: “I have something I can do with the message. Scorching Ray! FIRE!”
Jubilee: “I like the way you operate!”
[/sblock]
He wants first crack at the sword but isn't willing to send anyone to get it. Artemis isn't having any of that. Doesn't trust this Kain fellow, even though Artemis's brother is working for Kain. Sounds like Artemis and his brother don’t exactly see eye to eye.

Artemis tells us before we get there that he wants to use the sword to take revenge for his father. His father was killed by a mindflayer. He thinks it’s something to do with an orb his old group found, but the orb was taken away by the elf priestess who used to travel with them. I’m not sure if the artificer using that sword would be a good idea.

Kain doesn't push about the sword. He even bives us some leads. He tells us the Emerald Claw are looking for it, too, or so he thinks. We’re trying to track down a couple of people from Morgrave who went after the tomb of Khas, on behalf of Kain. We're to meet one of Kain’s agents in Greywall.

He gives us some messenger bees to send back to him - wonders never cease in this city!
[sblock]
Messages we suggest sending back to Malekith Kain using the messenger bees
Zora: “The trip’s been easy so far.”
Devo: “There’s a great price on shoes here.”
sniffles: “That sandwich I had for lunch was delicious.”
Zora: “Stay away from power lines.”
sniffles: “Oh my gawd, what the hell is that?!”
patv: “Aaaaarrhhhh....”
Hedrin: “Artemis is insane, my job is impossible.”
[/sblock]
After what I've heard, I'm not sure I'd trust Kain’s people either. They lost another such sword - it was stolen by a vampire! Artemis recovered it, which makes me think we’re better suited to dealing with Khas’s sword than this Dark Lantern crowd or whatever they call themselves.

Bought a new chain shirt so I've got something to wear even when I have to take off my splint mail. Best to be prepared. Can't protect my friends if I don't protect myself.

Took the lightning rail to Wroat. Sten thinks we're being followed. Costs 40 gold pieces to get to Wroat!

Buy a horse in Wroat. I don't like riding, but no other choice to get where we're going. Trying to find someplace called the Valley of Blades, or Djanet Draal. Nobody seems to know where either one is, though. Sounds familiar, but I don't know why.

Some shifty characters at the first inn we stop at. Then we almost get turned back. Border’s closed. But Artemis drops Kain’s name and they let us pass.

Run into the shifty folks again later on the road. They dropped a tree to block the road, then ambush us when the halfling rides up to help move it. Filthy Karrnathi. Men come out of the woods with crossbows. Conshru's surrounded.

One of them hits Conshru with a poisoned bolt. Gwaenna moves up to help him.
Sten blasts somebody with that creepy energy he shoots.

I shake the earth under the ambushers’ feet and most of them fall over like ninepins. Too bad I do it before the zombies show up. The Karrnathi had them hidden under the earth. Artemis torches those - leaves a big pile of zombie ash in the middle of the road.

They have a wizard with them. He freezes Gwaenna in her tracks, but Conshru cooks him good. He even has Grix breathing fire somehow! As usual, I never see what Xil does. He’s always behind me or something else.
[sblock]
Zora: "Tonight on Cooking With Conshru, our secret ingredient is: FIRE!"
[/sblock]
I pull out the hammersphere my friends gave me and let the hammer go on one of the Emerald Claw devils. Then I summon up a hammer of my own. This is fun! But it'd be more fun to chop up a few with my ice axe.

Don't get the chance, though. My friends wipe most of them out before I can get off my horse. But a couple of them run away. I guess that's not the last we'll see of them.

After we search the bodies we cut up the log and keep heading for Graywall. I’d like to see the reaction when the next travelers see that spot!

Azlin's tale, pt. 6

[sblock]
Jubilee: "I can't help it - I see written things, I read them."
DH: "Cursed scrolls, here we come!"

Jubilee: "I am not getting naked to get into a pool!"
Zora: "Yes, but what about your character?"
[/sblock]

Graywall's pretty scummy. Doesn't hold up to the stone carving of the Six Kings we saw before we got there. Town stinks like a cesspit and the buildings are all… wrong.

Ran into some folks from House Orien. They tell us we'd be safer in the human quarter. We find a decent inn and stabling for our horses.
[sblock]
Zora: "Don't they have a non-human quarter, where we can stable our human?"
[/sblock]
Have to ask around a lot to find our contact. Kain only told us his name. Too bad none of us are good at that sort of thing. We're better at starting fights.

Conshru's got a new pet. Some kind of cat-like critter tried to crawl up my leg. Apparently considered good eating. He and Gwaenna save it from someone's dinner plate.
[sblock]
DH: "You see a cat-size animal with gliding membranes between its limbs."
Zora: "What is it?"
DH: "You don't know."
Zora: "I roll Knowledge (nature). Ooh, not on that roll. By the texture of the claws, I think it's some kind of grizzly bear!"
[/sblock]
Turns out our contact is an orc tending bar at a pit-fighting dive. Place is packed with vermin, gnolls, bugbears and the like.

The orc gives Artemis something and we leave pretty quick. Conshru says trouble is brewing. We hustle down a winding alley and set ourselves up to make an ambush. Conshru hangs back so he can warn us.

They catch up with us quick: an ogre, some kind of wolf-like creature, and a strange black-skinned woman wizard. She's trouble. Actually, they all are.

I call up the hammer from the sphere to wallop the ogre. Too bad the magic doesn't make it more accurate. Then I pray for Boldrei to give us her divine protection. Gwaenna's too far away to benefit, which is a very bad thing for her.

The wolf-thing is sort of hard to see -and to hit. The ogre has heavy armor and a huge mace. They're doing a lot of hurt to Gwaenna and Conshru. Some black energy hits the Halfling and he sags on Grix's back. But he still points a wand at the wizard woman.

A burst of lightning crackles around Gwaenna and Conshru. Both of them look a little scorched. The flickering wolf-thing claws and bites at Gwaenna. Behind her the ogre hefts his massive mace. He swings at Conshru but Grix dodges out of the way.

Conshru wreathes the ogre and wolf-thing with flames that bind them like rope. He and Gwaenna exchange terse shouts with Artemis about the magic that's flying around the filthy alley. Artemis points his wand down the alley at the wizard, who I can't see from where I'm standing.

Gwaenna swings her sword at the ogre and lightning plays along the blade. He stumbles back a half-step. From behind me Sten's purple energy shoots past but misses the ogre.A bugbear rushes out of a side alley and hits the ogre with a staff- it's really Xil. The ogre staggers but doesn't fall.

The wolf-creature lunges at Gwaenna, drawing a sword. I can see it better now - it's got armor on! It moves really fast, but Conshru's fire keeps it from striking.

A blast of fire fills the alley around me. I nearly pass out. Coins and bottles scatter on the ground as Artemis's homunculus turns to ash. Grix flings himself and Conshru out of range and the flames just wash over Sten.

The ogre swings at Conshru, and that's too much for him. He misses his aim and falls over. My hammer keeps on thwacking him as he lies on the ground.

I use my belt to heal myself, but I'm still in bad shape. Artemis looks pretty weak, too. Gwaenna's collapsed and it looks serious. Conshru grabs Gwaenna and disappears. At least the fire didn't take her.

Artemis blows a horn, and a whole swarm of constructs appear, running off toward the wizard. I can't see them after that. I ask for Dol Arrah's aid to heal myself some more.

Sten points up to a rooftop - the wizard's up there now. I send my hammer at her but it has no effect. I shoot a moon bolt at her too, but it does nothing. Artemis's constructs are climbing up the building after her. I think she looks worried.
[sblock]
DH: "She's worried about the guys climbing the building."
Patv: "So she casts grease. Because grease is the word."
[/sblock]
Conshru's flying - he's turned Grix into a glidewing! He wraps some green stuff around the wizard so she can't move, and then has Grix spit fire at her!

Artemis stamps his feet and starts to lift off the ground. Gwaenna grabs hold of him and they both go flying up to the rooftop. Gwaenna shoots a crossbow bolt at the wizard - funny, she doesn't carry a crossbow.

Xil maneuvers around behind the wolf-thing while Sten stabs it with his strange energy blade. Their blows are deflected by the wolf's armor.

The wizard disappears, still wrapped in Conshru's green ribbons. The ogre's near dead, but the wolf-thing's still fighting Sten and Xil. His swipe misses Xil. I can't see Conshru and Grix anymore. They've flown off toward the tavern.

Sten and Xil position themselves on opposite sides of the wolf-creature and attack together. Xil slams it with his staff and the creature goes limp. The changeling makes sure it's dead.

I turn around to see some locals eyeing Artemis's stuff, so I glare at them and heft my axe while Sten picks up the artificer's gear. Artemis, Conshru and Gwaenna return, complaining that the dark wizard got away somehow. All we've got to show for nearly dying is the loot we can take from her two companions.

Just a refresher

Since the party makeup has changed quite a bit and the campaign has take a couple of hiatuses, I'm offering a Who's Who:

Artemis Heuw Cannith (Devo) - male human artificer

Azlin Valkara (me) - female dwarf fighter/cleric of the Sovereign Host

Conshru (Zora) - male halfling sorcerer/druid

Grix (Zora) - Conshru's fasteith animal companion

Gwaenna Goldenbrow (Jubilee) - female goblin duskblade

Sten (Hedrin) - male-personality warforged soulknife

Xil (patv) - male (?) changeling rogue

Azlin's tale, part 7

You'd think an angry goblin might be funny, but it's not - at least not when it's Gwaenna.

She storms back into the taproom and threatens the barkeep. She's not afraid of his troll bouncer. She's trying to get him to tell her where to find the black-skinned sorceress, but he claims he doesn't know.

Back in the street, we start heading to our inn when a bunch of Deneith mercs surround us. They say their head of house wants to talk to us. They won't answer Artemis's questions.

They take us to a keep, which makes Gwaenna really nervous. But they don't take our weapons or lock us up. We just talk to the head of house, Lady Endira.

She says she's protecting us. The mind-flayer who runs Graywall wants us. He works for the hags who run Droaam. We don't want to get involved with them.

There's some house politics involved, too. A Cannith artificer is working with the Karrnathi, and there's someone from Deneith involved. Some of the Deneith people think they should be in charge of the Nations.

I hate house politics. This is why I left the Holds.

If this faction finds the Sword they could raise an army of gobbos to run the Nations. Not good. We need to get the sword before anyone else does.

Lady Endira gives us rooms for the night. Artemis uses the magic key to get back to his place in Sharn and drop off some of his gear.

Next day - Xil sneaks out with the Key and goes to the house where we're supposed to find our next contact. He says it looks abandoned, but he heard some goblins talking. We go to check it out.

Conshru goes in first and tries talking, but the goblins just attack. It doesn't take us long to get rid of them - although one of them manages to stick me good. We save one to question. We seem to have adopted him. Great, another goblin in our midst.

[sblock]DH: "The goblins have bows, not swords!"
Patv: "I don't have any goblin minis with bows."
sniffles: "Stop the game - we don't have the right minis!"[/sblock]

Sten and Gwaenna find a book upstairs with a journal hidden inside. It's mostly in code. But there's an entry in the back with details of Cazhaak Draal, one of the goblin cities we need to find. And it says Boroman and Karg are being held in a fort, with a map showing where the fort lies.

We loot the goblins. I've got two more healing potions now, thank the Host. The goblin prisoner says a priest of the Keeper sent them to get the book. Our contact was already gone when they arrived.

[sblock]Devo: "I use a wand of prestidigitation. Nekkid (the goblin) is now clean."
sniffles: "But still naked."[/sblock]

We use the Key again to go back to the Deneith keep. We need an ally here. Should we tell Lady Endira about the Sword? I'll let Artemis decide. Gwaenna's not happy about this.

Lady Endira can't help us with rescuing Boroman. She doesn't have enough men and the fort is too well defended. We'll just have to send a message to Malekith Kaine. His contacts have been compromised, too.

At breakfast. Lady Endira's acting kind of funny - and there's a hooded figure with her. I almost didn't notice him. It's the mind flayer! It looks sickly - or undead. Lady Endira jumps up and exclaims, "What are you doing here?" Then she sits back down.

[sblock]DH: "The illithid looks pale and desiccated like an undead creature."
Hedrin: "It's an il-lich-id?"
Zora: "Illichidly."

Zora: "I mentally call Grix. 'Grix, come!'
sniffles: "Grix, save us!"[/sblock]

Artemis has a wand out, but puts it away. The mind-flayer knows some of what we're here for, but not all. It wants us to work with it. Maybe the mind-flayer isn't as bad as I thought. But it's not giving us much reason to trust it - though an offer of an airship to Cazhaak Draal is pretty tempting.

[sblock]Jubilee: "I tell the mind-flayer that the orc at the tavern didn't tell us anything."
DH: "The mind-flayer makes a mental note: Put orc on the menu."[/sblock]

I can feel it trying to intrude on my thoughts but I fight it off.

Gwaenna's mad again - she blasts the mind flayer with flames! What's she doing? He goes up like an oil-soaked torch. Something isn't right about that.

Lady Endira acts like she's been asleep. I realize she never said a word while we talked to the mind-flayer. He had her under his control somehow. And the figure in the chair was just an illusion. Now we're not even sure if it's really the mind-flayer who's responsible.

We need to get out of town Lady Endira can't help us with rescuing Boroman and Karg, but she can help us get out of Graywall. And she sends a man with us. His name's Dresden.

It's going to be a long trip. We'll have to skirt around the Great Crag to avoid notice from the hags. We camp for the night in a cave.

We're getting ready to head out next day when we notice something odd outside. A boulder seems to be moving. Not a boulder - a giant!

Xil rushes out before I can pray to the Host for aid. Someone's firing on us from above. A couple of arrows hit me in the back. Ugh, it hurts!

There's a man on a winged creature flying around outside. Artemis seems to know him. The artificer certainly has lots of enemies.

I can only extend Boldrei's protection to Sten and Dresden. Conshru's going after the gnoll archers. Artemis and Gwaenna head for the giant. Even our goblin prisoner is helping us fight.

I put my hand on the earth and set it trembling. The giant's balance is poor - he tips over like an uprooted tree. Xil stabs him repeatedly with his spear. There's a pool of blood under him.

Gwaenna's flying and hitting him with her sword, lightning crackling down the blade. The giant stops moving. Conshru and Sten have taken care of the gnolls. The man on the flyer takes off. We'll probably see him again.

This is going to be a long trip.

Azlin's tale, part 8

Midday we come to a river. It's running fast and deep, no place to ford the horses. We'll have to go upstream to look for a narrow spot where we can cross.

[sblock]We make fun of what the GM's drawing on the Tac-tiles.
DH: "You guys kill me."
Devo: "Well, we try, but you keep on ambushing us."[/sblock]

As we turn to head upstream, three eyeless creatures on two legs approach. The nearest one howls. It hurts!! My bones are being turned to jelly. Suddenly the area is full of screaming. Some of it might be me.

Several of the horses go down. Dresden and the goblin are both flat on the ground. Dresden's horse grabs him by the collar and pulls him behind a boulder.

The other two creatures move closer and howl, too. It's not the same, but it still hurts. Sten's buckler shatters like glass. The saddles are falling off our mounts. Praise the Host my armor doesn't succumb.

My ears are bleeding. I run over to Sten and extend some of Dol Arrah's protection to him. If these things affect metal they could kill him.

Artemis is trying to blast the things with a wand - but the wand isn't working. Gwaenna flies out and lightning arcs from her sword to the first creature. Xil jumps up on a boulder and stabs it with his spear. The creature slumps to the ground.

Conshru's attacking the second creature, with the same kind of lightning Gwaenna used. Then he calls out that the things are wearing collars! Did someone send them after us?

I didn't even see how the third creature died. But they're all dead now. Conshru takes their collars and gives them to Artemis. Gwaenna attends to the goblin - thank the Host. I heal some of our horses enough to get them back on their feet.

We're all hurt too badly to continue our trip. But we move away from the corpses when carrion birds start circling.

Artemis says the collars look like the same thing that flying beast wore when we fought the giant yesterday. It's that Cannith artificer who's working with the Karrnathi, curse his black soul.

Thank the Host, Artemis has a box that can restore some of the shattered items. It won't bring back their magic, but at least he can repair some things.

It's hard to relax after we make camp. I keep imagining every little noise is another one of those creatures, come to splinter my bones with their eerie cries.

[sblock]Jubilee: "Why can't we scry on Cazhaak Draal and then use the Key to get there? Everyone else uses that scry/teleport combo."
DH: "Thinking outside the box - I like it."
Jubilee: "No, I'm thinking inside the box that everyone else uses."[/sblock]

We try to figure out how someone could have tracked us. We're starting to suspect that little flying creature Conshru found in Graywall.

[sblock]Jubilee: "How could anyone scry on Xil? We don't even know what he looks like!"[/sblock]

Artemis is studying the creature intently from across the campfire he conjured out of his pack. Suddenly Sentinel Marshal Dresden leaps to his feet, sword drawn, glaring at Conshru! What's going on?

Conshru jumps up and calls Grix. Then he bolts, carrying the little animal. Where is he going? It's after dark! He throws some green stuff at Gwaenna and Artemis that binds the artificer's arms. Then he mounts Grix, reshapes him into a glidewing, and flies off!

Before he can depart, I call on the Host to grant me their aid and fire a moon bolt at Grix. Hopefully that will slow the dinosaur down a bit.

Gwaenna lifts off the ground by virtue of her ensorcelled boots and flies after him, though I don't think she'll be able to catch up. She shoots off into the darkness.

Dresden tells us he sensed something evil near Conshru, and Artemis explains that he thinks the little flying creature put some kind of compulsion on the halfling.

Some time later I'm proved right about Gwaenna, as she comes stumbling back into camp complaining about how tired her feet are. We can't do anything else in the dark. We'll have to wait for daylight. My friends can't all see as well as I can, but I'm no tracker - and how do you track a flying animal, anyway?

We break camp in the morning and head upriver again. At least during her flight in the dark Gwaenna found a place where we can cross it. Not long after that we hear wings flapping. Out of the glare of the sun comes Grix.

We're all suspicious, but it turns out Conshru's okay now. When he got too tired to continue and stopped to rest, the enchantment was broken. The creature tried to snare him again but this time he resisted.

Unfortunately that doesn't mean we're out of the woods, so to speak. Conshru says he's being followed by a wing of harpies!

[sblock]Zora: "Everyone's got a role in the party. Mine is to roll ones."
Devo: "It's a stupid job, but someone's got to do it."[/sblock]

We take cover amid some rocks, some kind of ruins. I pray to the Host to give us their divine protection. Artemis conjures up a silence to guard us from the harpies' song.

The harpies alight on the rocks overhead. We're surrounded. Assuming we're being ambushed, we draw weapons and attack. I can't hit the broad side of an airship with my throwing axe.

[sblock]Jubilee: "When Sten manifests his mindblade, does he have to do anything verbal?"
Zora: "He says, 'By the power of Grayskull!'"
sniffles: "No, it's 'By the power of my skull!'"[/sblock]

But the harpies apparently don't want to fight - or at least, their leader doesn't want them to. She wants to talk. They've been watching us. They claim they don't serve the Hags, and they want to know what we're doing here.

I don't see any reason to trust them, but they didn't attack us on sight, so we listen to what they have to say. They're offering to fly us to our destination. I'm not too comfortable with that. And we'd have to leave our horses, which isn't an option for Dresden.

It's agreed that they'll take us to their aerie so we can talk further. They'll even find a way to get our horses there. Oh joy, praise the Host, I get to be carried aloft by a harpy!

Boldrei's braids, I think I'm going to be sick.

Azlin's tale, part 9

[sblock]
DH: "So you'll trust the bloodthirsty goblin but not the harpies. You guys kill me."
sniffles: "We kill you? How much XP do we get?"
DH: "Well I'm not a very good GM so my CR must be pretty low."
[/sblock]
Before the harpies carry us off, Conshru casts a spell so he can relay messages between us. Wonderful, now I can hear the halfling yammering in my head on top of being carried by a harpy.

The harpies were going on about something they call the Mountain That Eats. At one point during our trip Conshru says he sees it below us. I don't open my eyes.

I've never been so relieved to touch good native stone. The harpies have set us on a ledge. Griffons bring our horses.
[sblock]
DH: "As you look around, you see other shelves on the mountainsides."
Zora: "Great, we're on the display shelf."
DH: "It's a diorama."
sniffles: "A dire-rama?"

DH: "You see the horses down below. They're shouting, 'Help, I'm being devoured!'"
Devo: "Listen's not a class skill for me."
[/sblock]
In the evening we have dinner with the harpies. Turns my stomach. I can't believe we're doing this. We've agreed that as a show of good faith, we'll try to help get rid of the Mountain That Eats! What kind of insanity is this? We don't even know what it is. The harpies claim it's unbelievably big and their songs don't affect it.
[sblock]
sniffles: “I don’t want to see harpies dancing.”
patv: “It’s better than listening to them sing.”
[/sblock]
Conshru and Gwaenna go to have a look at this thing when it's light. The rest of us have to sit around and keep company with the harpies. They're telling stories. One of them tells a story about how the Host turned against them. I'm no bard, but I've got to tell them a parable of the Host to let them know they're wrong.

The gnome and halfling are back. According to them the Mountain That Walks is every bit as big as the harpies claimed. I have no idea what sort of creature it could be.

But it's got a sort of collar, like the screaming beasts. Looped around one of its horns. And we've conceived a plan - well, Artemis, Conshru and Gwaenna have - to swoop in and steal the collar. Artemis says the collar is controlling it.

Oh, Dol Arrah save me, I have to ride a griffon. Surely the depths of Khyber couldn't be any worse than this.

At least I don't have to get as close as Conshru and Sten. Sten's going to shoot the collar with his energy bolts. I just have to stay close in case anything bad happens. Like flying isn't bad enough.

My knuckles are white from clinging to the griffon's back. I'm sure I'm going to faint if I look down. Oh, Onatar's hammer, that thing is big!! There aren't words to describe how big. It could devour the world! The armies of Aundair couldn't slay it.

But the Host are with us. Sten's bolt flies true and the collar drops off the thing's horn and plummets to the earth. Free of the gem's compulsion, the monster just wanders away. I'll have to make a big tithe of thanks at Citadel of the Sun when we get back to Sharn.

The harpies are certainly happy. In return for this favor they'll take us to another ancient ruin, one they claim contains a portal to Cazhaak Draal.

The harpies have dropped us off at the entrance to the ruins. Glory to Onatar, they're beneath the roots of the mountains. I feel at home here, even if it is hobgoblin delving.
Gwaenna's excited by the carvings of heroes and kings on the walls.
[sblock]
Hedrin: “Actually it’s the wall of registered sex offenders.”
Devo: “Great king, priest, priest, priest… Yep.”
[/sblock]
We're faced with three doors, two sealed and one hanging open. We decide to check the open one first.

Down a short passage we come to a ledge over a chasm. The height’s not quite as bad when it's under the earth. I'm not standing next to the edge, though. And hobgoblins are bigger than me - why in Onatar's name did they make those winding stairs so narrow?

There's a very narrow causeway across the chasm to another ledge with some kind of structure on it. I do not want to cross that causeway on foot. Not that I want to fly across, either.

Conshru rides over to check out the other side, clinging to the causeway like a spider. As soon as he approaches, a whirlwind starts up and rushes him, nearly sucking him up in its embrace. Then it crosses the chasm and scoops up Artemis and Sten!

I grab hold of the nearest statue to avoid being swept up by the whirlwind. It's blowing so much dirt and grit around that I can barely see.

The wind is gone, so I take the chance of looking over the edge of the ledge. Sten’s on the narrow stairs. He must have a griffon token. That reminds me, I still have the one Artemis gave me before we went after the monster.

I can see Sten and Artemis floating down toward something that looks like fog. Gwaenna warns that the elemental might return. I back away from the edge.

Now the wind is back. Boldrei lends me her strength so I can avoid being caught up. I retreat down the passageway. Curse it, I have no magic that will affect this wind. But I pray and extend the Host’s protection to my friends who are still with me.
[sblock]
patv: “Oh, no, the master is gone!”
Hedrin: “Are you trying to do a bad Roddy McDowell impression?”
patv: “I was kind of going for a bad C3PO.”
Zora: “You have a good one?”
[/sblock]
Sten's rushing down the long stairs to find Artemis. Conshru and Gwaenna can fly down. I hear a few faint voices, I think, but I don't know what's going on down there. I need to get down there.

Dol Arrah protect me. I activate the griffon token and step off the edge.

Ugh! Spider webs! I manage not to get stuck in the web. Artemis is nearby, not badly hurt from what little I can see. But he’s yelling about a huge spider!

It lunges and bites me. I can feel the poison in my blood. I quickly pray to the Host and summon up a divine axe. The Host are on my side. The axe chops the spider in two with one blow!

Conshru's burning away some of the webs. The spiders are dead. We can use the remaining webs to get back to the stairs.

Artemis says he thinks the portal is in the structure on the other side of the chasm. But we may take time to explore more of this place before we try the portal.

I don’t think we’re going down, though. We still can’t see the bottom of this chasm. For all we know it may lead all the way to Khyber.

From the Journals of Gwaenna Goldenbrow (10/28/07 session) part 1

Sniffles missed the last session, so I decided I'd go ahead and write up another journal entry so we'd have some record of what happened. It got rather longer than I intended and I sincerely apologize.

------

… After the air elemental had been vanquished, its essence seemed to flow towards the portal in the center of the platform before us. The circle was filled with mystic light and we all paused for a moment, to see what further challenge might await us, but nothing terrible happened. Artemis, Conshru, and myself approached to examine the portal.

Artemis began to study the nature of its magic and I started to make out the runes on the floor and the archway. Almost immediately, I recognized some of the runes on the floor matched some of those on the Stone of Kings we carried, as well as from a journal entry from Boraman. In his journal, he wrote that the symbols were connected in some way to Cazhaak Draal, although he didn’t know why they were important. It’s a shame the man didn’t have the stone and shield before he left, for I’m sure he’d have made better sense of all this than any of us could. If only we were in not so much of a hurry, we could free him from his captivity..

The light from the portal faded at about the same time that Artemis finished his identification; I also was able to make out the writing on the arch, which read “May the Winds of Acheron blow you to your destiny.” Although it did not mean much at the time to me, I was later to learn that the Winds of Acheron is a proper name that shows up fairly frequently in Dhakaani stories and histories.

I was finally allowed to return to the first chamber, whilst the others tended to each other’s wounds and speculated about the nature of this place, the portal, and the chasm below the bridge. The markings on the walls, of which I have made many fine copies, allowed me to determine that this was an outpost for a hobgoblin prince who had once been very mighty, but fell into disfavor, for his name had been defaced in every place where it might have been shown. There were sealed doors, four in total, that bore warnings against tampering, although Artemis found no traps on them and there were no magical seals accompanying the physical.

I also discerned that this was one of many ancient sites of the Dhakaani that was used for travel and communication. We speculate that there must be other portals such as the one we have found. However, I was not able to decipher what the ‘name’ of this place might be, so I don’t know how we would return here with a similar portal. Conshru pointed out that there would probably be no need for the symbols that brought a traveler here to be in the circle of runes on this portal, so perhaps I will be able to figure them out in Cazhaak Draal. Artemis mentioned seeing a circle much like this one somewhere near the border between Zilargo and Thrane, in the same place where they found the Shield, so I will have to get him to take me there.

Conshru, in particular, was becoming increasingly impatient with the time it was taking for me to record and decipher the site, so we decided to begin exploring behind the sealed doors. The warnings seemed to say that it would be impious or unpatriotic to unearth whatever lay behind, which I must admit made me even more curious to discover what lay beyond.

The first room was a disappointment – it was probably barracks, but there was only some debris and a great deal of dust. The walls were bare, and there were no secret doors or panels that we could find. Sten had been a little too enthusiastic cutting out the door and it had fallen right out of its frame. Artemis asked him to leave the other doors functional, so that we would have at least one left on which to use the Key. The second door in the first room revealed a wide hallway that was filled with debris after about 20 feet. On closer inspection, we discovered that amongst the debris were some ruined statues – some of hobgoblins whose features were not quite right – twisted in some subtle way I did not understand until we found the statue of the tentacled beast. It was not, quite, an illithid, but bore enough resemblance to such a creature to give me a shiver.

I remembered then that there was a hobgoblin prince who had turned against his people and allied himself with the Daelkyr. He had raised an army against the Dhakaani and was sealed away after a costly battle. The stories say he had five, or maybe six, great beasts of the Daelkyr that accompanied him. I wish I could remember whether the translation indicated that he had been entombed or trapped.. but surely after so much time, even beasts of nightmare would have died..

We moved into the second chamber, which had in it a platform on the far wall, with a tunnel leading out towards the strange bridge, flanked on either side by statues. The northern door revealed a 30-foot wide, 60-foot long corridor with two rows of pillars flanking the central aisle. Azlin commented that the stone must have been brought from some distance, because she was fairly sure the marble was not native to these mountains. We saw a pair of doors at the far end of the corridor, and as Artemis and I began cautiously to enter the room, Xil expressed some doubt of the wisdom of opening these undisturbed doors. We, of course, ignored him.

Artemis stopped me with a gesture and indicated there was some kind of trap that was triggered upon proximity to the pillars. He began to study the trap as best he could from afar and I checked the room for magic. The pillars were, indeed, magical; however, the auras seemed more of divination and protection than those of harm. Artemis could not tell what the trap would do, but that it might prevent passage of those who weren’t worthy. Perhaps it set off an alarm for someone who could no longer hear it.

Conshru threw his pack down the corridor to see if it would set off any alarms, but nothing we could perceive happened. Artemis dragged it back with magic and threw a lighted sun rod near the door. Again, nothing moved and no sound came. Finally, Artemis summoned – a bunny, of all things – in the center of the hallway. It hopped towards us and twitched its nose. There was no alarm and no bunny guts were spilled onto the floor.

I decided that my curiosity could wait no longer and started down the corridor, making for the door as quickly as I could without appearing too fearful. The back of my neck prickled a bit, as if I were being watched – which of course, I was – by anxious companions in the doorway. When nothing happened as I reached the door, Artemis used one of his many useful wands to teleport himself to the door beside me. Luckily, both doors were sufficiently far away from the pillars that he didn’t risk triggering the traps. Conshru, Xil and the others waited at the other end, declining to tempt the pillars as I had done and lacking the magic Artemis had used.

I pushed open the doors with some effort – they were swollen with age and nearly fused together by time – but one of them gave way before me. The most beautiful sight I have yet witnessed awaited me – the unmarred tomb of a hobgoblin prince! I learned that it was the burial of the son of the dishonored hobgoblin. This place had been created before his dishonor, but had somehow escaped the wrath of those who had imprisoned or killed the prince – perhaps it was the magic of the pillars? For here I learned the dishonored prince’s name was Alderash! What a find! I will have plenty of material from this expedition for my next book.

As I was recording the murals on the walls, Artemis moved towards the center of the room, where five chests were arrayed before an elaborate carved tomb. There was also an urn, made of some kind of shimmering red metal or stone, with them. I noticed peripherally that he was about to open the first chest he came to, so I told him the urn was likely the ashes of the dead prince’s wife, or possibly Alderash’s wife, and would probably hold little of interest. Also, I felt for some reason I cannot explain, even here, that it ought not be disturbed.

We found a number of interesting items in the room. There were some scrolls in one of the chests, but sadly the first Artemis touched crumbled to dust immediately. As we did not have the knowledge or skills to preserve the other two, we decided to leave them in the box where they were, at least for now, somewhat safe. Inside the sarcophagus we found the mummified remains of a hobgoblin. He was wearing a breastplate of adamantine! He was laid out in repose, with the broken pieces of his long spear held in his crossed hands. We took the spear, but decided to leave the breastplate and body as it were – I hope to return at some future date and remove the entire thing. It would make quite an exhibit, especially if it were preserved all together!

The urn we determined was magical, and very strong, but neither of us could divine the exact nature of it. We did not want to disturb it if it were dangerous and I was fairly sure there would be ashes within it, although I regret I could not discover whose ashes were inside. We decided to leave it, hopefully for a future expedition.

The last door had a corridor with pillars much like the one leading to the burial chamber. On the far end of the hallway, however, a solid sheet of strange metal with a reddish sheen – Artemis said it looked almost like adamantine – covered the space where the door had been on the opposite corridor. The traps on these pillars, Artemis told us, were definitely harmful. He wasn’t certain whether they would drop the ceiling on us, drop the pillars on us, or something else equally painful and none of us dared test it. On the floor just beyond the doorway in which we studied the room were the words “Here lays Alderash, sealed in Verak’s name.” Verak was a name I knew – he was a dragon who was the founder of the Gatekeeper Druids! I did not know the Gatekeepers were involved in sealing Alderash and his abominable allies away. Artemis thought there was a phrase of some kind that would allow us to bypass the trap and that it probably had something to do with the declaration on the floor; although we tried half a dozen variations of the phrase “In the name of Verak, let us pass,” we could detect no change in the trap and did not feel comfortable risking it. I could tell there was some writing on the seal on the far end, but it was not for me, at least not on this trip, to discover what it said.

We decided to return to Artemis’s house in Sharn, via the Key. I only had to wonder for a few minutes how Artemis planned to accomplish it. He asked Sten to carve a space out of one of the working doors (for none of them had locks in them, which is required for using the Key) and after a lengthy infusion, he had created a working lock made of ironwood inside the cavity! He really has the cleverest ways of using his talents! This allowed us to return the horses to the relative safety of the Closed Circle (Artemis’s house does not have stables, probably because it is so high up in the city), since we do not think we will need to travel by horse again any time soon.

Even though we thought we could now cut our trip from 11 days to fifteen minutes, we didn’t want to take too much time away from it. I briefly considered suggesting we attempt to rescue Boraman, because he would be very useful to have around, but we have no idea how quickly our Kaarnathi adversary will prepare new defenses against us – and the sooner we get there, the more likely he will be unprepared.

Conshru and I both hoped to do some research – he on the four dragonshards we found in the sarcophagus of Alderash’s son (all that Artemis could ascertain was that they were attuned to each of the four elements) and I wanted to learn more about Acheron and Alderash, as well as the portals that must have connected the hobgoblin Empire. Alas, this was not meant to be, for when we arrived at Artemis’s house, his steward approached to say that there were visitors – for me – that he could not be rid of.

From the Journals of Gwaenna Goldenbrow (10/28/07 session) part 2

When I exited Artemis’s house to greet these visitors, I nearly stumbled down the steps with the shock of it. A most unusual camp had sprouted up in the courtyard in front of Artemis’s house. Darguun goblins moved around the camp and guards patrolled the perimeter. As soon as I emerged, with a curious Conshru at my side, a pair of goblin guards hustled up the steps and informed me that General Oksumoto of the Kesh Volar tribe would see me! I could barely contain my laughter, for the scene was so outrageous here in the high heart of Sharn, but I managed a polite smile and allowed them to lead me to the general’s camp.

When we entered the tent of the general, he informed us, without much preamble, that he knew of my search for the sword of Khas, and that he had come to be my husband and rule the new goblinoid empire at my side (or he would wield the sword and be king, he offered graciously, if I wished it. Hah!). Conshru and I were both quite irritated by this announcement – Conshru put it quite well when he looked towards Artemis’s home and grumbled, “does everybody know?” for indeed, it seems our mission proceeds us no matter where we go and how secretive we intend to be.

As we weren’t yet sure what we were going to do with the sword, or even whether we would be able to get it, I wouldn’t have wanted to accept the general’s offer even if I were inclined towards marriage – which I am not. I am not even certain I would want to be queen – for a queen, I am sure, is not also allowed to be an adventurer. Furthermore, if I were to be queen, I would do it in my own right and I would not be required to have a king to make them accept me (as the general tells me). However, as I wanted these people out of Artemis’s courtyard and I did not want to make enemies of them, I gave the general a quest. In retrospect, it was not as clever as I thought at the time; for there’s the chance he might succeed.

I have for quite some time now desired a ring of wizardly power, which would greatly enhance my spell casting ability. Artemis tells me that this is an object that he is not yet able to make and there is a possibility he will not be able to make it for a great many years. Additionally, although he used his contacts within the house, there was no one who would either admit to having one or to wishing to sell one. So I told the general that if he should retrieve such a ring for me, I would marry him. Really, I ought to have said I would consider marrying him if he found it for me or I should have given him a series of quests, each more dangerous than the last. But, if he should find the ring and I should have to marry him (it was, sadly, witnessed by the dirgesinger and a priest, so I am bound), I am sure it will not change my life too much. I can certainly best him in arms if he ever tries to force me to retire from exploring or to enter the marriage bed.

Besides, if we fail to get the sword, or if I choose not to wield it or lead the new goblinoid empire, I am sure he will not want to marry me. As I do not much desire to be a queen, I will have to find some other way of safely destroying or disposing of the sword. I am not sure I would trust it in any one else’s hands; would I be allowed NOT to use it if I had it? The general did warn me that there were other tribes seeking us and that some would work against us.

Perhaps we could change its nature so that it is no longer such a strong call to the goblinoid people. The stories say that Khas made a deal with a fiend of some sort in its creation, and that its power is fiendish in nature. Whether it was his fiendish ally or the sword itself, or some combination, that controlled his people, I’m not sure of. But I fear it would subjugate the goblin tribes against their will, even if there were not so many willing to blindly follow the sword because of the stories.

We did learn that it was not the loose tongues of our companions, the dark lanterns, or anyone in Droaam that led this tribe to Artemis’s doorstep. Rather, it was the tribe’s Dirgesinger who had a vision and brought them here. He told me more of this prophecy, which seems both dire and cryptic:

On the Red Moon will come the Firestorm
The one bonded to the blade will watch
As their people die
If they do nothing, then they and all those they love
Will die in its heat
For no blade, forged of steel or conjured by sorcery
Can touch this foe

I will have to think on it a great deal before I reveal it to the rest of my companions, for I would like to have explanations to offer the inevitable questions, rather than let it get confused in a morass of ignorant speculation. I did ask the Dirgesinger about Alderash and Acheron, of which he knew little, and gave into his keeping the Dirgesong of Alderash we had found amongst his son’s grave goods. I hope I made it clear enough to the Dirgesinger that I will take it amiss if the saga is damaged or destroyed, but he did not seem one to be overtaken by ancient religious zeal.

We decided to move the tribe down into the Closed Circle, because I did not know where else I could put them. I was fairly sure they would not simply go away. I thought Artemis would be pleased that I got them out of his courtyard, but he told me rather tartly that it wasn’t HIS courtyard. I believe he was implying that he felt the Closed Circle was HIS and that I had violated its sanctity by leading the goblin tribe there. However, I believe the place will be better off if it has some guardians; for all that it was a “secret” hideout of a cult before Artemis and his friends took possession of it, it is impossible to keep the location of any habitable place from the denizens of the lower wards for long if you do not have the strength to guard and hold it. I always expect when Conshru and I return that we will find another cult has taken over in our absence.

While I was in the Closed Circle, I managed to get away from the others long enough for a small bit of peace for myself. I had intended to meditate on all that I had learned, but instead found my golden-eyed goblin waiting for me! This time, he gave me his name: Alistra’Vorhak. He told me that I figure prominently in the Draconic Prophecy and that my fate is entwined with my quest (does he mean the quest for the sword or the truth of the ancient goblin empire? I tried to ask him, but he will be cursed if he answers any questions of mine!). He told me only that I must study the prophecy, for it holds the secret to my fate. Study the prophecy, indeed. Have not the Dragons been studying it for more years than I could live, even if I lived a peaceful life, and still they disagree with each other on its meaning!

Alistra’Vorhak did tell me that I must cut two heads from the three-headed beast to assume my rightful rule. This reminded me of a song by Artemis’s elven friend, Maya, who was with us on the wretched flight of the Golden Dragon. Her song is something about the three-headed bull of house Cannith and compares it to the current three “leaders” of the house who are vying for supremacy. I believe Artemis and his friends have, in the past, worked for two of those leaders, and the third might be the patron of our Kaarnathi adversary. Of course, there are many literal three-headed beasts in the world, so it may not have anything to do with House Cannith (and what have I to do with Cannith politics? And would I want to be a ruler, if I had the chance?). It was a day of questions, certainly.

In addition to a few more cryptic warnings “Beware the Trine.” “The Ice Queen stirs.” “In your moment of dire need, follow the way of the Dirge Singer.”, he introduced me to a clever, adorable little spiretop dragon, whom he said would accompany me as his gift. The little dragon’s name is Astralininan Moonscale, and I am quite enchanted with him. In fact, his arrival distracted me from the infuriating old goblin long enough for him to slip away while I was introducing myself to Astralininan. I think I will call him Astral here, because the rest will turn only to scribbles when I am writing in a hurry. He says he won’t mind terribly, as he would rather have a shortened name than a mangled one.

The general has gifted me with four goblin guards (a day of gifts as well as questions!) trained in stealth and the deadly arts. At first I thought to refuse their company, because I did not want to explain, among other things, the Key to them, nor did I wish to be responsible for their deaths. However, I judged that it would be almost impossible to convince the general or the “honor guard” to abandon the plan and perhaps they will be useful for guarding the camp at night or scouting (the rest of my companions are not, in general, very stealthy and the guards seemed quite capable of remaining unseen).

After we settled the goblin tribe, I was able to find a wand with a spell of electrical orbs, which would enable me to damage the black elven sorceress, should we meet her again, and Conshru found another wand of healing (we have using these up at an alarming rate). Artemis had been busy in our absence as well – he had arranged to sell most of the items we had collected in our various battles, of which we received half the money now with the promise of the rest when the items sold. This would have been more welcome if I were able to find someone to sell me that ring I desire so greatly.

Just before we left Artemis’s tower, via the Key, his steward once again rushed up to him carrying a small package. He said that it had been delivered some time ago, but he had put it aside and forgotten it until now. Artemis asked us to wait a moment while he opened the package, which proved to be a message from one of his former companions, an elf by the name of Kylara. Although she left before I met them, it seems her message may lead me, along with my companions, to new places in the future, so I have recorded it here in case I need to remember it:


Artemis –

I hope this finds you well. I have been very busy in Karnaath and I believe I will soon be allowed to join the ranks of the Deadgrim. I once promised to his people that I would come and sing the song of Ythryk’s deeds and death. Did I ever tell you they visited me when they came for his body? In any case, here is the token they bade me bring. As I cannot possibly do this for quite some time, I hope I can trust you to complete the task in my stead.

Light shine upon you,

Iriethyra Kylara Elorenthi, Deathspeaker for Avolyn Elorenthi


As we re-entered the ruins of the Halls of Acheron, as I have determined they were called, Conshru revealed that he had discovered the elemental dragonshards would allow him to command creatures of the elements. This was good news, for none of us wished to risk being dropped into the chasm below, especially since we had destroyed most of the webbing that had so fortuitously saved some of our number in the last fight. When we came to the platform before the bridge, Conshru summoned up a small, comical looking lizard that ran across the bridge and triggered the trap in the center.

The air elemental sprang into being and whisked the little lizard off the bridge and into the chasm below. As it moved towards us, Conshru held forth the dragonshard and a field of elemental power surrounded us, keeping the creature at bay. Conshru struggled against the elemental’s will but could not win out. He could keep it at bay but not command it. His attempts to herd it into the portal were also fruitless, for the elemental was too canny for that.

The summoning eventually expired and the elemental disappeared. It did not, as we had hoped, once again power the portal upon its dissipation. It would either have to be destroyed or commanded to enter the portal. Artemis began to prepare with a spell to enhance his presence and asked Conshru to allow him an attempt at controlling the elemental. Conshru handed over the dragonshard with good grace; but before the trap could be triggered, I suggested that there might be some magic in it that would make the dragonshard work better in the hands of one with goblinoid blood (me, naturally). After all, we had found them in Alderash’s son’s tomb, had we not? Artemis agreed, perhaps with a little reluctance (he does like to experiment with new magic. Perhaps I should have let him make the attempt first? It would have hurt nothing… ).

Conshru turned Grix from a fastieth into a flying dinosaur of some kind and went out onto the bridge to trigger the trap. I exerted my will through the shard as another elemental (or was it the same one?) came into being. Before it could sweep Conshru and Grix off the bridge, I had its attention, though at first I could not overcome its will. However, with a great deal of concentration, I did manage to overcome the elemental’s reluctance and drive it into the portal! We did not have time to celebrate, because the portal would only function as long as the duration of the original summoning, so we all hurried across the bridge (Azlin was brought across by Artemis’s magic, being very uncertain on the narrow path). Quickly, I touched the Stone of Kings to the symbols that I believed would take us to Cazhaak Draal. The portal flared and stretched like quicksilver, before it steadied into a flat, mirror-like surface. I straightened my shoulders, looked to my companions to confirm that they were ready, and walked into the portal.

Only belatedly did it occur to me that if we found the right place, we would very likely be entering the heart of the Kaarnathi excavations!

Revised character intro

I realized in looking back at this thread that my introduction of Azlin was done in a completely different narrative style than her subsequent entries.

I've revised the original post to keep the style more in line with the way I've written the rest of my entries.

I'm also putting all of the old "Quips & Quotes" sections in sblocks, since some of those are nearly as long as the actual session writeups.