shilsen
Adventurer
Session 25 - Dragons and Daelkyr (or "CR 20? Phffttt!")
Even as thoughts of "ohcrapohcrapI'mgoingtodieohcrap" run through the adventurers' minds, the dragon breathes, blasting them with a cone of incredibly cold air. Even though all of them are protected by a spell to resist energy (cold), the targets feel the icy breath chill them to the bone, weakening muscles and draining vitality. Most of them, that is. Six, timing it just right, manages to spin around and pull his magical cloak over his head, leaving him untouched by the blast. More surprisingly, for the others, Dala - near the edge of the blast, drops and rolls under it, leaving her unscathed as well*.
A split second after it breathes, the dragon lets go and drops off the ceiling. Rather than crashing to the floor forty feet below, he drops slowly, evidently benefiting from a featherfall effect. As he does so, he flaps his huge wings, driving himself closer to the group. In barely a couple of seconds, he lands next to them, fangs and claws at the ready. As he lands, Tyrass roars, sending shivers running up the spines of the adventurers. Aided by the aura of courage that Gareth radiates, most of them shake off the effects, but Six and Corven succumb, feeling their hands tremble, fear taking the edge off their skill. They, do however, stand their ground.
Even if they had actually seen a live dragon before, Tyrass would be a singular sight. The dragon is a huge creature, fully forty feet long from nosetip to tail. A large frill crowns his head and runs down his neck. His body is mainly gray, made up of blotches of different shades. Small streaks of pure silver are visible in between. His eyes are silver too, with a darker silver eyeball, but they are cloudy, with red veins forming webbing over each eye. Small sores cover his body, with a few that are 2-3 feet across, all of them red and oozing. The most noticeable thing about Tyrass is a large dark-blue tattoo covering his chest section, depicting the serpent around the gem that the Angels have seen before. One of the claws gleams, a large golden ring encircling it.
Not that anyone stops to appreciate the sight. Nameless, who already has the disk from Ghyrra in his hand, steps back and casts a spell, trying to dispel any protections Tyrass may have. He realizes he has had at least some success, as he feels the disk grow warm and realizes that it now stores the power of a spell of the second valence.**
Six and Luna leap forward together. Six's spiked chain, enchanted by Corven against dragons, bites into the Tyrass' shoulder, ripping a two-foot long gash in it and drawing a snarl that mixes both pain and surprise. Luna rears up to her full height of ten feet bites and claws at Tyrass' right leg, leaving large gashes. She tries to grab hold and bring him down, but even with her bulk the huge dragon is much too big.
Gareth is only a moment behind the other two, but his action is not as offensive, though it is more aesthetic. He takes a step forward and then breaks into a jig, leaping and capering in the same place***. The look of shock on his face is replaced by frustration and anger. "The Flame help me!" he cries, as he desperately tries to tear the boots off his feet, still making fancy moves while doing so. For a moment, even the dragon pauses and looks confused at the sight.
Dala, meanwhile, has pulled a scroll from her pack and used it to heal the bulk of Arrok's wounds. As she does, the gnome charges forward, coming up on the dragon's flank. He strikes with his diminutive shortsword, only to see it bounce off a scale as big as his head.
As Arrok is charging, Dala backs up to the wall. Next to her is Corven, who is quickly infusing his wand for extra power and muttering, "I am a wizard! I am a wizard! I really hope I am a wizard!"
Luckily for him and for Nameless, even with Gareth temporarily out of the fight, Six, Luna and Arrok are keeping Tyrass busy - that is, giving him more immediate targets. The dragon lashes out at his enemies in a flurry of bite, claws, wing and tail. Luna is the worst hit, the dragon seizing her in his claws and rending**** her between them, laying her entire side open. Arrok is almost taken off his feet by a slap of the tail. Six is wounded too, but the protections from Corven keep out much of the damage he would otherwise have taken. The dragon does, however, seize him in its mouth and lift him off the ground.
Ignoring the pain, Six calls out in Giant, "Tyrass - if you kill us, we can't tell you about the prophecy!" To his surprise and that of the others, the dragon actually tries to answer. As it does so, its grip loosens and he slips out. Tyrass glares down and replies in Giant, "Fools! I know of the Prophecy! I will kill you all!"
"In that case...", shrugs Six, swinging back with his chain to again wound the dragon. Luna follows suit, continuing to claw and bite despite the blood streaming down her body.
From behind them Nameless, who is continuing to back up, casts another spell. A thick bank of solid fog appears around much of the dragon's body, clearly limiting its movement. As it appears, an aggrieved, "Hey!!!" rings out from within it, from Arrok, who is within the area.
"Don't worry, Arrok," shouts Nameless, "It'll protect you." Within the fog, Arrok swears to himself in Gnome and stabs at the dragon's leg. This time, partly to his surprise, and apparently the dragon's, he inflicts a shallow wound.
Gareth, having managed to throw off the boots, now moves in with Kizmet in hand. The paladin yells to Dala as he goes, "Healing! We need more healing!" And I need not to be fighting a huge dragon in my socks!
Dala complies, pulling another scroll from her bag. She hurriedly pronounces the words of the spell and all of the group feel some of their wounds close. "That's the only one of that kind I have!" she yells.
Corven says quickly, "I've got another in my haversack," but realizes offense is better now. He triggers his wand, sending two scorching rays at the dragon. One fails to penetrate its resistance to magic but the other gets through, burning into one of the large sores.
Tyrass screams in rage and pain and explodes into an even more violent flurry of attacks. Luna, in her already weakened state, collapses in a pool of blood, while Six is wounded again, more of his protections being stripped away. To the later amusement of the group, from within the fog Arrok shouts, "Missed me!" as the dragon's tail swishes by his head. He follows with a cry of "Gotcha!" as he manages to stab the dragon again.
Outside the fog, Six lands another blow. Gareth, having reached the dragon's side, calls upon the Flame to aid him and smites the dragon. Kizmet kindles in his hands and bites deep into the dragon's side, slashing a huge wound, followed by another one as he smites again.
As Tyrass screams, Nameless yells, "That's it!" and casts another spell, hurling an acid orb. To his surprise and disgust, it splashes harmlessly on the dragon's neck. Acid immunity? Bloody hell!*****
Corven is more effective, another scorching ray getting through the dragon's resistance, as he backs around to the side. Dala, previously near him, hurries forward towards the fight with another scroll in hand. She uses it on Luna. Though she remains grievously wounded, the druid muzzily opens her eyes. Looking up at the dragon slashing at her allies, she snarls and slowly backs away, knowing that she is in no shape to attack physically.
Tyrass is too busy to notice her revival, focusing on the enemies that are continuing to wound him. He seizes Six with both claws, rending him as he did Luna previously. With his protection having been stripped away by its previous attacks, Six has his entire chest section ripped open and drops******, unconscious and leaking fluid.
Gareth is no luckier. The dragon bites down on him viciously and lifts him up, before dropping him again. Badly wounded, Gareth tries to keep his feet but stumbles. As he hits the ground, he looks up to see a wing slam down. He too drops unconscious, bleeding from his mouth.*******
The one lucky person, as evidenced by his cheery, "Missed me - again!" is Arrok, wherever he is within the fog. That doesn't reassure Nameless much, as he sees Six and Gareth lying there, with Luna literally out on her feet. He casts again, sending a fireball to explode against Tyrass' side.
The dragon screams at the fiery attack, and the scream is extended as Luna brings down a flame strike right in the middle of its back. Scales and flesh burn away under the magical onslaught. Tyrass totters, his huge body covered in blood and burnt flesh.
Seeing the opportunity, Corven takes careful aim and fires. To his horror, one ray misses completely and another fails to have any effect.
The dragon, seeing Nameless and Luna as the biggest threats, and unable to reach both of them due to distance and the solid fog takes another breath. And then he exhales, sending a cloud of paralyzation gas washing over them.
Dala, who has just healed Luna again, goes completely rigid, paralyzed immediately. Unknown to Tyrass, however, Nameless is wearing the Ring of Adaptation from the treasure room and Luna has cast a freedom of movement on herself earlier. As Tyrass sags with pain and weakness, expecting to see his enemies paralyzed, the druid-bear comes charging out of the cloud of gas.
Luna lunges forward, seizing the dragon's chest with her claws and biting deep into the base of his throat. Her teeth sink deep into a huge sore, ripping through diseased and weakened skin and flesh. She literally rips away an entire side of Tyrass' throat. The dragon screams and convulses, knocking her away as he collapses in an ever-expanding pool of blood and pus.
"Hey! What happened out there? This thing just fell over!" shouts Arrok from inside the fog. Nameless replies, "It's down and looks dead, but I'm about to make sure," calls back Nameless, preparing to cast a summon spell. Time to turn you into paste!
As he is about to cast, Tyrass reopens his eyes. After his initial shock, Nameless notices that they are now clear of the red webbing previously covering them. Painfully, Tyrass gasps in Draconic, "Wait!" Luna, who has backed off and been spitting and trying to get the taste of dragon pus out of her mouth, looks around in surprise.
"What did it say?" asks Nameless, hand still raised to complete his spell. Corven, who is coming closer carefully with wand raised, says, "It said 'Wait'."
Tyrass continues speaking, seeming to address the group rather than any one of them, pausing intermittently to gasp in pain. "Thank you. You have freed me ... as I knew you would, even within my madness. But now you - and your Khorvaire - are in danger. I, Tyrass, was the last guardian and the Key is bound to me."
As he is speaking, Luna notices that the tattoo on its chest is beginning to break apart, like a sand dune being blown away by the wind. She waves a paw to indicate it to the others.
Tyrass coughs up a gout of blood and then continues, "Your actions will spark the future." The phrase reminds Corven (and Nameless, as Corven translates) of Flamewind's prophecy - Where present and future spark, where light is turned to dark, to the ghost of the city where the past awaits.
They do not have time to discuss that, as the dying dragon continues. "You must get there before the Bound One gets free. It is weaker for the moment, much weaker, but it is still beyond your power. Use the Key and it will keep it bound, if you have the will. And guard the other Key, from those who will want its power."
Again, he pauses to cough up more blood. Luna steps - or rather, shambles - forward and raises a paw to touch the dragon, calling up a healing spell. The spell simply fizzles. Tyrass gazes at her for a moment, and then says painfully, "It is too late. I am dead already."
He then adds, "You will need my blood. Put some on your skin. All of you. At least one must drink it, so that you can speak to the guardians. Take my ring too. Go now. Down the stairs outside. Always head down."
"What Key?" says Luna, but unfortunately, this only emerges as a series of growls. Corven, however, asks the question at the same time.
As he speaks, there is a tremor beneath the adventurers' feet. The dragon arches its half-severed neck and takes a panicky breath, groaning at the pain, "It is trying to escape! Go now! GO! Remember that the prophecy is..."
Then there is a pregnant pause and the dragon's head falls. This time, it is clearly dead. The last remnant of the tattoo fades from its chest.
Luna, Corven and Arrok, who has cautiously emerged from the solid fog, quickly revive Gareth and Six. Dala too soon emerges from her paralysis. As they begin healing their severe wounds, Corven quickly explains to everyone what the dragon said.
"If the Bound One is what I'm thinking," says Nameless, "We need to get there - fast!" With that, he walks over to the dragon and, with some straining, removes its ring. He then takes two handfuls of blood and cakes his face and arms with it. Then he pulls out a spoon, dips it in the blood, and swallows it.
"What the - ?!" begins Gareth, when Corven adds that the dragon said they need to. Everyone does so, though with significantly less relish than Nameless. Luna, her snout wrinkled in disgust, also laps a little blood in case someone else needs to have done so. She feels a slight tingle but no other noticeable effect.
Six, who is at the doorway now, says, "Giant-sized steps leading up and down. This'll take a while."
As another tremor underlines the words, Nameless says, "We need to get downstairs fast. Luna!" The druid, who has been pulling out a couple of the dragon's teeth as souvenirs, ambles over. Nameless reaches out and casts a spell on her, causing her to expand till she is nearly twenty feet long. "There!" says the mage in satisfaction. "Transport!"
Everyone quickly climbs onto the huge bear, including Gareth, who has been trying to work out what kind of armor the dragonhide would make, and she heads out and down the stairs. As she goes, the others quickly discuss what they have learned and what it might mean. Corven, Six, Gareth and Nameless especially discuss the details of Flamewind's prophecy, noting that the phrases "Where present and future spark" and "to the ghost of the city where the past awaits" clearly relates to their current situation, as seems to be "Dragon's wings". The primary question they have is what this Key is. Flamewind said, "The sword is the key, but the key is not the sword," but they are not sure what it means.
"If it means I'm going to give up my sword, I'm going to be really unhappy!" comments Gareth, praying inwardly that it won't be required.
While they are speaking, Luna descends a couple of levels, passing large landings, where other tunnels and chambers lead off. As she goes, she can feel more small rumbles in the stone, which seem to grow stronger as she descends.
The stairs finally end in front of a large archway with double stone doors. After a quick check by Corven and Six, Luna shoves them open, revealing a tunnel beyond ending in a similar archway and door. It is featureless except for small crystals set into the sides and ceiling, which emit a dim light. Nameless throws a copper crown down the tunnel but there is no response. The group heads in.
As they near the far end, panels open in the walls and two large metal figures step through. They are evidently iron golems, though these look more lithe and less blocky than most. They raise their arms, revealing large blades affixed to their fingers, but make no other move. Nameless opens his mouth to speak and feels a tingle (minty-fresh, which turns his stomach). Small sparks appear as he speaks. He has barely finished a word before the golems step back into the receptacles they came from.
"Come with us!" says Nameless firmly, but the only response is as the panels slide down. "Okay," he says, "Guess not!"
Luna shoves open the door and steps into the chamber beyond. This one is cylindrical, or presumably so, since the adventurers cannot see all of it. It is sixty feet high and presumably a hundred feet across, but there is a cylindrical wall of mist from ceiling to floor about ten feet in. It resembles the one around the island (and, to the Cyrans, the one around the Mournland). There are continual flame torches around the walls, and the adventurers see their light palpably streaming into the mist and being converted into darkness.
"Where light is turned to dark?" asks Corven rhetorically, as Luna enters. A moment later, a huge rumble shakes the entire room, actually knocking Luna off her feet. Luckily, those on her manage to either land on theirs or roll away before the huge bear can land on them. As she regains her feet with a growl, Nameless says, "This is it, all right!"
After a few seconds casting protective spells, the group enters the mist together. It is impossible to see through, even with Gareth's darkvision, so they hold hands (or paw). The mist is only about five feet thick and the group emerges into the central area at once.
Inside the mist is a 70 ft wide open space, in the center of which is a dimensional seal, which looks just like the one that the Angels saw when they met Gurr'khan. There are only two things different about it. One is that there is what looks like a two-foot long dragonshard lying near the middle of it. This one has been carved into a cylinder with pointed ends, and is decorated with sigils like the dimensional seal. The sigils on the shard are glowing, as they are on the seal. Though it is half-hidden, the adventurers can see that the shard has a picture of the serpent/dragonshard symbol on it. The other different thing about this seal is a thick amber column of light, which rises from the center of it to the ceiling.
While the others see only a dimensional seal, a dragonshard and a beam of light, the sight triggers another of Nameless' memories:
He is lying spreadeagled on just such a seal, naked from the chest up. He is not alone. He can see others like him - five more. He knows that he knows them, that they are comrades of his, but right now he cannot recall their names. The six of them have been laid out in a rough pattern, with each one's right hand tied to the left foot of the next person. His hands and feet feel raw, as if they have been tied for a long time.
Behind and above him, someone says, "Let it begin!" Nameless - or the person he is in the memory - twists painfully and looks up at the figures standing just outside the dimensional seal. All of them are hooded and cloaked, the hoods hiding their features. A couple wear large symbols on their chests, which he recognizes as the symbol of the Dragon Below. One, who stands in the middle, holds up a large, strangely shaped dragonshard. The Nameless having the memory recognizes it now as exactly the same as the one lying on the seal.
As he watches, the dragonshard glows with an amber light, which then sends beams arcing to strike him and his companions. Instantly there is a sharp pain and an insistent, relentless pulling sensation, as it begins to drain his vitality. He gasps at the sensation and tries to fight it. His companions scream and convulse. He sees the beams leading to them pulse and begin to grow, as they thrash around. The one leading to him grows only slightly wider, as he continues to fight the sensation with all that he has.
Noticing it, one of the robed men steps forward. He kicks Nameless brutally in the face, instantly sending blood flowing into his eyes, and snarls, "Fool! You cannot fight it!" His hood falls away at the effort and Nameless sees a pallid, bony face, topped by two utterly insane eyes.
Behind him, Nameless sees the large dragonshard glowing bright amber now and it sends forth a larger beam, this one made of multiple smaller interweaving ones, to strike the center of the dimensional seal. Immediately, the draining sensation gets stronger, and he feels a huge weight pressing him to the seal. The symbols on the seal begin to glow. He cannot look up any more, but his last look makes him certain that his companions are unconscious or dead. Still, he continues to fight the draining effect.
Suddenly, a blast of energy erupts beside him, but whether from the seal or from something to the seal, he does not know. There is a sharp, cracking sound and he hears screams of terror from the men standing above him. Suddenly, he hears a voice in his head. It says ...
And the memory fades away. But it leaves Nameless with some knowledge. He realizes somehow that the dragonshard is what the dragon Tyrass called the Key. As the name says, it is a Key to both close and open a dimensional seal. He realizes that he has to get to it and use it (somehow, he knows that he will be able to), by asking his companions to give it their life energy. When the Key has enough, he can use it to drive the Bound One back into its prison and seal it. He also knows (just as Tyrass said) that the Bound One will be temporarily weak after it is released, which is the only opportunity his companions will have to keep it busy while he uses the Key on it.
Nameless opens his mouth to tell his companions what they need to do, and in barely an instant, the amber column grows thin and winks out. What it leaves behind is a tall, thin, gray figure. The creature resembles a tall human in shape, but its body is made up of unvariegated gray flesh. If that were not enough, there is a long tentacles where each arm should be. The head is a smooth gray ovoid, with no facial features.
This time it is Six who has a memory, recalling the invisible gray figure he had seen in the mirror in the dolgrims' lair months ago, in the Cogs of Sharn. The creature raises its head and two large pupil-less eyes appear in the face. The Angels, except for Luna, recognize these eyes too, as similar to the one they had seen in that mirror before it exploded.
There is no time for discussing these revelations - or coincidences. As the creature gazes at them, the adventurers feel an awesome will bending theirs down before it. It is not even malevolent so much as completely and utterly alien. As they gaze at it, momentarily unable to act in any way, they get a tiny glimpse of its perspective. For a second, they see the entire planet of Eberron as it might look from space, its continents as large patches of green and brown swimming in a blue ocean, the cold white of the Frostfell at one end, the gleaming ring of Siberys circling it.
But they are not alone in the void watching the planet. There are other creatures around them, creatures of no earthly shape or intent, whose existence and thought processes are completely and utterly alien to theirs. To them, Eberron is only a subject to be shaped and twisted to their desire, not because of anger or hate, but simply because they can. As their thoughts brush against those of the adventurers, they feel their mental faculties recoiling in horror.
Physically, the adventurers are still present in the chamber, and on some tiny level they are aware that the creature in front of them is changing. Its face develops features like that of a handsome human, but there is something slightly malformed about it. Its tentacles turn into arms tipped with long claws. The flesh all over its body bulges and contorts, transforming into armor, with a long toothed whip growing from one arm.
While the others feel the daelkyr insinuating its reality into theirs and holding them immobile, Corven manages to break away with a massive mental effort. Unsurprisingly, Nameless (whose reality is a little bigger than theirs anyway) does so too, his hands moving in the motions of a spell even as Corven lurches away, pulling out his wand.
A pseudonatural bison appears next to the daelkyr and hurls itself forward, slamming into its shoulder. Having already seen a confused dragon today, the group now gets to see a slightly confused daelkyr. And a concerned-sounding pseudonatural bison, whose somewhat despondent "MOOO!" could probably translate into, "I am never going to live this down back in Xoriat!"
Nameless, not pausing to appreciate the irony of attacking a daelkyr with a pseudonatural creature, zooms forward under the effects of a fly spell he fortuitously cast just outside the mist. I'm actually rushing towards a daelkyr, he thinks to himself in a mix of wonder and fear, tinged with mild amusement. As he reaches it, passing around the bison, the daelkyr lashes out with its whip, laying open his shoulder. As it does so, all of the others in the chamber feel the mental pressure disappear. They are in control of their faculties again, though each of them is left with a pounding headache.
Ignoring the pain, Nameless grabs the dragonshard. The daelkyr growls, "No! That is mine!" and strikes again, but its haste and the attacking bison throws it off. With a snarl of frustration it smacks the bison away with the whip. By now, the still-growing whip has a claw at the tip, which instantly drains some of the bison's vitality. The daelkyr lashes back, this time catching Nameless' chest. The alienist immediately feels part of his intellect drain away.
He is, however, already in full retreat, flying backwards as fast as he can. As he reaches the mist, twenty feet above the ground, he feels the Key grow warm in his grasp. He senses that it is dimly sentient in its own way, not as an actual living creature is, but more like an object that is both aware of and interested in the purpose for its creation. As he holds it up, thin beams of amber light shoot out to hit him and all of his companions (as well as Dala and Arrok).
"Give me all the energy you can!" yells Nameless. "It's our only chance!"
With no time for discussion, his companions respond promptly, giving up as much as they can and actually remain on their feet********. As they do, the beams of light widen appreciably for a moment and then wink out. It is replaced by a thicker beam, made of thinner interlacing rays, which shoots out of the Key and hits the daelkyr full in the chest.
It staggers for a moment, but regains its feet. "Now!" shouts Nameless. "Hit it while it's weak!"
The next few seconds are utter mayhem, as the weakened but desperate adventurers charge in with a series of very timely attacks. Corven possibly saves a couple of lives, managing to target the whip with a blast of his wand that reduces it to ashes. The daelkyr promptly begins to grow another one, but that takes time which it doesn't have. Six, moving into position beside the bison, manages to wrap his chain around its leg and pull it off its feet, allowing the bison to batter it again. Arrok rushes it from the other side. Gareth and Luna, both slower to react, move in behind the others.
Though the daelkyr does not seem badly hurt by the attacks, the amber beam (which continues to shine on it and grows brighter) clearly keeps it somewhat off-balance. Those close to it can see that the armor on its body and even certain parts of its form do not seem to be completely there, with gaps where nothing seems to exist. Even so, it seems to be gradually gathering its strength and it rises again, a wave of force emanating from it that shoves its attackers back.
Gareth is about to charge it when he feels an unmistakable empathic command from Kizmet. He has a sudden memory of his father standing over him at the Battle of Grace, facing the demon that had just wounded Gareth, raising a shining Kizmet over his head. He gets a very strong urge that he should do the same.
Getting as close to the daelkyr as possible, Gareth raises the sword above his head. "In the memory of Byron d'Deneith!" he cries, calling on the Silver Flame to aid him. As he does so, Kizmet begins to shimmer, the glow spreading quickly to cover the room. A brighter circle shines out to encase the daelkyr. The creature stumbles and those nearby see streams of gray begin to float from it to the sword. What are presumably wounds appear on it, strips simply disappearing from its body.
The daelkyr snarls and then says something in the tongue-twisting syllables of its native language, which only Nameless understands. Nobody else has time to see, but the mage looks confused, since what he thinks it says is - "Fool! You cannot consume me, and no fiend can stand against me." A second later, Gareth goes flying backwards twenty feet as if hit by a giant fist. He collapses unconscious on the ground, the glow fading instantly from Kizmet. Dala, whom Gareth lands next to, promptly heals the paladin back to consciousness. He immediately realizes that not only does he not feel any empathic commands from Kizmet, but the sword is as dull as a simple weapon in his hands. Kizmet is now non-magical.
Meanwhile, almost as an afterthought, the daelkyr cuts down the bison and then disappears, only to reappear next to the mist on the far side of the room. The adventurers charge after it. Six, the first to reach it, sees that the wounds left by whatever it is Kizmet did have not healed, and as he strikes it with his chain, part of the daelkyr's leg actually crumbles to powder under the blow. It, however, remains upright and cuts down Six with the now regrown whip.
Nameless, who has been struggling to control the Key and cast a spell, finally manages to cast one, summoning three more bison. These shove the daelkyr towards the seal, the sigils on which are now glowing brightly. The beam from the Key too seems to be pulling it backwards. Corven hits it with another scorching ray, further wounding it. Gareth hits it with a blast of positive energy, which it ignores. Luna - unable to reach the fight - summons a unicorn. The unicorn appears and with a loud neigh, hurls itself forward. Its horn smashes into the back of the daelkyr, propelling it forward onto the seal.
Instantly, the amber beam that the group had seen upon entering emerges from the seal's center. The beams from the Key give one final jerk, pulling the daelkyr into the beam. There is a momentary flash of light and a loud rumble - and the beam winks out. All it leaves behind is a foot-wide hole. There is no sign of the daelkyr. As the adventurers look around, unsure whether it's gone, the Key flies out of Nameless' hand. It flashes through the air till it reaches the seal and drops down, slotting itself into the hole, which shuts tight around it. There is another rumble and a flash from the seal's sigils. They begin to dim a moment later and the wall of mist disappears
Nameless flies down to join the weak and weary group, while Corven hurries to revive Six. "Holy crap!" says Arrok succinctly, "Is it gone?"
"I believe it has been locked away again," says Nameless. As he speaks, a receptacle opens in the wall on the far side, a now-familiar amber light shining through. Nameless flies across to find another dragonshard, just like the first. It quivers as he nears and when he touches it, nestles comfortably in his grasp. "This must be the second Key."
As he is speaking, there is another huge rumble, this one throwing a number of the adventurers off their feet. The sound of tortured and protesting stone fills their ears as a crack appears in the floor next to the dimensional seal and runs across to, and up, the wall.
"Crap!" says Arrok again. "We need to get out."
Nameless flies back, carrying the dragonshard, while the rest pile onto Luna's back. The enlarged brown bear hurries out the doorway and through the corridor beyond, the sounds of more cracking stone accompanying her. As they pass through, the two golems appear again.
Nameless turns and yells, "Follow us!" There is no response and the golems simply stand and watch, even as a chunk of stone comes off the ceiling of the corridor and bounces off one.
Luna shoves through the door and bounds up the stairs as fast as she can go, the others desperately holding onto clumps of her long hair, which elicits a growl or two (trans: "Watch those hands!"). They hurry past the other landings, Nameless gazing sadly down them as they go and wondering what arcane secrets lie concealed within. More cracks appear as they go, with the sound of falling stone (and the sight of a couple of falling lumps) accompanying them and growing louder.
Emerging onto the landing near the treasure vaults, Luna skids and turns right, haring through the chamber with the dead dragon. Gareth gives an anguished groan - " I wanted some dragonhide, dammit!" - but everyone ignores him as Luna shoves open the secret door and leaps up the stairs.
She is halfway to the top when there is the largest rumble that the group has heard so far. They look up to see the huge spiderweb of cracks that covers the ceiling - and see it give way. The entire top half of the giant palace collapses on them.
A few seconds later, all that is left in the area is a mountain of broken stone. The wounded and bleeding adventurers find themselves pinned painfully under rubble and nearly choked with dust. Six, having managed to evade the worst of the damage, asks, "Can anyone get us out?"
Nameless begins, "I don't think ...", but is interrupted by an amber glow. It emanates from the dragonshard still gripped in his hand. As the adventurers watch, the glow quickly changes into a small bubble of light, which begins to expand. As it does, it slowly but inexorably pushes the rubble around it out of the way. The adventurers, however, pass smoothly through the surface of the bubble.
Within moments, it grows to envelop Nameless and then the others. "Are you doing that?" asks Corven curiously, as he lands on the curved surface inside the bubble, having a huge rock lifted off his legs.
"No," says Nameless, carefully examining the dragonshard, "It's some sort of defensive mechanism." He taps the bubble, which now is impervious to him from the inside, and says, "It's a variation on a resilient sphere, I think."
"Whatever it is, I'm not complaining!" says Arrok, as he begins to revive an unconscious Dala.
When the bubble has completely encompassed the group, it begins to rise slowly, rubble sliding out of its path. As it moves, those inside can hear more loud rumbles in the area around them. Eventually, a couple of minutes later, the globe breaks into the open, revealing a scene of complete devastation.
The giant city is in a state of even greater ruin than before, most of the buildings having fallen apart under the reverberations. Huge splits and crevasses run through the city like the world's largest spiderweb, quickly expanding and swallowing more of the city. Nobody has much interest in them right now, since they have a more impressive sight in view, just over a mile away. The nearby mountain is missing its entire top half and the lower part is covered in lava, huge plumes of smoke covering the sky.
Luna, now back in shifter form, stares in fascination and says slowly, "D-a-m-n!" After a second, she adds, "I think we might have lost the porters."
As they are watching, the globe floats higher and higher, till it is a good two hundred feet above the ground. This gives the group a perfect view of the increasing devastation around them. It is quickly clear that this is not just a really powerful earthquake-cum-volcanic eruption. Huge explosions begin to occur all over the island, as if things underground were erupting, sending up puffs of earth and clouds of smoke. Clearly magical effects begin to appear in exponentially larger numbers. What seem to be huge fireballs explode here and there, with lightning lashing back and forth or leaping from the earth to the sky. A huge bank of clouds appears within moments, accompanied by thunderclaps that almost deafen the hearers. Black, acidic rain pours down, accompanied by a fusillade of lightning bolts, and a shower of hailstones.
Corven looks at the other spellcasters. "Storm of vengeance?!" Both Nameless and Luna nod silently and go back to watching the outside.
Beneath them, the city and the island continues to break apart, the crevasses growing wider and deeper. At one point, some of them think they see something colossal (much larger than the dragon) twisting and turning deep below in one of the crevasses, but then the falling debris covers it. Over the next fifteen minutes, the majority of the city is either destroyed or simply subsides into the ground.
Finally, there are a few moments of relative silence. "You think it's over?" asks Gareth.
"No," says Six, pointing towards the mountain. As the others turn to look where he is pointing, the entire mountain is simply vaporized in a blast of brilliant light. Six, who is facing right towards it, has his mechanical eyes seared and rendered blind immediately, as does Dala, while the others manage to shield themselves just in time. The blast explodes outwards, enveloping the globe with the adventurers in searing light. Luckily for them, the bubble seems impervious to the effects.
A few seconds later, light fades away, to reveal that the mountain is missing, with a huge mushroom-shaped cloud in its place. The island as a whole is almost denuded of vegetation, only charred husks and ashes left in the aftermath of the blast. But the final effect is yet to come. As the adventurers watch in awe, the island literally crumbles apart beneath them. It gradually subsides into the ocean around it, leaving behind only small barren islands to form presumably the world's quickest-formed archipelago, where a hundred mile wide island was less than an hour ago. A huge tidal wave rushes away into the distance as a sign of the island's passing, while the mushroom cloud still marks where its central mountain last stood.
As the blast passes, the bubble slowly descends to the surface of the small island below. Once it settles on the rocky surface, it disappears, leaving them standing on the ground. The adventurers stare around at the area and each other, before Nameless sums up what just happened. "I think we can scratch that idea for having our own special vacation spot!"
***
The group gets to spend the next 15 days waiting for the ship to return to fetch them, exploring the area, discussing what happened and what the future holds, examining the magic items they recovered, and generally keeping themselves occupied as best they can. Luckily, both Six and Dala recover their vision in around a day, so they can help with all of the activities.
Experimentation and the use of multiple identify spells reveals what the various magic items are. While many are similar to (though all stronger) magic items that the Angels possess and others are at least ones they have heard of, some are new to them. The three especially interesting ones are the warforged harness, the wand and the staff. The harness is designed to boost the strength and toughness of a warforged, with the linked boots allowing movement under difficult circumstances. There is also a self-destruct mechanism if the wearer is slain, as the group already knows. Corven manages to disable the last and also to remove the boots from the rest of the harness, on Six's request.
The wand, once per day, lets the user access a cubical (2 ft on a side) storage space that exists extradimensionally. After some discussion, the group lets Corven retain it. He temporarily uses it to store his homunculus, which has thus far been traveling in the bag of holding that Ghyrra had loaned the group (which Nameless takes, since it seems that Ghyrra will not be needing it returned).
The staff is even more idiosyncratic and perfect for the group's unexpected situation. Once a day, when placed upright and activated, it grows into a twenty-foot tall sapling, which forms an opaque sphere around it that provides protection from the elements. The sapling also appears with a number of berries (which work as a goodberry spell), one apple (which replicates a vigor) and one tangerine (with the effects of a combined remove disease and neutralize poison), which wither away if not eaten within a minute of plucking.
The most important magic item, of course, is the dragonshard. Nameless first studies it with a detect magic, learning that it not only gives of strong auras of every magical school, but also has overwhelming auras of divination and abjuration. While he is studying it, Gareth is nearby using a detect magic on Kizmet, which has regained its magical powers a day after the explosion. Gareth suddenly notices that not only does he not detect anything from the dragonshard (about thirty feet away), but Nameless and his magical items do not detect as magical either. He points this out and, after some experimentation, the group learns that the shard not only cannot be detected as magical from more than ten feet away, but also prevents anything within five feet of it from detecting as magical either.
The Angels learn is that it is designed as a key to work with dimensional locks, being able to both lock them more tightly and to open them. It is, however, dependent on life energy from living creatures. Evidently creatures that provide it energy (assuming they survive) are bonded to it in some way. These discoveries are as dependent on supposition and what they have seen as on the identify spell, which provides little real information about it.
As far as being bonded to the shard is concerned, each of the adventurers discovers in a day's time that he or she has developed a small deep blue tattoo on the chest. So too have Dala and Arrok. The tattoos detect faintly of magic too, with moderate auras of divination, enchantment and abjuration. The Angels have varying amounts of suspicion where these tattoos are concerned, with Six being especially uncomfortable.
The group discusses what to do with the dragonshard and how to keep it safe. Nameless is especially proprietary about it, carrying it around strapped to his chest. Corven raises the question of whether it would be safer in an extradimensional space but Nameless says that might be risky. Gareth is especially uncomfortable about Nameless' ability to use the shard (when he asks about it, the mage says only, "I know what I know") and his interest in it.
The paladin, however, has other issues to distract him. He asks Nameless what the daelkyr said to him after he used Kizmet on it and Nameless translates, saying that it called Gareth a fiend. The others also ask about the sword and Gareth relates how his father owned it before him and the story of the Battle of Grace, where he gained the sword and his paladinhood. After that, he spends a lot of his time praying and attempting to commune with the sword, mostly to no avail. All he achieves is feelings of satisfaction and relief from the sword, and nothing else.
The group also spends some time exploring the remnants of the island in the ocean below them, or rather Nameless, Luna and Six do. Nameless finds a number of useful spells in the necklace of the phantom library to aid there, while Six's lack of a need to breathe and Luna's ability to turn into a fish allows all three to spend significant time underwater. They discover that the island has actually subsided to the ocean floor half a mile below and that it still retains the misty barrier around it, which now covers it like a shell. This causes some problems for them but they do eventually manage to penetrate it. Though most of the island and the city is now undifferentiated rubble, they do manage to recover a few relics that Dala says will be valuable to Kidro. Strangely, they encounter almost no dead bodies (none have floated to the surface either), whether of animals or elves or giants, almost as if they had been completely wiped out of existence.
Nameless spends some time talking to both Dala and Arrok, impressing upon them the importance of not letting anyone know about the dragonshard. He explains that they've already seen what kind of devastation it could cause and that many dangerous individuals and groups would be interested in it. Dala agrees and promises to not mention it in the detailed description of the expedition that she has been making. She says that he will simply mention the battle against the daelkyr and the following cataclysm, without any reference to a second dragonshard being recovered. Arrok is not particularly interested in the dragonshard and is instead concerned about what this whole bonding issue means. Nameless says that he will investigate and let both of them know what he finds out. He also tells them that if they ever need help, they should contact him and he will aid them in whatever way they can. Both Arrok and Dala thank him and comment that, in view of what they've already experienced with the Angels and seen of their prowess, they are very appreciative of the offer.
Corven, who has been especially interested in the similarities between the cataclysm and what he knows of the Day of Mourning, makes copious notes about whatever the others tell him about the island's remnants and accompanies them on a couple of occasions. Nameless points out to him too that he should be careful about whom he shares that information with. Corven says that he definitely will be wary, but finding out about the source of the Day of Mourning is something that is very important to him (as well as to most Cyrans), so this may be an important event to that end. He promises to be careful to not endanger the group in any way through his investigations.
Lastly, the group travels, via magic and Luna ferrying people over in wildshape, from island to island until they reach the edge of the new archipelago. Figuring that they are at the approximate point where they expect the ship to show up, they make camp and continue with their various activities.
***
During the morning of the 23rd, Luna changes into an eagle and flies some distance out to sea. After an hour or two of soaring high in the sky, she spots an approaching wind galleon. Flying down, she finds it to be the Sea Sprite, and lands next to the helm, transforming back into her shifter form and startling captain Sovelon. She quickly tells him that they "blew up the island but are safe", which confuses him even further. However, he steers the ship in the direction she indicates and soon reaches the little island where the group is.
After the group is ferried to the ship on one of its boats, Sovelon has a huge number of questions for them. Arrok deals with him while the others depart to some comfortable berths, and the ship heads for Stormreach. The gnome soon rejoins the others to say that apparently Stormreach was hit by the storm surge created by the explosion of the island (as Six had surmised), but it did no real damage due to having dissipated over the five hundred mile distance.
The wind galleon makes good time, reaching Stormreach early the next day. The group thanks captain Sovelon and embarks. Arrok has his own place to stay and leaves, saying he will meet the others at the inn. The rest head to the Bloody Giant and get themselves rooms. Dala says that they will be leaving for Sharn in two days and departs to send a message to Kidro from the Sivis station. Gareth accompanies her. At the station he finds a letter from his family that arrived three weeks ago, the day that they left for the island. There is also a shorter one from Lalia that arrived around the same time.
When he returns to the inn, the Angels have a protracted discussion about what sources they can safely utilize to learn more about the Key. Nameless and Gareth get into one of their usual disagreements, with Gareth wanting to consult the Archierophant and Nameless wishing to show it to Trillia, with neither of them really trusting the other's choice. As a compromise, Nameless suggests that they contact the Gatekeeper druids in Sharn. Since the Gatekeepers were the ones who created the dimensional seals that block the connection of Xoriat to Eberron, they should be the best people to talk to about something that apparently works with the seals. Both Corven and Six support his idea, and Gareth agrees. Interestingly, Luna is the one who seems least interested in dealing with the druids. When asked why she isn't expressing an opinion about the matter, she finally admits that she's not that keen on the other druids because they "keep asking me to do stuff for them!" She does, however, say that she thinks they're the best option mentioned thus far.
With that decision made, Gareth and Nameless then find another subject for disagreement, namely the fact that Nameless is walking around with the Key strapped to his chest. Gareth thinks this is an incredibly unsafe way of transporting the Key, not to mention being openly uncomfortable about Nameless having such control over it. Nameless argues that the Key is safer with him than with anyone else and (presumably made a little cocky by having survived a dragon and a daelkyr) that any fool who tries to take it from a mage of his power might as well be committing suicide. This disagreement spirals, as ever, into accusations about each other's reliability and trustworthiness.
With the argument showing no real sign of being resolved, the others cut it short by saying that they're off to get something to eat. The squabbling pair grudgingly end their fighting and follow suit.
* As I told John, who was expressing the opinion that the NPCs would be toast in the 1st rd - "Never doubt my NPC's skills!"
** Nameless, crucially, managed to dispel a Mage Armor, Shield and a Resist Energy (fire) spell, without which the dragon would have had an AC of 39 (effectively unhittable for the PCs) and fire resistance 20.
*** Gareth picked the one cursed item in the room to try on. I let him use 2 action pts to get them off.
**** Took her exactly to -10. To quote John: "Rend? It has REND?!" (Which was followed moments later in the fight by Avi: “Action points? Your dragon has ACTION POINTS?!”)
***** One piece of info the PCs' Knowledge checks didn't give them.
****** Went to -20+
******* Exactly -10 too
******** I had the players, without discussion, each write on a sheet of paper how many hit pts they were willing to give up. Other than Six, who retained 10, every PC (and Dala and Arrok) gave up all except 1 hp, which would have effectively killed them if their Bear's Endurance spells ran out. Very impressive - and crucial.
Even as thoughts of "ohcrapohcrapI'mgoingtodieohcrap" run through the adventurers' minds, the dragon breathes, blasting them with a cone of incredibly cold air. Even though all of them are protected by a spell to resist energy (cold), the targets feel the icy breath chill them to the bone, weakening muscles and draining vitality. Most of them, that is. Six, timing it just right, manages to spin around and pull his magical cloak over his head, leaving him untouched by the blast. More surprisingly, for the others, Dala - near the edge of the blast, drops and rolls under it, leaving her unscathed as well*.
A split second after it breathes, the dragon lets go and drops off the ceiling. Rather than crashing to the floor forty feet below, he drops slowly, evidently benefiting from a featherfall effect. As he does so, he flaps his huge wings, driving himself closer to the group. In barely a couple of seconds, he lands next to them, fangs and claws at the ready. As he lands, Tyrass roars, sending shivers running up the spines of the adventurers. Aided by the aura of courage that Gareth radiates, most of them shake off the effects, but Six and Corven succumb, feeling their hands tremble, fear taking the edge off their skill. They, do however, stand their ground.
Even if they had actually seen a live dragon before, Tyrass would be a singular sight. The dragon is a huge creature, fully forty feet long from nosetip to tail. A large frill crowns his head and runs down his neck. His body is mainly gray, made up of blotches of different shades. Small streaks of pure silver are visible in between. His eyes are silver too, with a darker silver eyeball, but they are cloudy, with red veins forming webbing over each eye. Small sores cover his body, with a few that are 2-3 feet across, all of them red and oozing. The most noticeable thing about Tyrass is a large dark-blue tattoo covering his chest section, depicting the serpent around the gem that the Angels have seen before. One of the claws gleams, a large golden ring encircling it.
Not that anyone stops to appreciate the sight. Nameless, who already has the disk from Ghyrra in his hand, steps back and casts a spell, trying to dispel any protections Tyrass may have. He realizes he has had at least some success, as he feels the disk grow warm and realizes that it now stores the power of a spell of the second valence.**
Six and Luna leap forward together. Six's spiked chain, enchanted by Corven against dragons, bites into the Tyrass' shoulder, ripping a two-foot long gash in it and drawing a snarl that mixes both pain and surprise. Luna rears up to her full height of ten feet bites and claws at Tyrass' right leg, leaving large gashes. She tries to grab hold and bring him down, but even with her bulk the huge dragon is much too big.
Gareth is only a moment behind the other two, but his action is not as offensive, though it is more aesthetic. He takes a step forward and then breaks into a jig, leaping and capering in the same place***. The look of shock on his face is replaced by frustration and anger. "The Flame help me!" he cries, as he desperately tries to tear the boots off his feet, still making fancy moves while doing so. For a moment, even the dragon pauses and looks confused at the sight.
Dala, meanwhile, has pulled a scroll from her pack and used it to heal the bulk of Arrok's wounds. As she does, the gnome charges forward, coming up on the dragon's flank. He strikes with his diminutive shortsword, only to see it bounce off a scale as big as his head.
As Arrok is charging, Dala backs up to the wall. Next to her is Corven, who is quickly infusing his wand for extra power and muttering, "I am a wizard! I am a wizard! I really hope I am a wizard!"
Luckily for him and for Nameless, even with Gareth temporarily out of the fight, Six, Luna and Arrok are keeping Tyrass busy - that is, giving him more immediate targets. The dragon lashes out at his enemies in a flurry of bite, claws, wing and tail. Luna is the worst hit, the dragon seizing her in his claws and rending**** her between them, laying her entire side open. Arrok is almost taken off his feet by a slap of the tail. Six is wounded too, but the protections from Corven keep out much of the damage he would otherwise have taken. The dragon does, however, seize him in its mouth and lift him off the ground.
Ignoring the pain, Six calls out in Giant, "Tyrass - if you kill us, we can't tell you about the prophecy!" To his surprise and that of the others, the dragon actually tries to answer. As it does so, its grip loosens and he slips out. Tyrass glares down and replies in Giant, "Fools! I know of the Prophecy! I will kill you all!"
"In that case...", shrugs Six, swinging back with his chain to again wound the dragon. Luna follows suit, continuing to claw and bite despite the blood streaming down her body.
From behind them Nameless, who is continuing to back up, casts another spell. A thick bank of solid fog appears around much of the dragon's body, clearly limiting its movement. As it appears, an aggrieved, "Hey!!!" rings out from within it, from Arrok, who is within the area.
"Don't worry, Arrok," shouts Nameless, "It'll protect you." Within the fog, Arrok swears to himself in Gnome and stabs at the dragon's leg. This time, partly to his surprise, and apparently the dragon's, he inflicts a shallow wound.
Gareth, having managed to throw off the boots, now moves in with Kizmet in hand. The paladin yells to Dala as he goes, "Healing! We need more healing!" And I need not to be fighting a huge dragon in my socks!
Dala complies, pulling another scroll from her bag. She hurriedly pronounces the words of the spell and all of the group feel some of their wounds close. "That's the only one of that kind I have!" she yells.
Corven says quickly, "I've got another in my haversack," but realizes offense is better now. He triggers his wand, sending two scorching rays at the dragon. One fails to penetrate its resistance to magic but the other gets through, burning into one of the large sores.
Tyrass screams in rage and pain and explodes into an even more violent flurry of attacks. Luna, in her already weakened state, collapses in a pool of blood, while Six is wounded again, more of his protections being stripped away. To the later amusement of the group, from within the fog Arrok shouts, "Missed me!" as the dragon's tail swishes by his head. He follows with a cry of "Gotcha!" as he manages to stab the dragon again.
Outside the fog, Six lands another blow. Gareth, having reached the dragon's side, calls upon the Flame to aid him and smites the dragon. Kizmet kindles in his hands and bites deep into the dragon's side, slashing a huge wound, followed by another one as he smites again.
As Tyrass screams, Nameless yells, "That's it!" and casts another spell, hurling an acid orb. To his surprise and disgust, it splashes harmlessly on the dragon's neck. Acid immunity? Bloody hell!*****
Corven is more effective, another scorching ray getting through the dragon's resistance, as he backs around to the side. Dala, previously near him, hurries forward towards the fight with another scroll in hand. She uses it on Luna. Though she remains grievously wounded, the druid muzzily opens her eyes. Looking up at the dragon slashing at her allies, she snarls and slowly backs away, knowing that she is in no shape to attack physically.
Tyrass is too busy to notice her revival, focusing on the enemies that are continuing to wound him. He seizes Six with both claws, rending him as he did Luna previously. With his protection having been stripped away by its previous attacks, Six has his entire chest section ripped open and drops******, unconscious and leaking fluid.
Gareth is no luckier. The dragon bites down on him viciously and lifts him up, before dropping him again. Badly wounded, Gareth tries to keep his feet but stumbles. As he hits the ground, he looks up to see a wing slam down. He too drops unconscious, bleeding from his mouth.*******
The one lucky person, as evidenced by his cheery, "Missed me - again!" is Arrok, wherever he is within the fog. That doesn't reassure Nameless much, as he sees Six and Gareth lying there, with Luna literally out on her feet. He casts again, sending a fireball to explode against Tyrass' side.
The dragon screams at the fiery attack, and the scream is extended as Luna brings down a flame strike right in the middle of its back. Scales and flesh burn away under the magical onslaught. Tyrass totters, his huge body covered in blood and burnt flesh.
Seeing the opportunity, Corven takes careful aim and fires. To his horror, one ray misses completely and another fails to have any effect.
The dragon, seeing Nameless and Luna as the biggest threats, and unable to reach both of them due to distance and the solid fog takes another breath. And then he exhales, sending a cloud of paralyzation gas washing over them.
Dala, who has just healed Luna again, goes completely rigid, paralyzed immediately. Unknown to Tyrass, however, Nameless is wearing the Ring of Adaptation from the treasure room and Luna has cast a freedom of movement on herself earlier. As Tyrass sags with pain and weakness, expecting to see his enemies paralyzed, the druid-bear comes charging out of the cloud of gas.
Luna lunges forward, seizing the dragon's chest with her claws and biting deep into the base of his throat. Her teeth sink deep into a huge sore, ripping through diseased and weakened skin and flesh. She literally rips away an entire side of Tyrass' throat. The dragon screams and convulses, knocking her away as he collapses in an ever-expanding pool of blood and pus.
"Hey! What happened out there? This thing just fell over!" shouts Arrok from inside the fog. Nameless replies, "It's down and looks dead, but I'm about to make sure," calls back Nameless, preparing to cast a summon spell. Time to turn you into paste!
As he is about to cast, Tyrass reopens his eyes. After his initial shock, Nameless notices that they are now clear of the red webbing previously covering them. Painfully, Tyrass gasps in Draconic, "Wait!" Luna, who has backed off and been spitting and trying to get the taste of dragon pus out of her mouth, looks around in surprise.
"What did it say?" asks Nameless, hand still raised to complete his spell. Corven, who is coming closer carefully with wand raised, says, "It said 'Wait'."
Tyrass continues speaking, seeming to address the group rather than any one of them, pausing intermittently to gasp in pain. "Thank you. You have freed me ... as I knew you would, even within my madness. But now you - and your Khorvaire - are in danger. I, Tyrass, was the last guardian and the Key is bound to me."
As he is speaking, Luna notices that the tattoo on its chest is beginning to break apart, like a sand dune being blown away by the wind. She waves a paw to indicate it to the others.
Tyrass coughs up a gout of blood and then continues, "Your actions will spark the future." The phrase reminds Corven (and Nameless, as Corven translates) of Flamewind's prophecy - Where present and future spark, where light is turned to dark, to the ghost of the city where the past awaits.
They do not have time to discuss that, as the dying dragon continues. "You must get there before the Bound One gets free. It is weaker for the moment, much weaker, but it is still beyond your power. Use the Key and it will keep it bound, if you have the will. And guard the other Key, from those who will want its power."
Again, he pauses to cough up more blood. Luna steps - or rather, shambles - forward and raises a paw to touch the dragon, calling up a healing spell. The spell simply fizzles. Tyrass gazes at her for a moment, and then says painfully, "It is too late. I am dead already."
He then adds, "You will need my blood. Put some on your skin. All of you. At least one must drink it, so that you can speak to the guardians. Take my ring too. Go now. Down the stairs outside. Always head down."
"What Key?" says Luna, but unfortunately, this only emerges as a series of growls. Corven, however, asks the question at the same time.
As he speaks, there is a tremor beneath the adventurers' feet. The dragon arches its half-severed neck and takes a panicky breath, groaning at the pain, "It is trying to escape! Go now! GO! Remember that the prophecy is..."
Then there is a pregnant pause and the dragon's head falls. This time, it is clearly dead. The last remnant of the tattoo fades from its chest.
Luna, Corven and Arrok, who has cautiously emerged from the solid fog, quickly revive Gareth and Six. Dala too soon emerges from her paralysis. As they begin healing their severe wounds, Corven quickly explains to everyone what the dragon said.
"If the Bound One is what I'm thinking," says Nameless, "We need to get there - fast!" With that, he walks over to the dragon and, with some straining, removes its ring. He then takes two handfuls of blood and cakes his face and arms with it. Then he pulls out a spoon, dips it in the blood, and swallows it.
"What the - ?!" begins Gareth, when Corven adds that the dragon said they need to. Everyone does so, though with significantly less relish than Nameless. Luna, her snout wrinkled in disgust, also laps a little blood in case someone else needs to have done so. She feels a slight tingle but no other noticeable effect.
Six, who is at the doorway now, says, "Giant-sized steps leading up and down. This'll take a while."
As another tremor underlines the words, Nameless says, "We need to get downstairs fast. Luna!" The druid, who has been pulling out a couple of the dragon's teeth as souvenirs, ambles over. Nameless reaches out and casts a spell on her, causing her to expand till she is nearly twenty feet long. "There!" says the mage in satisfaction. "Transport!"
Everyone quickly climbs onto the huge bear, including Gareth, who has been trying to work out what kind of armor the dragonhide would make, and she heads out and down the stairs. As she goes, the others quickly discuss what they have learned and what it might mean. Corven, Six, Gareth and Nameless especially discuss the details of Flamewind's prophecy, noting that the phrases "Where present and future spark" and "to the ghost of the city where the past awaits" clearly relates to their current situation, as seems to be "Dragon's wings". The primary question they have is what this Key is. Flamewind said, "The sword is the key, but the key is not the sword," but they are not sure what it means.
"If it means I'm going to give up my sword, I'm going to be really unhappy!" comments Gareth, praying inwardly that it won't be required.
While they are speaking, Luna descends a couple of levels, passing large landings, where other tunnels and chambers lead off. As she goes, she can feel more small rumbles in the stone, which seem to grow stronger as she descends.
The stairs finally end in front of a large archway with double stone doors. After a quick check by Corven and Six, Luna shoves them open, revealing a tunnel beyond ending in a similar archway and door. It is featureless except for small crystals set into the sides and ceiling, which emit a dim light. Nameless throws a copper crown down the tunnel but there is no response. The group heads in.
As they near the far end, panels open in the walls and two large metal figures step through. They are evidently iron golems, though these look more lithe and less blocky than most. They raise their arms, revealing large blades affixed to their fingers, but make no other move. Nameless opens his mouth to speak and feels a tingle (minty-fresh, which turns his stomach). Small sparks appear as he speaks. He has barely finished a word before the golems step back into the receptacles they came from.
"Come with us!" says Nameless firmly, but the only response is as the panels slide down. "Okay," he says, "Guess not!"
Luna shoves open the door and steps into the chamber beyond. This one is cylindrical, or presumably so, since the adventurers cannot see all of it. It is sixty feet high and presumably a hundred feet across, but there is a cylindrical wall of mist from ceiling to floor about ten feet in. It resembles the one around the island (and, to the Cyrans, the one around the Mournland). There are continual flame torches around the walls, and the adventurers see their light palpably streaming into the mist and being converted into darkness.
"Where light is turned to dark?" asks Corven rhetorically, as Luna enters. A moment later, a huge rumble shakes the entire room, actually knocking Luna off her feet. Luckily, those on her manage to either land on theirs or roll away before the huge bear can land on them. As she regains her feet with a growl, Nameless says, "This is it, all right!"
After a few seconds casting protective spells, the group enters the mist together. It is impossible to see through, even with Gareth's darkvision, so they hold hands (or paw). The mist is only about five feet thick and the group emerges into the central area at once.
Inside the mist is a 70 ft wide open space, in the center of which is a dimensional seal, which looks just like the one that the Angels saw when they met Gurr'khan. There are only two things different about it. One is that there is what looks like a two-foot long dragonshard lying near the middle of it. This one has been carved into a cylinder with pointed ends, and is decorated with sigils like the dimensional seal. The sigils on the shard are glowing, as they are on the seal. Though it is half-hidden, the adventurers can see that the shard has a picture of the serpent/dragonshard symbol on it. The other different thing about this seal is a thick amber column of light, which rises from the center of it to the ceiling.
While the others see only a dimensional seal, a dragonshard and a beam of light, the sight triggers another of Nameless' memories:
He is lying spreadeagled on just such a seal, naked from the chest up. He is not alone. He can see others like him - five more. He knows that he knows them, that they are comrades of his, but right now he cannot recall their names. The six of them have been laid out in a rough pattern, with each one's right hand tied to the left foot of the next person. His hands and feet feel raw, as if they have been tied for a long time.
Behind and above him, someone says, "Let it begin!" Nameless - or the person he is in the memory - twists painfully and looks up at the figures standing just outside the dimensional seal. All of them are hooded and cloaked, the hoods hiding their features. A couple wear large symbols on their chests, which he recognizes as the symbol of the Dragon Below. One, who stands in the middle, holds up a large, strangely shaped dragonshard. The Nameless having the memory recognizes it now as exactly the same as the one lying on the seal.
As he watches, the dragonshard glows with an amber light, which then sends beams arcing to strike him and his companions. Instantly there is a sharp pain and an insistent, relentless pulling sensation, as it begins to drain his vitality. He gasps at the sensation and tries to fight it. His companions scream and convulse. He sees the beams leading to them pulse and begin to grow, as they thrash around. The one leading to him grows only slightly wider, as he continues to fight the sensation with all that he has.
Noticing it, one of the robed men steps forward. He kicks Nameless brutally in the face, instantly sending blood flowing into his eyes, and snarls, "Fool! You cannot fight it!" His hood falls away at the effort and Nameless sees a pallid, bony face, topped by two utterly insane eyes.
Behind him, Nameless sees the large dragonshard glowing bright amber now and it sends forth a larger beam, this one made of multiple smaller interweaving ones, to strike the center of the dimensional seal. Immediately, the draining sensation gets stronger, and he feels a huge weight pressing him to the seal. The symbols on the seal begin to glow. He cannot look up any more, but his last look makes him certain that his companions are unconscious or dead. Still, he continues to fight the draining effect.
Suddenly, a blast of energy erupts beside him, but whether from the seal or from something to the seal, he does not know. There is a sharp, cracking sound and he hears screams of terror from the men standing above him. Suddenly, he hears a voice in his head. It says ...
And the memory fades away. But it leaves Nameless with some knowledge. He realizes somehow that the dragonshard is what the dragon Tyrass called the Key. As the name says, it is a Key to both close and open a dimensional seal. He realizes that he has to get to it and use it (somehow, he knows that he will be able to), by asking his companions to give it their life energy. When the Key has enough, he can use it to drive the Bound One back into its prison and seal it. He also knows (just as Tyrass said) that the Bound One will be temporarily weak after it is released, which is the only opportunity his companions will have to keep it busy while he uses the Key on it.
Nameless opens his mouth to tell his companions what they need to do, and in barely an instant, the amber column grows thin and winks out. What it leaves behind is a tall, thin, gray figure. The creature resembles a tall human in shape, but its body is made up of unvariegated gray flesh. If that were not enough, there is a long tentacles where each arm should be. The head is a smooth gray ovoid, with no facial features.
This time it is Six who has a memory, recalling the invisible gray figure he had seen in the mirror in the dolgrims' lair months ago, in the Cogs of Sharn. The creature raises its head and two large pupil-less eyes appear in the face. The Angels, except for Luna, recognize these eyes too, as similar to the one they had seen in that mirror before it exploded.
There is no time for discussing these revelations - or coincidences. As the creature gazes at them, the adventurers feel an awesome will bending theirs down before it. It is not even malevolent so much as completely and utterly alien. As they gaze at it, momentarily unable to act in any way, they get a tiny glimpse of its perspective. For a second, they see the entire planet of Eberron as it might look from space, its continents as large patches of green and brown swimming in a blue ocean, the cold white of the Frostfell at one end, the gleaming ring of Siberys circling it.
But they are not alone in the void watching the planet. There are other creatures around them, creatures of no earthly shape or intent, whose existence and thought processes are completely and utterly alien to theirs. To them, Eberron is only a subject to be shaped and twisted to their desire, not because of anger or hate, but simply because they can. As their thoughts brush against those of the adventurers, they feel their mental faculties recoiling in horror.
Physically, the adventurers are still present in the chamber, and on some tiny level they are aware that the creature in front of them is changing. Its face develops features like that of a handsome human, but there is something slightly malformed about it. Its tentacles turn into arms tipped with long claws. The flesh all over its body bulges and contorts, transforming into armor, with a long toothed whip growing from one arm.
While the others feel the daelkyr insinuating its reality into theirs and holding them immobile, Corven manages to break away with a massive mental effort. Unsurprisingly, Nameless (whose reality is a little bigger than theirs anyway) does so too, his hands moving in the motions of a spell even as Corven lurches away, pulling out his wand.
A pseudonatural bison appears next to the daelkyr and hurls itself forward, slamming into its shoulder. Having already seen a confused dragon today, the group now gets to see a slightly confused daelkyr. And a concerned-sounding pseudonatural bison, whose somewhat despondent "MOOO!" could probably translate into, "I am never going to live this down back in Xoriat!"
Nameless, not pausing to appreciate the irony of attacking a daelkyr with a pseudonatural creature, zooms forward under the effects of a fly spell he fortuitously cast just outside the mist. I'm actually rushing towards a daelkyr, he thinks to himself in a mix of wonder and fear, tinged with mild amusement. As he reaches it, passing around the bison, the daelkyr lashes out with its whip, laying open his shoulder. As it does so, all of the others in the chamber feel the mental pressure disappear. They are in control of their faculties again, though each of them is left with a pounding headache.
Ignoring the pain, Nameless grabs the dragonshard. The daelkyr growls, "No! That is mine!" and strikes again, but its haste and the attacking bison throws it off. With a snarl of frustration it smacks the bison away with the whip. By now, the still-growing whip has a claw at the tip, which instantly drains some of the bison's vitality. The daelkyr lashes back, this time catching Nameless' chest. The alienist immediately feels part of his intellect drain away.
He is, however, already in full retreat, flying backwards as fast as he can. As he reaches the mist, twenty feet above the ground, he feels the Key grow warm in his grasp. He senses that it is dimly sentient in its own way, not as an actual living creature is, but more like an object that is both aware of and interested in the purpose for its creation. As he holds it up, thin beams of amber light shoot out to hit him and all of his companions (as well as Dala and Arrok).
"Give me all the energy you can!" yells Nameless. "It's our only chance!"
With no time for discussion, his companions respond promptly, giving up as much as they can and actually remain on their feet********. As they do, the beams of light widen appreciably for a moment and then wink out. It is replaced by a thicker beam, made of thinner interlacing rays, which shoots out of the Key and hits the daelkyr full in the chest.
It staggers for a moment, but regains its feet. "Now!" shouts Nameless. "Hit it while it's weak!"
The next few seconds are utter mayhem, as the weakened but desperate adventurers charge in with a series of very timely attacks. Corven possibly saves a couple of lives, managing to target the whip with a blast of his wand that reduces it to ashes. The daelkyr promptly begins to grow another one, but that takes time which it doesn't have. Six, moving into position beside the bison, manages to wrap his chain around its leg and pull it off its feet, allowing the bison to batter it again. Arrok rushes it from the other side. Gareth and Luna, both slower to react, move in behind the others.
Though the daelkyr does not seem badly hurt by the attacks, the amber beam (which continues to shine on it and grows brighter) clearly keeps it somewhat off-balance. Those close to it can see that the armor on its body and even certain parts of its form do not seem to be completely there, with gaps where nothing seems to exist. Even so, it seems to be gradually gathering its strength and it rises again, a wave of force emanating from it that shoves its attackers back.
Gareth is about to charge it when he feels an unmistakable empathic command from Kizmet. He has a sudden memory of his father standing over him at the Battle of Grace, facing the demon that had just wounded Gareth, raising a shining Kizmet over his head. He gets a very strong urge that he should do the same.
Getting as close to the daelkyr as possible, Gareth raises the sword above his head. "In the memory of Byron d'Deneith!" he cries, calling on the Silver Flame to aid him. As he does so, Kizmet begins to shimmer, the glow spreading quickly to cover the room. A brighter circle shines out to encase the daelkyr. The creature stumbles and those nearby see streams of gray begin to float from it to the sword. What are presumably wounds appear on it, strips simply disappearing from its body.
The daelkyr snarls and then says something in the tongue-twisting syllables of its native language, which only Nameless understands. Nobody else has time to see, but the mage looks confused, since what he thinks it says is - "Fool! You cannot consume me, and no fiend can stand against me." A second later, Gareth goes flying backwards twenty feet as if hit by a giant fist. He collapses unconscious on the ground, the glow fading instantly from Kizmet. Dala, whom Gareth lands next to, promptly heals the paladin back to consciousness. He immediately realizes that not only does he not feel any empathic commands from Kizmet, but the sword is as dull as a simple weapon in his hands. Kizmet is now non-magical.
Meanwhile, almost as an afterthought, the daelkyr cuts down the bison and then disappears, only to reappear next to the mist on the far side of the room. The adventurers charge after it. Six, the first to reach it, sees that the wounds left by whatever it is Kizmet did have not healed, and as he strikes it with his chain, part of the daelkyr's leg actually crumbles to powder under the blow. It, however, remains upright and cuts down Six with the now regrown whip.
Nameless, who has been struggling to control the Key and cast a spell, finally manages to cast one, summoning three more bison. These shove the daelkyr towards the seal, the sigils on which are now glowing brightly. The beam from the Key too seems to be pulling it backwards. Corven hits it with another scorching ray, further wounding it. Gareth hits it with a blast of positive energy, which it ignores. Luna - unable to reach the fight - summons a unicorn. The unicorn appears and with a loud neigh, hurls itself forward. Its horn smashes into the back of the daelkyr, propelling it forward onto the seal.
Instantly, the amber beam that the group had seen upon entering emerges from the seal's center. The beams from the Key give one final jerk, pulling the daelkyr into the beam. There is a momentary flash of light and a loud rumble - and the beam winks out. All it leaves behind is a foot-wide hole. There is no sign of the daelkyr. As the adventurers look around, unsure whether it's gone, the Key flies out of Nameless' hand. It flashes through the air till it reaches the seal and drops down, slotting itself into the hole, which shuts tight around it. There is another rumble and a flash from the seal's sigils. They begin to dim a moment later and the wall of mist disappears
Nameless flies down to join the weak and weary group, while Corven hurries to revive Six. "Holy crap!" says Arrok succinctly, "Is it gone?"
"I believe it has been locked away again," says Nameless. As he speaks, a receptacle opens in the wall on the far side, a now-familiar amber light shining through. Nameless flies across to find another dragonshard, just like the first. It quivers as he nears and when he touches it, nestles comfortably in his grasp. "This must be the second Key."
As he is speaking, there is another huge rumble, this one throwing a number of the adventurers off their feet. The sound of tortured and protesting stone fills their ears as a crack appears in the floor next to the dimensional seal and runs across to, and up, the wall.
"Crap!" says Arrok again. "We need to get out."
Nameless flies back, carrying the dragonshard, while the rest pile onto Luna's back. The enlarged brown bear hurries out the doorway and through the corridor beyond, the sounds of more cracking stone accompanying her. As they pass through, the two golems appear again.
Nameless turns and yells, "Follow us!" There is no response and the golems simply stand and watch, even as a chunk of stone comes off the ceiling of the corridor and bounces off one.
Luna shoves through the door and bounds up the stairs as fast as she can go, the others desperately holding onto clumps of her long hair, which elicits a growl or two (trans: "Watch those hands!"). They hurry past the other landings, Nameless gazing sadly down them as they go and wondering what arcane secrets lie concealed within. More cracks appear as they go, with the sound of falling stone (and the sight of a couple of falling lumps) accompanying them and growing louder.
Emerging onto the landing near the treasure vaults, Luna skids and turns right, haring through the chamber with the dead dragon. Gareth gives an anguished groan - " I wanted some dragonhide, dammit!" - but everyone ignores him as Luna shoves open the secret door and leaps up the stairs.
She is halfway to the top when there is the largest rumble that the group has heard so far. They look up to see the huge spiderweb of cracks that covers the ceiling - and see it give way. The entire top half of the giant palace collapses on them.
A few seconds later, all that is left in the area is a mountain of broken stone. The wounded and bleeding adventurers find themselves pinned painfully under rubble and nearly choked with dust. Six, having managed to evade the worst of the damage, asks, "Can anyone get us out?"
Nameless begins, "I don't think ...", but is interrupted by an amber glow. It emanates from the dragonshard still gripped in his hand. As the adventurers watch, the glow quickly changes into a small bubble of light, which begins to expand. As it does, it slowly but inexorably pushes the rubble around it out of the way. The adventurers, however, pass smoothly through the surface of the bubble.
Within moments, it grows to envelop Nameless and then the others. "Are you doing that?" asks Corven curiously, as he lands on the curved surface inside the bubble, having a huge rock lifted off his legs.
"No," says Nameless, carefully examining the dragonshard, "It's some sort of defensive mechanism." He taps the bubble, which now is impervious to him from the inside, and says, "It's a variation on a resilient sphere, I think."
"Whatever it is, I'm not complaining!" says Arrok, as he begins to revive an unconscious Dala.
When the bubble has completely encompassed the group, it begins to rise slowly, rubble sliding out of its path. As it moves, those inside can hear more loud rumbles in the area around them. Eventually, a couple of minutes later, the globe breaks into the open, revealing a scene of complete devastation.
The giant city is in a state of even greater ruin than before, most of the buildings having fallen apart under the reverberations. Huge splits and crevasses run through the city like the world's largest spiderweb, quickly expanding and swallowing more of the city. Nobody has much interest in them right now, since they have a more impressive sight in view, just over a mile away. The nearby mountain is missing its entire top half and the lower part is covered in lava, huge plumes of smoke covering the sky.
Luna, now back in shifter form, stares in fascination and says slowly, "D-a-m-n!" After a second, she adds, "I think we might have lost the porters."
As they are watching, the globe floats higher and higher, till it is a good two hundred feet above the ground. This gives the group a perfect view of the increasing devastation around them. It is quickly clear that this is not just a really powerful earthquake-cum-volcanic eruption. Huge explosions begin to occur all over the island, as if things underground were erupting, sending up puffs of earth and clouds of smoke. Clearly magical effects begin to appear in exponentially larger numbers. What seem to be huge fireballs explode here and there, with lightning lashing back and forth or leaping from the earth to the sky. A huge bank of clouds appears within moments, accompanied by thunderclaps that almost deafen the hearers. Black, acidic rain pours down, accompanied by a fusillade of lightning bolts, and a shower of hailstones.
Corven looks at the other spellcasters. "Storm of vengeance?!" Both Nameless and Luna nod silently and go back to watching the outside.
Beneath them, the city and the island continues to break apart, the crevasses growing wider and deeper. At one point, some of them think they see something colossal (much larger than the dragon) twisting and turning deep below in one of the crevasses, but then the falling debris covers it. Over the next fifteen minutes, the majority of the city is either destroyed or simply subsides into the ground.
Finally, there are a few moments of relative silence. "You think it's over?" asks Gareth.
"No," says Six, pointing towards the mountain. As the others turn to look where he is pointing, the entire mountain is simply vaporized in a blast of brilliant light. Six, who is facing right towards it, has his mechanical eyes seared and rendered blind immediately, as does Dala, while the others manage to shield themselves just in time. The blast explodes outwards, enveloping the globe with the adventurers in searing light. Luckily for them, the bubble seems impervious to the effects.
A few seconds later, light fades away, to reveal that the mountain is missing, with a huge mushroom-shaped cloud in its place. The island as a whole is almost denuded of vegetation, only charred husks and ashes left in the aftermath of the blast. But the final effect is yet to come. As the adventurers watch in awe, the island literally crumbles apart beneath them. It gradually subsides into the ocean around it, leaving behind only small barren islands to form presumably the world's quickest-formed archipelago, where a hundred mile wide island was less than an hour ago. A huge tidal wave rushes away into the distance as a sign of the island's passing, while the mushroom cloud still marks where its central mountain last stood.
As the blast passes, the bubble slowly descends to the surface of the small island below. Once it settles on the rocky surface, it disappears, leaving them standing on the ground. The adventurers stare around at the area and each other, before Nameless sums up what just happened. "I think we can scratch that idea for having our own special vacation spot!"
***
The group gets to spend the next 15 days waiting for the ship to return to fetch them, exploring the area, discussing what happened and what the future holds, examining the magic items they recovered, and generally keeping themselves occupied as best they can. Luckily, both Six and Dala recover their vision in around a day, so they can help with all of the activities.
Experimentation and the use of multiple identify spells reveals what the various magic items are. While many are similar to (though all stronger) magic items that the Angels possess and others are at least ones they have heard of, some are new to them. The three especially interesting ones are the warforged harness, the wand and the staff. The harness is designed to boost the strength and toughness of a warforged, with the linked boots allowing movement under difficult circumstances. There is also a self-destruct mechanism if the wearer is slain, as the group already knows. Corven manages to disable the last and also to remove the boots from the rest of the harness, on Six's request.
The wand, once per day, lets the user access a cubical (2 ft on a side) storage space that exists extradimensionally. After some discussion, the group lets Corven retain it. He temporarily uses it to store his homunculus, which has thus far been traveling in the bag of holding that Ghyrra had loaned the group (which Nameless takes, since it seems that Ghyrra will not be needing it returned).
The staff is even more idiosyncratic and perfect for the group's unexpected situation. Once a day, when placed upright and activated, it grows into a twenty-foot tall sapling, which forms an opaque sphere around it that provides protection from the elements. The sapling also appears with a number of berries (which work as a goodberry spell), one apple (which replicates a vigor) and one tangerine (with the effects of a combined remove disease and neutralize poison), which wither away if not eaten within a minute of plucking.
The most important magic item, of course, is the dragonshard. Nameless first studies it with a detect magic, learning that it not only gives of strong auras of every magical school, but also has overwhelming auras of divination and abjuration. While he is studying it, Gareth is nearby using a detect magic on Kizmet, which has regained its magical powers a day after the explosion. Gareth suddenly notices that not only does he not detect anything from the dragonshard (about thirty feet away), but Nameless and his magical items do not detect as magical either. He points this out and, after some experimentation, the group learns that the shard not only cannot be detected as magical from more than ten feet away, but also prevents anything within five feet of it from detecting as magical either.
The Angels learn is that it is designed as a key to work with dimensional locks, being able to both lock them more tightly and to open them. It is, however, dependent on life energy from living creatures. Evidently creatures that provide it energy (assuming they survive) are bonded to it in some way. These discoveries are as dependent on supposition and what they have seen as on the identify spell, which provides little real information about it.
As far as being bonded to the shard is concerned, each of the adventurers discovers in a day's time that he or she has developed a small deep blue tattoo on the chest. So too have Dala and Arrok. The tattoos detect faintly of magic too, with moderate auras of divination, enchantment and abjuration. The Angels have varying amounts of suspicion where these tattoos are concerned, with Six being especially uncomfortable.
The group discusses what to do with the dragonshard and how to keep it safe. Nameless is especially proprietary about it, carrying it around strapped to his chest. Corven raises the question of whether it would be safer in an extradimensional space but Nameless says that might be risky. Gareth is especially uncomfortable about Nameless' ability to use the shard (when he asks about it, the mage says only, "I know what I know") and his interest in it.
The paladin, however, has other issues to distract him. He asks Nameless what the daelkyr said to him after he used Kizmet on it and Nameless translates, saying that it called Gareth a fiend. The others also ask about the sword and Gareth relates how his father owned it before him and the story of the Battle of Grace, where he gained the sword and his paladinhood. After that, he spends a lot of his time praying and attempting to commune with the sword, mostly to no avail. All he achieves is feelings of satisfaction and relief from the sword, and nothing else.
The group also spends some time exploring the remnants of the island in the ocean below them, or rather Nameless, Luna and Six do. Nameless finds a number of useful spells in the necklace of the phantom library to aid there, while Six's lack of a need to breathe and Luna's ability to turn into a fish allows all three to spend significant time underwater. They discover that the island has actually subsided to the ocean floor half a mile below and that it still retains the misty barrier around it, which now covers it like a shell. This causes some problems for them but they do eventually manage to penetrate it. Though most of the island and the city is now undifferentiated rubble, they do manage to recover a few relics that Dala says will be valuable to Kidro. Strangely, they encounter almost no dead bodies (none have floated to the surface either), whether of animals or elves or giants, almost as if they had been completely wiped out of existence.
Nameless spends some time talking to both Dala and Arrok, impressing upon them the importance of not letting anyone know about the dragonshard. He explains that they've already seen what kind of devastation it could cause and that many dangerous individuals and groups would be interested in it. Dala agrees and promises to not mention it in the detailed description of the expedition that she has been making. She says that he will simply mention the battle against the daelkyr and the following cataclysm, without any reference to a second dragonshard being recovered. Arrok is not particularly interested in the dragonshard and is instead concerned about what this whole bonding issue means. Nameless says that he will investigate and let both of them know what he finds out. He also tells them that if they ever need help, they should contact him and he will aid them in whatever way they can. Both Arrok and Dala thank him and comment that, in view of what they've already experienced with the Angels and seen of their prowess, they are very appreciative of the offer.
Corven, who has been especially interested in the similarities between the cataclysm and what he knows of the Day of Mourning, makes copious notes about whatever the others tell him about the island's remnants and accompanies them on a couple of occasions. Nameless points out to him too that he should be careful about whom he shares that information with. Corven says that he definitely will be wary, but finding out about the source of the Day of Mourning is something that is very important to him (as well as to most Cyrans), so this may be an important event to that end. He promises to be careful to not endanger the group in any way through his investigations.
Lastly, the group travels, via magic and Luna ferrying people over in wildshape, from island to island until they reach the edge of the new archipelago. Figuring that they are at the approximate point where they expect the ship to show up, they make camp and continue with their various activities.
***
During the morning of the 23rd, Luna changes into an eagle and flies some distance out to sea. After an hour or two of soaring high in the sky, she spots an approaching wind galleon. Flying down, she finds it to be the Sea Sprite, and lands next to the helm, transforming back into her shifter form and startling captain Sovelon. She quickly tells him that they "blew up the island but are safe", which confuses him even further. However, he steers the ship in the direction she indicates and soon reaches the little island where the group is.
After the group is ferried to the ship on one of its boats, Sovelon has a huge number of questions for them. Arrok deals with him while the others depart to some comfortable berths, and the ship heads for Stormreach. The gnome soon rejoins the others to say that apparently Stormreach was hit by the storm surge created by the explosion of the island (as Six had surmised), but it did no real damage due to having dissipated over the five hundred mile distance.
The wind galleon makes good time, reaching Stormreach early the next day. The group thanks captain Sovelon and embarks. Arrok has his own place to stay and leaves, saying he will meet the others at the inn. The rest head to the Bloody Giant and get themselves rooms. Dala says that they will be leaving for Sharn in two days and departs to send a message to Kidro from the Sivis station. Gareth accompanies her. At the station he finds a letter from his family that arrived three weeks ago, the day that they left for the island. There is also a shorter one from Lalia that arrived around the same time.
When he returns to the inn, the Angels have a protracted discussion about what sources they can safely utilize to learn more about the Key. Nameless and Gareth get into one of their usual disagreements, with Gareth wanting to consult the Archierophant and Nameless wishing to show it to Trillia, with neither of them really trusting the other's choice. As a compromise, Nameless suggests that they contact the Gatekeeper druids in Sharn. Since the Gatekeepers were the ones who created the dimensional seals that block the connection of Xoriat to Eberron, they should be the best people to talk to about something that apparently works with the seals. Both Corven and Six support his idea, and Gareth agrees. Interestingly, Luna is the one who seems least interested in dealing with the druids. When asked why she isn't expressing an opinion about the matter, she finally admits that she's not that keen on the other druids because they "keep asking me to do stuff for them!" She does, however, say that she thinks they're the best option mentioned thus far.
With that decision made, Gareth and Nameless then find another subject for disagreement, namely the fact that Nameless is walking around with the Key strapped to his chest. Gareth thinks this is an incredibly unsafe way of transporting the Key, not to mention being openly uncomfortable about Nameless having such control over it. Nameless argues that the Key is safer with him than with anyone else and (presumably made a little cocky by having survived a dragon and a daelkyr) that any fool who tries to take it from a mage of his power might as well be committing suicide. This disagreement spirals, as ever, into accusations about each other's reliability and trustworthiness.
With the argument showing no real sign of being resolved, the others cut it short by saying that they're off to get something to eat. The squabbling pair grudgingly end their fighting and follow suit.
* As I told John, who was expressing the opinion that the NPCs would be toast in the 1st rd - "Never doubt my NPC's skills!"
** Nameless, crucially, managed to dispel a Mage Armor, Shield and a Resist Energy (fire) spell, without which the dragon would have had an AC of 39 (effectively unhittable for the PCs) and fire resistance 20.
*** Gareth picked the one cursed item in the room to try on. I let him use 2 action pts to get them off.
**** Took her exactly to -10. To quote John: "Rend? It has REND?!" (Which was followed moments later in the fight by Avi: “Action points? Your dragon has ACTION POINTS?!”)
***** One piece of info the PCs' Knowledge checks didn't give them.
****** Went to -20+
******* Exactly -10 too
******** I had the players, without discussion, each write on a sheet of paper how many hit pts they were willing to give up. Other than Six, who retained 10, every PC (and Dala and Arrok) gave up all except 1 hp, which would have effectively killed them if their Bear's Endurance spells ran out. Very impressive - and crucial.
