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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rabbitbait" data-source="post: 6665377" data-attributes="member: 60100">Flight from the Wind CultistsDungeon Master notes:It's been a while since the last session in this game. We were having a burst in the ongoing adventure on the Isle of Dread of which I am a player. But this week we were back into it. And how...This time I was pretty sure the party were in over their heads and that there was possibly a chance of a TPK. I tried to counter this by changing the encounter with Windharrow so that he could warn them. Then I thought the Wyvern attack might give them pause. Neither stopped them, so they burst straight into a situation they had no chance of winning. It came very close to being a TPK, with once PC dead, an NPC dead and another PC captured and helpless. The others only just got away.I think the near TPK has taught them a healthy respect for the fact that they can't just expect to win - they need to be smart. It'll be interesting to see how the behaviour changes as a result.The CastAimn Lu - A barbarian who was captured by fey in the faerie realm as a child. He has escaped back to the world but has no memory of his previous life.Layna - A member of house Deneith, but in exile from the house. Now works for Sir Isteval.Kleris - A Warlock from Xandrar who is bonded to BELASHYRRA, THE LORD OF EYES.Bitey - Kleris' pet black dragon. he's just a baby, tends to not be good in a fight as he will stop to eat anyone who falls -friend or foe.Morythas - A dragonborn Paladin of Bahamut and a follower of the example of Galerius Ka’Mazka Tito - A halfling monk, trained by the gatekeepers but without the temperment needed to watch and guard.Continued from last time...Leading the cultists in their musical endeavours is what appears to be a bard. He watches Layna enter, sees the dead Kenku behind her (which the other cultists are not in a position to see) and attempts to bluff that Layna is another Bard called Susan who has come to help them with their training.They leave the plaza and enter the corridor where the rest of the heroes are through a secret door. The bard (Windharrow) tells the heroes that they must leave, that these people are more dangerous than they look and that the heroes have stumbled into something that will kill them if they don’t walk away now.He explains that he was a friend of the leader of cult before she started going down this path, but he feels that she has lost most of who she was. He is in fear for his life if he displeases her and asks the heroes to take him with them when they leave. The heroes decide to head onwards, but promise to take Windharrow with them when they depart.They wander further into the dwarven city, hearing sounds of grinding machinery and tortured screams over the constant sound of falling water. Eventually they find themselves in the most beautiful room they have ever seen, where a Djinni is slowly and painstakingly carefully carving the most intricate and beautiful patterns they have ever seen. They question him and he explains that the Dwarven King a long time ago summoned him through a magic horn and made a wish that the Djinni restore the city to it’s former glory by making it the most beautiful city that ever existed. However the Djinni has not been using magic to do so as (he says) he did not like the demanding nature of the king and was never set a time to do the task in. So he is fulfilling his task, he just expects that it may take a few thousand years.The heroes head over a bridge towards a pyramid, when a cultist riding a Wyvern fly down and attack them. The heroes duck back into the Djinni room for cover, but the Wyvern and rider nearly kill two of the party with spells and sting. The party win the battle, but the Djinni is furious about blood on his perfect floor. The party quickly get to work cleaning and soon appease the Djinni, and actually impress him with their industriousness.The party cross the bridge and open the doors at the base of the pyramid. Inside are another group of cultists who also immediately attack at the sight of the party. Many of the cultist throw lightning darts, one casts a gust of wind forcing them out of the room, and then one casts a lightning bolt which hits most of the heroes, immediately killing Kleris and Bitey, and badly injuring 3 others. Only Layna is left unscathed. The party scatter, Aimn grabbing Kleris in a firemans lift and fleeing back to the Djinni room, the others running around the other side of the pyramid.[ATTACH]69307[/ATTACH]Aimn manages to convince the Djinni to cover their escape and he continues back the way they came. Meanwhile Layna, Morythas and Tito find that the route they take is actually a quicker way out of the complex. However they are forced to hide briefly as they see the flute playing cultists leaving the plaza. They wait for them to pass, and exit the dwarven city - collecting Windharrow along the way. They find a hiding place to watch for Aimn and Kleris and to patch their wounds.However Aimn has run round a corner and directly into the path of the cultists. He tries to convince them that he is meant to be there, but fails badly. They attack, quickly knocking him unconscious.Layna, Morythas and Tito wait, but eventually Layna decides that they can wait no more, and that she needs to report what she has found to Sir Isteval. They head back up the cravasse to the sighing valley. When they get to the entrance to the sighing valley they see that it is beginning to get dark. It is no longer snowing, but snow has fallen heavily. There is no way they can go through the valley without leaving tracks. They look across and see lights in the Feathergale Spire. They look back and see many lights moving up the crevasse towards them. They are being chased! They climb up the sides of the cravasse and begin to follow the cliff line. They spend hours in the dark, trudging through the snow. Exhausted they look back and see the lights following their trail along the cliffs edge. At this point 4 birdmen (Aarokcra) land in front of them and challange them, accusing them of being cultists of elemental evil.The group manage to convice the aarokcra of their good intentions, and the are taken to an old Manticore lair that the aarokcra have converted into a base. They are able to rest the night and recover while telling the birdmen of their experiences so far.The next morning, one of the aarokcra tells the group that he has decided to aid them in their quest. He is Aur Keer (Ben J, replacing the fallen Kleris).The group follow the river as they are fairly sure it will lead to the lake, and thus the road back to Drum Keep and Xandrar.</blockquote>

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