Sorry, it has been a while since I posted any updates. The following extracted from the recordings along with my alterations and notes.
The party entered the forest, having vowed to stay on the road. It was only about 20 minutes when they came to someone off the road. He appeared to be burning while struggling to get back on the road. As they drew up, they saw him dressed in tattered robes of Gabal’s School of War burst into flames and die within a few seconds, only to repeat itself as the body came back to life.
Crystin drew back from the screams of pain and anguish, while Zander and Griff attempted to try to help. Realizing that they would need to step off the road to reach the student. Checking with Torrent, she advised them that there was not much they could do.
Zander attempted to kill the student, shooting him with several arrows, only to see the process was unchanged, except for the arrows which furthered the pain and agony. Regretting their inability to save the student, they continued along the road.
Along the next half of a mile, they observed other signs of objects which had fallen off the wagon which had passed the farm the night before. Examining a lost backpack which had fallen into the road, they heard a loud screech and saw a small mephit flying towards them with two giant bats which appeared to be engulfed in fire chasing the creature.
Frozen at what to do, they watched as the mephit cried for help, but not wanting to get involved, they saw the fire bats catch the mephit before turning back upon the party. They took down the fire bats with only a few minor burns and continued along the road.
A quarter mile later, they came to a bridge which appeared to be partially broken. As they carefully investigated the bridge, they saw the remains of the wagon at the bottom of the dried-up stream bed with the dead bodies of the remaining students strewn around the debris.
Disregarding the wagon, they sent Chennum across with a rope, followed by Haravandiir, Torrent with Crystin, and Zander. Griff moved across to help secure the rope before Ragna started across. With Ragna being a Minotaur and weighing over 300 lbs, he dared walking closer to the cracked section, eliciting another section to break away and fall into the crevasse below. Ragna scrambled and with the help of the rope, just managed to make it to a solid section as another part of the damaged bridge gave way.
Less than a half mile further along the road, they came to another bridge, and though it appeared intact, they stopped to examine the structural integrity. This was interrupted by a giant hell hound who stepped from the side of the road with a bone in its mouth.
The hell hound stepped to the middle of the bridge and dropped the bone before backing up and then disappearing into the burning forest.
Suspecting that this was a trap, it took them a while to build up the courage to step onto the bridge and walk over to the bone. Haravandiir was about to throw the bone into the dried stream bed below when he saw the writing on it.
With Haravandiir making the crossing successfully and reporting that the bridge was safe, they gathered at the far side and argued about what to do with the box and logbook. During the discussion, Crystin went into another trance, muttering that “the face reveals the true form” repeatedly before the trance subsided.
This broke the discussion, and they decided to continue with Griff carrying the box and Haravandiir retaining the bone.
The party rounded a bend in the road and came upon a bearded devil in the middle of the road who hailed them and asked them if they wished to discuss a simple trade. He gave his name, Kazyk, and offered to help them make it through the forest if they would hand over the box and the logbook.
They questioned him about what type of help he would give them and Kazyk explained that he would help them cease the undying fires which consumed the forest and its inhabitants. They negotiated a bit more before rejecting the offer outright.
During the discussion, they attempted to move closer to Kazyk who was 80 feet away, but each time he warned them that another step and the deal was off. Upon rejection of the offer, Ragna rushed forward and Zander and Haravandiir loosed arrows at Kazyk.
With a snap of his fingers, Kazyk summoned four imps who had been invisible to immediately focus on those members who remained behind, mainly Griff, Chennum, Torrent, and Crystin.
Torrent moved to protect Crystin and Chennum came to Griff’s defense. Kazyk had backed off some more, requiring Ragna to again use his action to move close to Kazyk.
Zander turned back to help Griff fend off the imps. Haravandiir, being quicker, caught up to Kazyk and delivered a blow to the bearded devil.
Kazyk responded by casting misty step and left Ragna and Haravandiir in a small ball of fire to head towards Griff and the others. Reaching Griff as the others ran to catch him, Kazyk connected with both glaive strikes and his beard, bringing Griff close to death.
As Ragna and Haravandiir caught up, Chennum hit Kazyk in defense of Griff and finding himself trapped, Kazyk said he would give them one last chance before teleporting away. Torrent had dumped her highest healing spell into Griff which was the only thing that saved him as the fire washed over the party.
Now badly damaged and limping along, they continued along the road, trying to hurry, but being watchful for more attacks.
A mile further down the road, they came to a stretch where they could see a longer bridge in front of them. As they started down towards the long break in the forest, Crystin called out a warning to Haravandiir, giving him a chance to jump out of the way as a tree crashed across the road, separating Haravandiir and Ragna from the rest of the party.
A couple additional trees fell, and two fire stags appeared behind the party forcing them to fight or flee into the burning trees. Chennum eased the burning by casting rays of frost across each tree at a time, giving them just seconds to pass through the burning limbs.
Just before they were about to cross the last burning tree, the face in the form of a dragon appeared in the fires and offered to protect them from the flames and heat if they went down the river and freed him. The flaming face also offered them a resting place in the destroyed elvish village, just beyond the bridge. It disappeared, not waiting for an answer, but as they yelled a chorus of acceptance, the fires around them diminished just enough to allow them to pass.
At the bridge, they tested the door to the tower in the middle. Already they could feel a lessening of the constant heat around them and took that as a sign that they had made the correct decision of agreeing to the terms of the face in the fire.
Finding the door locked, Haravandiir checked the door for traps and discovered the rune embedded into the door. Disarming the rune with a few marks, he failed to unlock the door, leaving it to Ragna to break it down.
Inside they found the remnants of the last of the elvish guard and a glowing rock with the message to speak friend and enter. Being Tolkien fans, they immediately enjoyed the tip of the hat to the classic and were able to enter the tower without tripping the glyph of warding.
Making their way to the second floor, they found Bhurisrava’s book and message. They checked the desk and discovered the pouch with the seeds and a folded up paper inside. Taking the pouch, they decided to resist taking any of the seeds.
Back out on the bridge, they discussed if they should go upstream or down. Finally they decided that they needed to find a place to take a rest and headed for the elvish village.
Searching through the rubble of the buildings, they found the sylvan necklace and instruments before turning their sights on the shrine to Anyariel. Stepping into the dried out pool, they were accosted by a pair of ghasts who stepped out from behind the tree. This fight did not last long as Ragna waded in and quickly demolished the ghasts.
Discovering and opening the secret hatch which led to the roots of the tree, they descended into the chamber. There they found two bodies, one a Shahalesti soldier with the symbol of the Solei Polencis and the other a red-haired man in priest’s robes with slash marks across its neck and down his arms.
Being younger, Zander did not recognize the uniform, but certainly identified with the emblem of the Solei Polencis on the soldier. This was the source of confusion for the young high elf.
A medicine check of the elvish soldier did not reveal his state, but they felt he was still alive since the body had not dried up or decayed. As they attempted to move the body, a Deva appeared to warn them away from interfering with the man. Talking to the Deva, they were able to convince the creature that they meant no harm, but left the body to check out the glass case.
Checking with the Deva, Griff took the mace which was just inches from the body of the priest. Examining the case, they found a number of golden hairs amid the shards of broken glass. Griff took the hairs and folded them in a piece of parchment, feeling that there was some connection to what was in the case.
With the blue glow and coolness in the underground chamber, they bargained with the Deva to be able to shelter in the shrine for a long rest.
DM notes: I added a lot of visual handouts for this module. Pictures of burning forests, and especially the flaming dragon face really made an impact on their willingness to test leaving the road.
I had remade all the maps, and changed the tower to be only two floors, placing the seeds in the desk drawer.