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Message: <blockquote data-quote="hayek" data-source="post: 5440787" data-attributes="member: 53760">Chapter 3 - Calipha (s. 6)3.1 Into the FeywildThe party makes their way safely back to Verind’s Edge, where Missyus thanks the party again for their help and departs for a temple within the city to arrange transport for herself. Word begins to spread throughout the city of the party’s exploits in saving the village of Ramshead, and the party’s popularity grows. They are now regularly recognized in the streets and strangers seem to know their names. Thanks to their growing popularity, Emperor Essran invites them to attend a dinner party he is throwing for visiting nobles and merchants. The party cleans themselves up a bit and attends the fancy bash at the Emperor’s palace.Erik’s Infamous ExploitsThe party enjoys themselves at the dinner party, partaking in the free mead, wine, and food with reckless abandon. They run into Mujeh, the Goliath bard, at the party who updates them on a task they had given him. He followed up with sages in the city of Arastur in Quinalyn about the Arinfax Colossus. The sages could find very little in their libraries, but did pass along one reference to the legendary creature they found in a centuries old text:...relations and trade between humans and dwarves improving after the dwarves helped the humans construct a huge magical machine to defend against the attack of the ‘Arinfax Colossus’. The scrap of information doesn’t offer much, but it does suggest that there may be a means to defend against the elemental titan that is supposedly destined to crush the civilized lands, so the party takes it as good news. They continue to enjoy the party and Emperor Essran and Queen Larindra begin making their rounds amongst the dinner guests. Just as at the celebratory dinner the party attended some time ago, the party gets the sense that there is little love between the Emperor and the Queen, as they keep their distance from one another throughout the night.Later in the night Charm is approached by a bald, dark-skinned man in fine dress. He introduces himself as Hak’apoor, a merchant of the House of Indixis from the Jeweled Cities. He mentions that he has heard of the party’s exploits and offers that the party could find well-paying work if they ever wished to visit the Jeweled Cities. Charm asks what kind of work he is referring to. Hak’apoor responds, “I cannot offer the pomp and circumstance of working for an Emperor. Working for the merchant houses of the Jeweled Cities often involves more discrete work, though I assure you the pay is much better… I know it is a far journey, but if you are ever inclined to make it, please, do keep me in mind.” The Jeweled Cities are a good distance from the Boundary Lands, lying along the coast and islands southwest of the forest nation of Quinalyn. The party has no plans to visit anytime soon, but they do file it away as a possible future destination.The hours tick by, and the party continues to enjoy themselves. Eventually the Emperor and Queen retire from the party, but shortly afterwards a messenger approaches Erik to inform him that he is summoned by Queen Larindra. He proceeds with the messenger up to the royal apartments where he enters what appears to be the Queen’s royal bedchambers. After the messenger departs, Queen Larindra emerges from an adjoining room and greets Erik. She is still garbed in the fine dress she attended the dinner party in, but she has let her hair down and holds a goblet of wine. All in all, she seemes to be making herself quite… comfortable.Queen Larindra sizes up Erik and speaks, “I did some checking up on my husband’s new team of gifted adventurers, and I became particularly interested in you. You were raised by an elven merchant in Quinalyn, no?”Erik nods.“And you’re father was a man named Varna?”“Yes,” Erik confirms.“Oh, how deliciously ironic! What were you told of your birth parents?”Erik is quite confused, but answers the Queen’s questions. “Just that they died when I was very young and I was left in an orphanage.”“Oh, my dear Erik. I’m afraid there is much more to the story of your birth. I would tell you what I know, but I hesitate to share secrets with someone that I do not know well… Perhaps if we… get to know each other better, became closer… I could feel comfortable telling you what I know. The Emperor and I do not get along well. He sees our marriage only as a political tool. I think he has forgotten that I am still a woman, and I am a very lonely one at that. I long for some companionship…” The Queen’s attempt at seduction continues and Erik is reminded of the prophecy he received from Missyus,If you pay the Queen’s price, she will tell you of your true parents… Although a bit older, the Queen is still an attractive woman, and Erik doesn’t feel it’s too high a price to pay to learn of his birth parents. He acquiesces to Larindra’s advances and shares her bed for a time. Afterwards, the Queen holds true to her end of the bargain and tells Erik of his true parents.The True Story of Erik’s Birth“When I was a young woman in Thersi, your mother was one of my dearest friends. She was a noble woman, Milicin. Your father, Varna, expanded his business into the Boundary Lands and began doing some trading in Thersi. Though he was already married, while in Thersi, he met Milicin, fell in love with her, and had an affair. Milicin became pregnant, though she was only 16 at the time. Unfortunately, she had already been pledged to marry into another royal family on her 18th birthday. Her family was, needless to say, quite upset at the situation. Varna offered to take Milicin back to Quinalyn to bear the bastard child, and then take it into his family. Though Milicin’s absence would be somewhat suspicious, the family accepted it as the best alternative and Milicin returned to Quinalyn with Varna.”At this point, Erik grows somewhat confused, as he knows full well that he is not half-elven, and that Varna is only his adoptive father.“When you were born, Varna was quite surprised to find that you were entirely human. Apparently, Milicin had had more than one affair. Varna was astonished, betrayed, and ashamed, but he felt he should not take out his rage on you. He kept his promise and took you into his family to raise. Unfortunately, Milicin refused to tell me who your father was, though I begged her to reveal the identity of her other affairs. So, I’m afraid I cannot tell you who your true father is. I can tell you that your mother, Milicin, was married on her 18th birthday as planned – to Sir Uthrin.”Erik is quite taken aback at these revelations. He is especially creeped out that the notorious Sir Uthrin is apparently his step-father, but is glad to know the identity of his birth mother. He is unsure how much his adoptive mother, Varna’s wife, knows of the story, but he suspects she knows a good deal. It would certainly explain her thinly veiled hatred of him, if he were a constant reminder of her husband’s infidelity. Erik awkwardly thanks the Queen for her… time… and for sharing what she knows of his parents, and he takes his leave.He rejoins the dinner party to find Fargrim standing on a table leading the remaining patrons in a round of dwarven drinking songs. The Zaza and Charm are joining in heartily, while Invicto is trying to catch the eye of some of the serving maids. Erik thinks about telling his friends what has just happened, but finds himself wracked with a wave of emotions, including guilt. He was starting to see the Emperor as somewhat of a father figure, and has now shattered that image quite thoroughly. He’s not sure what to make of his strange new-found connection to Sir Uthrin, or whether he should try to seek out his birth mother. In the end, he decides to keep this incident to himself for now as he sorts things out in his mind.The Fabled City of CaliphaA few days later, Davos returns from his expedition to Korindor and summons the party to his tower. His trip was productive. Though he did not discover much about the Arinfax Colossus specifically, through some powerful, and expensive, divinations, he found that there is a living person that knows of a way to defend against the Arinfax Colossus, and that person is in the fabled city of Calipha. Erik recalls hearing of the city of Calipha in his arcane trainings. Residing in the Feywild, the city exhibits the magical property of ‘traveling’. It is not actually in any specific location, though anyone who enters the Feywild and truly seeks Calipha will find it appear before them. As legend puts it “If you truly want to find it, it will come to you…” Davos asks the party to venture into the Feywild to reach the city of Calipha and to locate this person who knows of a way to defend against the Arinfax Colossus.Fargrim is immediately disgusted at the suggestion that the party should venture into the Feywild. He insists it is a place of illusion and trickery that robs people of their sanity. Plus, it’s filled with elves and fairies, and no one needs that. The Zaza, on the other hand, is excited about the chance to visit the Feywild. She has always imagined it would offer a glimpse into the very essence of the natural world, and visiting it would be a spiritual experience that would bring her closer to Melora. Invicto is excited about meeting pixies that might actually make him look tall for once, and Charm and Erik are actually concerned with saving the civilized lands from destruction by learning more about the Arinfax Colossus. The party argues with Fargrim for a while, and after Davos mentions an additional sum of ‘hazard pay’, the dwarf agrees to make the journey.The adventurers know the most direct way to reach the Feywild is to travel into the northwest reaches of the forest kingdom of Quinalyn (which is actually southwest of the party’s current location in the Boundary Lands). The depths of the forests that border the Torin Plains there are known to meld into the Feywild. So, the party requisitions a fresh set of horses and makes the two week journey to the forests of Quinalyn. After a few days of traveling deep into the forests, the natural landscape begins to change and evolve, becoming more wild and untamed. Trees reach gargantuan heights and stand upon massive roots protruding from the earth that the party must literally climb over and around. The party sees strange species of plants and insects that they never imagined could have existed. Soft sunlight drifts down through the canopy of trees above and the world is charged with magical energy that seems to drift through the air in motes. Eventually, the party breaks through a treeline and looks down upon a lake with a glistening city resting in its center. The party somehow knows that they have just discovered the city of Calipha.<img src="http://theboundarylands.fileave.com/FeywildCity.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /> A Warm WelcomeThe party sees a small pier on the edge of the lake with a boat waiting. They approach the pier and see a strange boatman waiting silently in the small watercraft. The Zaza recognizes the creature as a Black Woods Dryad, a fey creature that is said to be made of tree branches and plants. Unlike more humanoid dryads, which legend often portrays as seductive creatures that manipulate innocent people they may come across, the Black Woods Dryad is known for simply being a stoic and brutish defender of the natural world.<img src="http://theboundarylands.fileave.com/BlackwoodsDryad.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /> The creature has no mouth that the party can see and does not speak in response to questions. It does nod when asked if this is the boat to the city of Calipha, so the party shrugs and hops in. The boat itself appears to be made of a living tree shaped into a boat. The exterior is coated in a layer of bark and here and there a few small branches extend out from the boat and are sprouting healthy green leaves. Fargrim insists that the rest of the party board the boat first and only when he is happy that they still have their wits about them does he reluctantly step on himself. Once all of the party is on board, the dryad shoves off and steers the boat to the city of Calipha.A garishly dressed satyr is waiting for the party on the docks of the city and he shouts welcome to the party, “Welcome to the city of Calipha! You have found a true paradise!” As the party disembarks, the satyr greets them all, “I am Donenly, and I will ensure that your every desire is attended to while you are in our fair city!” Several nymphs approach the party, offering them goblets of wine. Fargrim eyes the wine suspiciously and declines, though the rest of the party imbibes happily.Donenly continues, “If you need anything, do not hesitate to reach out to me. I will show you to the Inn Calipha where rooms will be arranged for you.” The party is pleasantly surprised by the city thus far, but inquire to Donenly what the cost is to stay in the inn and have every desire satisfied. Donenly assures the party that none of the guests of the city of Calipha pay for any goods or services. The city exists purely to please them. He tells the party the city is powered by a magical fey spirit that maintains it and gives it life. He is the representative of the spirit and the administrator of the city. Donenly goes on to assure the party that the city of Calipha is a paradise in the Feywild that truly exists to cater to the whims of its visitors. The party sees a few inhabitants as they move through the streets – a few groups of humanoids, including elves, eladrin, humans, and a few gnomes, are gathered on street corners drinking wine and singing songs. For a city of its size, however, there seems to be very few people out and about in the middle of the day. The party notes that most of the buildings seem to be made of living wood, similar to the boat they traveled in.The party mentions to Donenly that they are in the city for a specific purpose – they are seeking someone with knowledge of the Arinfax Colossus. Donenly knows nothing of the Arinfax Colossus himself, but he assures the party there are many inhabitants within the city the party can feel free to speak with. Charm offers that they just want to gather the information they seek and then be on their way, to which Donenly insists that they at least spend a few days taking in the beauty and pleasures of the city of Calipha. Knowing there must be a catch to this ‘eternal paradise’, Fargrim grumbles that they must be trapped here and will never be able to escape.The Inn CaliphaThe party reaches the Inn Calipha, a massive structure near the center of the city. The doors stand open, letting sunlight into the enormous common room of the inn, and the party sees where all of the city’s inhabitants are. The inn is a giant celebration, packed from wall to wall with revelers drinking, dancing, and singing. A few patrons are locked in amorous embraces in the middle of the inn, and the party actually spots a few obviously pregnant women partaking in the festivities. Scantily clad nymphs drift throughout the inn with trays of drink and food to offer to patrons.Donenly leads the party into the inn, but Fargrim insists that he is not entering the inn, worried that by means of some kind of fey magic he will not be able to leave the den of hedonism if he enters it. The rest of the party does not share his concern and is content to leave the dwarf on the steps. They proceed into the inn and Donenly takes them through a side door where another satyr waits behind a counter. The satyr introduces himself as Karic, and says he will set the party up with rooms in the inn. Donenly takes his leave, assuring the party they are in good hands with Karic and reminding them to not hesitate to ask him or anyone else if they need anything at all.Karic leads the party up a set of stairs into the higher levels of the inn, and the party gets the distinct feeling that the inn is larger on the inside than it appears on the outside as they pass hall after hall of rooms. Karic leads each party member to their own individual room which is richly adorned with an enormous palatial bed, a personal bath, a wardrobe, and other fine accoutrements. After getting settled, Erik, Charm, The Zaza, and Invicto gather to plan what to do next.Meanwhile, as Fargrim rests on the steps of the inn below, a group of revelers approaches him and asks if he wants to share a drink. Fargrim scoffs at their wine and insists he only drinks dwarven mead. One of the revelers insists that the inn has some excellent dwarven mead on tap and summons a serving nymph over. Fargrim can’t pass up a chance at some dwarven mead and grabs a cup. He finds it’s actually some of the best brew he’s ever had and implores the group to join him in belting out some dwarven drinking songs, and they happily oblige.“I’ve been here since I got up this morning!”The rest of the party decides that based on the scrap of information they received from Mujeh (which mentioned dwarves helping humans to build a magical machine to defend against the Arinfax Colossus), they should seek out any dwarves staying at the inn, as they didn’t see many in the city thus far. They head downstairs and follow up with Karic. The satyr informs the party that there are two or three dwarves staying at the Inn Calipha and points out one currently drinking in the common room. The party members approach the dwarf and introduce themselves. The dwarf offers them to join him for a drink, introducing himself as Yirken. The party accepts, but seeing Fargrim still sitting on the front steps of the inn, asks if Yirken will join them out front to meet their dwarven companion. Yirken jumps at the chance to meet another dwarf and share a mug of mead, and he heads outside with the party to meet Fargrim.The party tries to get to know Yirken, but he seems more interested in talking about the finer points of dwarven mead. They ask if he knows anything of the Arinfax Colossus, and he unfortunately knows nothing of the creature. They ask how long he has been here, to which he responds, “I’ve been here since I got up this morning! Woke up, and came down and started drinking!” The party rephrases the question, asking how long he has been in the city of Calipha. Yirken seems confused by the question, shrugs, and attempts to change the topic. The party presses Yirken on the question, and after thinking about it for a while he estimates he’s been in the city for something like 10 years. The party asks Yirken if he’s ever tried to leave, to which Yirken responds, “Why would I ever want to leave? Endless drink and food! No more work or worries! And have you seen some of those nymphs in the inn? They’re a frisky lot!”The party asks Yirken where he’s from, and what brought him to the city of Calipha. Yirken has to think very long and hard to remember the answer to these questions, but he does eventually sort through the cobwebs in his brain, exclaiming, “The Red Hand Hold! I was part of the Red Hand Hold!” The party looks to Fargrim, but he does not recognize this dwarven clan at all. Yirken tries to recall what brought him to the city of Calipha, and spies someone in the inn that jars his memory. Another dwarf is just walking into the common room of the inn, and Yirken points to him, exclaiming, “He brought me here! My old friend, Jarrob! We both worked as smithies in the Red Hand Hold, and when we were ready to retire he convinced me to go looking for this ‘mystical, paradise city’ in the Feywild. I thought he was crazy, but here we are!”Yirken waves Jarrob over, and he joins the group, a cup of mead in hand. The party introduces themselves, and begins pressing Jarrob with questions. They ask Jarrob how long he has been here, to which he responds, “I’ve been here since I got up this morning! Woke up, and came down and started drinking!” The party rolls their eyes collectively and rephrases the question, asking how long he has been in the city of Calipha. Jarrob seems to struggle as Yirken did with questions about his past, but he eventually offers a similar story, recalling being a member of the Red Hand Hold.Mission AccomplishedWhen the party ask Jarrob why he came to the city, the dwarf mentions hearing of the city from an eladrin wizard while working on constructing a massive magical machine in the Boundary Lands. Jackpot! The party presses Jarrob on his work on this machine, which he describes as an ‘energy array’, and Jarrob confirms that it was constructed to defend against a massive elemental construct called the Arinfax Colossus. The party asks Jarrob to share all of his stories from working on this machine, and he is initially reluctant to rehash the past. Fargrim insists that from one dwarf to another he needs to hear of the great smithing work Jarrob did on this unique machine over a few cups of mead, and Jarrob gives in and agrees to spend the afternoon telling stories. He heads into the inn to grab a seat at a table, and Fargrim hesitates to enter the inn. Jarrob grows indignant, asking what kind of dwarf would want to stand out in the sunshine all day, and Fargrim finally agrees to enter the inn.The party plies Jarrob for all the information they can, and makes some interesting discoveries. Most notably, while speaking with Jarrob, the dwarf eventually mentions that the Red Hand Hold is part of the dwarven nation of Arnathon, which is quite disconcerting. Arnathon was a dwarven nation, but it dissolved roughly 1,000 years ago. Where it once stood between the Boundary Lands and Quinalyn, there are now only the Dwarven Ruins. Fargrim grumbles again about how he believes the party is trapped in the city and, due to some devious fey magic, time is passing slowly here while years tick by on the outside. Nonetheless, the party presses Jarrob to tell them what he knows of the Arinfax Colossus, even if his information is thousands of years old.Jarrob recalls some details of the origin of the Arinfax Colossus. Being a powerful elemental titan, it was almost impossible to destroy. So, during the war with the gods, the creature was trapped in a prison deep beneath the earth. Some time ago, an Ogre Mage was able to plant some kind of magical spike into the Arinfax Colossus’s prison. It did not fully free the creature, but the Colossus was able to project itself out of the prison while its soul was still trapped inside. The Energy Array was constructed to destroy the manifestation of the Colossus, but this only banishes the creature back to its prison. Over time, the Colossus regains strength and is eventually able to project itself out of its prison once again. Thus, the goblinoid races developed a prophecy predicting the creature’s return. Jarrob mentions that all of this is no longer a concern, though, because a troop of famous heros was sent to remove the spike from the Colossus’s prison so that it could never escape again. The party supposes that this band of heroes was none too successful.Jarrob also mentions that the Energy Array is very difficult to operate. It has a very complicated targeting system that must be calibrated to account for the ‘elemental harmonics’ of the Colossus’s defensive magical energies. Jarrob recalls some fairly accurate directions to the Energy Array. It is located in a watchtower in the mountains north of Verind’s Edge, just a few days travel from the city.TrappedHaving gathered the information they came for, the party decides to investigate leaving the city, convinced that there will be some catch to this paradise and that they will have trouble getting out. They head back to the docks and pass an odd sight on the way – they see a halfling on the roof of a building with some kind of enormous spy glass set up through which he is gazing into the landscape around the city. The party initially doesn’t stop to investigate, but once they reach the docks they find several unattended boats. They decide they have time for a quick trip back to investigate the spy glass user they saw.They return to the building they saw him on, but he has apparently gone. They head into the building and up to the roof, but don’t see him. While on the roof, however, they hear a woman screaming and look over the edge of the roof to see a pregnant woman that appears to be in labor being escorted by a pair of nymphs. They take her into a building down the street labeled ‘Nursery’ and eventually the screaming ceases. The party heads into the building to investigate and find it generally uninhabited with a few dusty, unused cribs and no sign of the woman who entered. In the basement of the building, however, they find a large set of solid wooden doors, which they assume the nymphs took the woman through. They try to open or unlock the doors, but find them to be impenetrable.Deciding there is clearly something creepy going on in this city, the party head back to the docks to quickly take their leave. They hop into one of the unattended boats and shove off, heading for the shore of the lake. This seems all too easy, and they quickly discover that it is. A fog seems to cloud their minds and they suddenly simply awaken in their beds back at the Inn Calipha (Fargrim appears to now have a room of his own).The party heads downstairs and finds the common room once again packed with revelers. Fargrim is immediately tired of, and angry with, these devious Feywild games, which he knew all along were coming. He simply hops onto the bar in the common room, takes out his warhammer and begins smashing things yelling for Donenly. The patrons move away from this violent display and file out into the street to continue their merry-making. Donenly soon arrives to speak with the party. They demand to leave the island and threaten violence if they cannot. Donenly sees the party is quite serious and foregoes convincing them to simply enjoy all that Calipha has to offer. He informs the party that the fey spirit that powers the city is akin to the essence of childhood innocence – generally happy and carefree, but easily turned spiteful if rejected or ignored. He tells the party that the city of Calipha is a paradise that no one can leave, and the fey spirit that controls the city will brook no exceptions.The party demand to have their own audience with the spirit, confident they can convince it to make an exception. Donenly assures the party that the spirit will only speak to him and will not grant them an audience, but because he does not want further violence, he agrees to at least ask the spirit if it will meet with the party. The party insists that he go to speak with the spirit right away, and he promises to do so. He asks that in return the party act peacefully until he comes back with an answer from the spirit. The party agree and Donenly leaves the inn. Charm immediately follows stealthily at a distance. She sees a large, well-armed centaur, possibly a bodyguard, join Donenly as he proceeds through the streets of the city. The pair heads into the Nursery building the party entered last night. Charm follows them in, but by the time she enters the building they seem to have disappeared through the large impenetrable doors in the basement.Charm exits the Nursery and notices the halfling the party saw yesterday once again on the roof of a building peering through a spy glass. She immediately heads up to the roof to investigate. The halfling is caught by surprise at her approach and seems very nervous. Charm innocently asks what the halfling is looking at. He offers that he was just looking at some of the natural landscapes around the city, and immediately begins packing up his spy glass to leave. Charm notes that he doesn’t seem to be partaking in the revelry like the other visitors in the city. The halfling abashedly mentions that wine is not his drink of choice and that he should be going. Charm steps in between the halfling and the stairs heading down from the roof and quickly introduces herself, then asking for the halfling’s name. The halfling says his name is Lock and Charm is reminded of the prophecy she received from Missyus,The key to your prison will be in the lock. Thinking she may have found a way out of Calipha, she drops any pretenses and insists that she and her friends are looking to leave the city and wants to know if Lock can help them. Lock is initially hesitant to talk about such things, mentioning that “the spirit has eyes and ears everywhere”, but eventually he admits that he wants nothing more than to escape Calipha. He is willing to take a chance on trusting the party if they can get him out of the city. Lock tells Charm that he has been trapped in the city for probably six or seven years and in that time he has noticed that Donenly actually leaves the city on occasion. He has seen him travel through an illusionary waterfall in the northwest corner of the lake. However, Lock has tried leaving himself and was unable to do so. He has noticed a magical talisman that Donenly always wears and believes that it is necessary to leave the city. If the party can retrieve the talisman from Donenly, they could head through the waterfall and escape Calipha.Breaking OutCharm brings Lock back to the Inn Calipha, introduces him to the party, and updates them on the possible means of exiting the city. Just then Karic approaches the party to tell them that Donenly has sent a message, “The spirit is willing to meet with you. Meet in the Grand Hall within the inn at 7 o’clock.” The party bides their time until 7 o’clock then procedes to the Grand Hall. They enter to find a palatial banquet hall, with a large dinner table set with a variety of food and drink. Two broad, curving sets of stairs on either side of the room lead up to join in a second floor balcony overlooking the banquet hall. Donenly stands on the balcony, with his centaur bodyguard nearby. Three Black Woods Dryads linger near the top of the stairs. The long dinner table has one conspicuous addition – a large, black cauldron sits in the middle of the table with a strange, foul-smelling dark liquid bubbling inside.Donenly speaks to the party, “I’m afraid the spirit refused to meet with you. It offers you two options. First, you can drink the concoction in this cauldron. It will help you forget your past lives and the time before you came to Calipha, so that you can stay in the city and live happily.” Before even hearing the second option, Fargrim rushes up to the dinner table and kicks the cauldron over, spilling its contents out onto the floor. Donenly says, “That’s a shame. Your other option was to die…” Battle breaks out. Fargrim and The Zaza begin ascending the stairs where they run into the Black Woods Dryads. The creatures do not offer the most formidable attacks, but the roots and branches that the dryads are made of reach out and coil around the feet of any nearby enemies, holding them in place. The Zaza and Fargrim are caught next to the creatures and begin hacking away at them. Charm takes a bolder approach – she leaps onto the dinner table and launches herself up to the second floor balcony, catching the railing and hoisting herself over it to stand in front of Donenly and the centaur. The centaur moves off to the side of the balcony and begins raining arrows down upon the party members. The creature is very impressive in battle. It is able to unleash rapid fire shots at multiple members of the party with deadly accuracy. Donenly readies his own bow and begins firing at Charm. In short order, the rogue is near death and has to leap back over the balcony railing to safety.With the dryads rooting party members in place, Donenly and the centaur are able to stand back and continue raining arrows down upon the party. Erik quickly conjures a flaming sphere behind enemy lines and begins harassing Donenly with it, but the satyr is still able to dish out a lot of pain. The party suffers a number of wounds and over the course of the battle multiple party members fall to the ground. The party drains all of their healing resources reviving one another and are just barely able to pull off a victory.They quickly yank the magical talisman from Donenly’s neck, grab Lock, and head to the docks. The halfling’s predictions hold true, and the party is able to paddle through the waterfall in the northwest corner of the lake and escape from the city of Calipha. They emerge to find their horses have been slaughtered by some wandering creatures of the Feywild.</blockquote>

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