13 July (Continued)

RECAP MODE:

The heroes pressed deeper into Marrowmaw territory, and after examining a hatchery (where Bakkus Freehorn broke an egg and killed a trog fetus) they did battle with the chieftain and his grunts. All but one of the trogs were defeated (the last fled), and the party helped itself to the stinky reptiles’ treasure – magic gauntlets and a wand.

Deciding to let the fled trog escape, they continued their search pattern – following the outer wall of the warrens on their right hand side. They passed through a fungus garden growing out of dead trogs, then into a wide chamber that was clearly the bottom of a sinkhole. Three more trolls and three more nothics were defeated without much trouble, and then Soveliss removed the bar from a wooden door nearby. Five prisoners, farmers and homesteaders from near Moonstair were very grateful to see non-troll faces, and they warned the heroes to watch out for the troll with the red eye.

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Act 4 – King of the Trollhaunt Warrens

12 July, 103 CY

Bakkus, Cage, and Kegan were all awakened early by excited chatter from the common room of the Cloudwatch Inn. They came to investigate and found Belgarde and Soveliss talking excitedly with the dragonborn Bax and a barely dressed young man with a mop of dirty blond hair. “Dudes, I can’t thank you enough!” the youth exclaimed.

“I- I still can’t believe it. You’ve brought the Captain back,” said Bax, clearly emotional.

“Who did what now?” said Kegan as he and the others approached the table. He turned a questioning glare on the tiefling and the eladrin, who grinned widely despite their obvious exhaustion.

Written by Explodinator and Nate_The_Great

11 July (Continued)

It was the middle of the night when Belgarde rose from his bed. The inn was silent aside from the snoring of the other guests that could be heard through the thin walls. A glance out the window showed the moon to have almost reached its highest point for the night. “We have ze plenty of time,” Belgarde thought aloud.

With a gentle nudge, Belgarde roused Soveliss from his meditation. “Hmmmm? It’s time?” Soveliss mumbled as he slowly opened his eyes.

“Come mon ami, zere iz work to be done if we are to be bringing ze Baron’z zon back from ze dead,” Belgarde replied with another less gentle nudge.

1 July, 103 CY

Soveliss and Belgarde had been back in Fallcrest only a couple of days. They were pleased to find Cage and Kegan had returned from their personal quests and unsurprised that Feh and Thrakath had continued along on their own. They were relaxing in the Blue Moon Alehouse, drinking, eating, and catching up with their friends when a minotaur entered the tavern. The gathered crowd of locals grew instantly silent, but when the bestial figure made no instant attacks and instead bellied up to the bar for a drink, they went about their business. Besides, they had nothing to worry about – The Silver Song Quintet Quartet was sitting at a nearby table.

The minotaur eventually was introduced to the heroes as Bakkus Freehorn, and he discovered that they had already bested the Pyramid of Shadows, the very thing that had brought him to the Nentir Vale in the first place! Soveliss drunkenly told the tale of the party’s various exploits, and when Bakkus asked what their next adventure would be, he was a little disappointed. At Vyrellis’ suggestion, the eladrin had decided to make the trip to Therund to return the silver amulet that had been a gift to that nation’s king from the Feywild realm of Cenduilon in centuries past. This was not the kind of task he would have expected of the people who had vanquished the legendary artifact prison. He decided that they required further observation, and it was agreed that he should accompany them on their trek.

Written by Explodinator

Soveliss patted his friend Kegan on the shoulder and turned from the human. He knew Kegan needed to leave, his song had ceased for the duration of the petrification and he needed to find out how to make it right. Maybe the others would understand, maybe they wouldn’t, but it mattered not, Kegan doesn’t talk and Soveliss does, it was easier to do it himself than to watch his friend stammer on. Soveliss walked back while pulling the head of Vyrellis out of his satchel and brought it to the rest. Kegan would be back, he was sure of it. Soveliss’ heart soared at being able to bring Kegan’s chord back to the world, it would rejoin the group’s song once more,just later.

Rejoining the group Vyreliss began to commentate rather calmly that there was a place she needed to be returned to within the Feywild. Soveliss looked to the others and stated that surely enough he had plans on returning to Astrazalian. Looking about he offered to take any others with him, perhaps they would enjoy the company. Belgarde instantly exclaimed “For you old friend? Of courze!”

Written by Luke

Kegan raised his hand to block the sunlight from his eyes as he walked out of the pyramid prison. The days of torch light made the bright afternoon sun nearly unbearable, but the battlemind gritted his teeth and made due. He was alive now, thanks to his friends. The incident with the medusa concerned Kegan more than anything else in the prison. He had thought his body and mind strong, strong enough to overcome any obstacle. Yet, the medusa overpowered him and turned him to stone. It was unacceptable to leave his friends in such a dangerous position. He was thankful that they managed to befriend the cushani in their time of need. From the way they spoke, he was helpful, though a bit odd.

Written by Bresil

Feh emerged from the pyramid of deathly encounters much as his companions had, with great relief and in need of some serious therapy. It seemed like a fortnight had passed in those walls and with each dawn a new horror was unleashed to bring down misery and pain upon the journey. Even one so well versed in the merits of suffering and strife, as Feh certainly was, could take but a portion of that place.

With the new dawn shining bright upon their faces the troupe of wayward adventurers set back upon the easier path, towards civilization and a warm meal. Feh was hungry as though he’d never eaten before. If there was fresh beef to be had at their destination, he would be ordering an entire cow.

2 May, 103 CY

The adventurers woke in one of their fortified camps refreshed, if still a little tired. None of them had slept well – their dreams were plagued by the cackling image of Karavakos as he had appeared to them twice before. Shaking it off, they reflexively started to eat breakfast before realizing that they were still not hungry; the prison apparently took care of that biological imperative, as it had since they’d entered. Gathering their gear, they made their way up the stairs to the third tier of the pyramid to make an end of Karavakos and escape his ancient prison.

They returned to the section that had been guarded by undead, heading down the hallway to the west of the doors to the columned chamber. At the end of the corridor, they came to a pair of doors with a bony design. They could hear something heavy shifting its weight with a sound of bones on bones. With a sneer, Thrakath flung open the door to reveal the Palace of Bones.

1 May (Continued)

The party smashed open the flesh wall and braved the slimy chamber beyond, trying to determine if it hid any further secrets they would need to defeat Karavakos and escape the pyramid. A few minutes of fruitless searching for the “heart” that the foulspawn had mentioned coupled with the pain they endured just being within the chamber led them to abandon the room. They decided it was time to make their way up to the next tier of the prison. At the top of the stairs, they saw another stair directly ahead of them leading further up. A hallway heading left and right offered alternative paths.

They chose the left and proceeded down that way and around a corner to the right to a set of double doors. These opened into a crypt – the nauseating stench of death and decay wafted from the darkness ahead. The ceiling was barely high enough for the tall cushani to walk upright, and the darkness seemed almost malevolent in its intensity. They entered the chamber by the light of their everburning torches and noticed that the walls contained several niches holding dry bones and the scraps of funeral wrappings. Cage noticed the gleam of rodent eyes lurking in one such niche and warned the others of it.

1 May, 103 CY

Rid of the demon-possessed minotaur and reunited with their fearless leader, the Silver Song Quintet introduced Soveliss to their newest member Thrakath. Once the pleasantries were over and Belgarde had been given a chance to rest after the marathon ritual casting, the heroes ascended the stairs to the second tier of the pyramid once more. The bard was intrigued by the demonic faces in the hall at the top of the steps, and he activated them so that he might converse with them. He discovered that they possessed more knowledge of the immediate area, and for the paltry sum of a few rations – unneeded in the pyramid – they gifted him with a magical necklace and the location of a secret door that would aid them in entering a temple inhabited by denizens of the Far Realm.