We move the camera and roll back the clock a little to DragonKeep where the BETA crew are continuing the work of rebuilding the town of DragonKeep [formerly the mining town of Drekkar]
Updates on the rebuilding of the town:
1. Gate and keep rebuilt - 100%
2. New tower built - 100%
3. Recovering farmlands for food - 1 field ploughed and planted. 2nd field 50% ready
4. Roundtower [with 2 cannons] - at 50%
5. Walls at 80% [all walls along main road and grasslands: complete, walls along river still to be done]
6. 2 mine entrances are now open - one being explored by Pyra and her crew. No further work on mines done as town rebuilding is priority
7. Fighters stronghold - 50%
- The mist is cleared from the large crater. Irakul starts work to turn the crater into an arena for use by the town, with stands, seats and more. Also for training the militia.
The BETA crew:
• Skrit now the patron Saint of the town while he rebuilds the town. Continues to oversee the rebuilding. Daily casts Sending to stay in touch with Fellowship. The kobold also assists Irakul with the demonic contract.
• Pyra the Mayor, current focus mostly on rebuilding her wagon and supplies of curios, magic and unique items. She decides to head into the mines, she has 3 kobolds attend with her. 2 miners and a foreman [Skreenie]. They assist her to search the tunnels. Pyra discovers interesting items in the mines. She discovers a secret door to an unexplored gnome/dwarf area. She finds the following:
- An empty bottle of cough syrup with residue at the bottom.
- Stale bread, hard as wood.
- A dead, mummified mouse.
- A rusty corkscrew with a cork still on the end.
- The Book of Sigil's Library: A photo book showing a series of decrepit bookshelves, along with locations in a library located in the city Greyhawk. [adds advantage on history, arcana, religious rolls while in the library]
- Book: From Ghouls to Ghosts: The book is chaotic and hard to understand, written in an unknown dialect which makes it very slow to read. Contained within are the studies of a powerful necromancer on how interplanar travel might be used to achieve functional immortality.
- Magical item: Teapot that can make four pots of tea daily.
- Double-bladed dagger, dull & rusty. 1 blade is silver while 1 blade is cold iron. Useful against lycanthropes, demons and devils. Suitable for magical enchanting once repaired.
•
Vencer works on researching a new spell (
3rd level spell portal spell) 100% complete, the wizard also assisted with research on the lantern and demonic contract.• Irakul organizes the town militia, while also studying the demonic contract he had made. Reading it seems there are sections where it notes, Irakul and descendants would be servants/slaves of the demon - Tregartchiskar - 2 weeks until the demon returns [DM: BLOG post]. Irakul's arm, which had faded partially now returning to 'normal'. Graxusas assisted with finding a lawyer to look at the demonic contract. The lawyer - Jacksill Greenbottom 1/2ling - arrives from Rastor and confirmed the contract is binding and extremely beneficial to the demon
• Faust seems to be turning translucent or linked to the Shadow plane due to the artifact he still is attuned to - Shadow Lantern. Quite fascinated by this, he allows it to continue. Looking to do some research on how it is happening. The warforged does not know much about the Shadowplane but realizes he is becoming a creature of the ShadowPlane. Not enjoying light of the sun as much but definitely likes shadow. Research is needed - but to do this a library or similar is needed. At this point, Faust does not want to give up the lantern - "My Precious" - does not go out in sunlight or any light if at all possible. Anything more than torch is painful and hindering in many ways.
The Festival of Growing - mainly due to the new crop fields being tilled and planted took place on the evening of the 5th of reaping - late but still a good start. A party late in the evening took place. Guards were lax and then an attack...
Before the new yearly Festival of Growing, the party decide to surprise Faust to take Shadow Lantern from him as he is showing strange tendencies and sometimes does want it and other times does not.
The party prepares, with Pyra expertly picking the Warlock's door lock quietly while Faust is is in a rest mode - though still aware.
Multiple spells go off:
Skrit does hold person that Faust saves against
Vencer casts Enlarge on Irakul and the echoknight leaps forward to grapple with Faust.
With the EchoKnight's large size he is able to hold down the warlock and Vencer carefully takes the lantern and secretes it away from Faust whom at first goes through some withdrawals from the removal of the artifact.
In the end, Irakul carries in a box every once in a while getting a slight feeling of the lantern's presence in his pack.
After the joyful and wonderful festival, where drinking food, dancing, and games took place, many slept deeply that night. Guards lax and dozing until horns sounded. Alert! The town was under attack. Reptilian bipedal creatures with 4 arms led by an old foe. The Dragon Marshall! [DM: see
Blog Post]
DragonKeep is overrun, many being captured whil;e other townsfolk retreating into the mines led and guarded by the heroes.
Taking stock of the situation, the party decide to scout at night to find out what is going on.
Pyra sneaks out to listen to the Marshall [spells:
tongues and
invisibility] Mephisto [ Faust's IMP familiar] on shoulder.
The two expertly dodge patrols and make it to the abode of the Marshall [DM: #7 on map above]
the tiefling rogue is able to listen in on a conversation where it seems the Marshall is being berated by another.. after sometime Pyra realizes it is 2 voices, one person. It seems the draconian has 2 personalities one definitely in charge that wants to take over the town but kill ALL. The other personality seems to want to save the townsfolk and work with the Fellowship.
Returning to the party after dodging more patrols, the rogue advised the group and after discussion with Vencer and Skrit, both more knowledgeable on these topics.. It seems that bathing in the blood of a cursed goddess has deeply affected the Marshall!
Vencer's owl does some scouting and sees the majority of the captured townsfolk being held in the large crater [partially setup as an Amphitheatre].
Troglodyte patrols approach the mine entrances the next day to ferret out the rest of the townsfolk. So the heroes prepare an ambush with traps and illusions. A carrion caroler leads one group and attacks
Faust whom had delayed to cast a minor illusion to try and block the passage
[DM: unfortunately the spell effect was too small to do this] FORTUNATELY for Faust, he is immune to poison so is able to retreat even after being hit multiple times! He then uses eldritch blast as his imp familiar Mephisto attacks while invisible, the imp's poison effective against the trogs.
Venturing in, they see ghostly figures [Vencer's silent image spell] and the trogs retreat from that path to encounter full on defenses and spells being lobbed at them. With webs hitting areas from Vencer as he teleports in and out of combat, Pyra firing her dwarf crank crossbow, sneak and assassin attacks doing great damage. Faust's putrid undead creature as well as the ghostly illusion of ghosts fully stops one side of attack and funnels the trogs down another side. the one the party wants.
Irakul uses his echo to attack and destroy the carrion crawler. A large snake is being herded in as well, and multiple attacks on this are effective, but so far the large reptile is still surging forward.
Vencer is aglow with spells [
Armour of Agathys, mage armour, Vencer's Amythest Portals, mirror image, conjure scimitar ] as he attacks with spell and blade.
A trog shaman whom gets caught in a snare left by Pyra, is targeted and retreats heavily wounded.
Vencer uses a wand and puts a web spell blocking one area catching 2 flying trogs and 2 trogs trying to move towards Irakul's echo.
Mephisto is killed and returns to his infernal realm with a screech and curse. Skrit summons a
Spiritual weapon to continue to hold the one side the heroes block.
The defenses seem to be holding..
for now.
