Oryn Talus, the mysterious and ancient "Halfling" who has employed the group
Aurora Isilime, the Valley Elf Bard; "The Silver Tongued Siren;" who has more instruments than she can carry and sings to things she shouldn't
Pharin, the Drow Wizard; "The Dark Conjurer;" summoner of demon bunnies
Skye, the Air Genasi Druid and saver of demon bunnies
Dervish, the Kasathe Fighter
Nanu, the NightmOrc Fighter who is late, slayer of innocent bystanders
Lan El'Mandragoran, the Human Paladin
Jarrid, the Human Barbarian, and Jayce's brother
Lothar, the Sovani Smith and Cleric of Moradin
Aerys Shayl, the Human Ranger
Aerathema, the Wood Elf Druid
Ralliakkan, the Drow Rogue
Pieces of Vecna acquired: Head and Hand
Pieces of Vecna acquired: Head and Hand
***** Day one in Zeif
When the group entered the tavern part of the inn they were lodging in, the morning after their arrival in Zeif, no one could find Lan or Nanu- but since both of them tended to vanish randomly, no one thought anything strange about it. The rest of the group decided to find out more about what was plaguing Zeif, and why no one would give them passage on a ship to get there. They needed money, since they had stopped getting paid daily after the loss of their carriage, and the group thought that there might be some money involved in whatever was plaguing the town.
The group saw that there were no ships in the harbor, and most shops were shut down- Aurora saw the town as dying, something which saddened me, since last time I had visited this town it was full of life and music. I composed a lovely song about the music dying. They learned that some kind of monster was in the sea, just outside the harbor, and there were no fish left in the bay- there was a bounty on whatever was causing it though, so the group decided to go after the problem. Dervish secured a ship for the next day that had been sitting in dry-dock, the group would only have to pay for the ship if they damaged it, otherwise the ship was free. While Dervish was securing the ship, and Aurora was off looking for one as well- to no avail, Pharin and Skye set to work making a potion of water breathing, that could double as a swim potion; it didn't work. There's a reason I call the airhead "Burnt Potions."
***** Day two in Zeif
The next day the group set out to board their ship, still missing Nanu and Lan, and on the way to the docks, Dervish realized that they were being followed- though he didn't know what was following them, or how many. Skye decided to send her mockingbird animal companion, Buckbeak, to spy on whatever was shadowing them; the poor bird was slain. While Dervish and Skye went forward to get the bird, Aurora and Pharin held their position, and noticed that someone in full armor was advancing toward them. Pharin of course decided to attack it, but it hit much harder, and it paralyzed him. Lucky for him, I was next to him and able to heal him before the villain could do worse.
At the same time, on the other end of the street, Dervish and Skye were attacked by another completely armored person. The battle for both pairs was short, for the assailants realized that the group no longer held the Head, which is what they were after. While the group did try to stop them from getting away, they were unsuccessful. As the presumed cultists fled, Ralliakkan turned the corner to see them getting away. She introduced herself to the group, as an agent of Oryn, and suggested they return to the tavern to discuss what was going on.
During the drinks Ralliakkan insisted on, the group learned that she had almost had her hands on the Eye when they set off the wish spell that scattered the pieces. They apologized profusely to her, if they had known that they would have used the wish on the Hand instead. She was in the town looking for the Eye, and awaiting instruction from Oryn. Ralliakkan admitted she was already planning on seeing what was in the water, since she thought it may have something to do with the cult, and decided to join the group. On the condition that I not attempt to serenade anything, and if I did she would attack me; we needed the help, so I agreed. Eventually they set out to the docks again to investigate the bay; Pharin and Aurora were tasked with finding the NightmOrc, so they left their party to do so.
When everyone arrived at the dock, there was a man with a cart of a few items that he still had from when the town was living; the group bought most of his stock. No one had thought to hire a crew for the ship, but lucky for them Ralliakkan had done so for them- they now had a crew of twenty to sail their ship. After a couple of hours of travel, all of a sudden the wind and waves were gone, they had entered a stillness so unnerving that it could only be caused by magic. They began trying to make noise to get the attention of whatever was in the water, but it ignored both Ralliakkan's bomb and Aurora's bagpipes. Finally Pharin flew down to the water and dipped his purified amulet from the cult into the water, illuminating the Chuul that were lurking beneath the surface.
Pharin sped away from the water as quickly as his broom allowed, and was pursued by the Chuul. The ship was boarded by the beasts. Pharin summoned two octopi who engulfed the Chuul and began devouring them quickly. While the group battled the Chuul, two undead troglodytes boarded the ship- one above deck, and one below, where only Ralliakkan and ten crew members were fighting; seven of her ten died quickly. Ralliakkan twirled in a horrifying, yet beautiful, dance while fighting the invaders, she kept them at bay and was untouchable. Nanu took the troglodyte down, and seeing that the majority of the Chuul were dead, they all began to go downstairs to help Ralliakkan.
That damned drow decided to turn his octopi into sixteen spiders and sixteen bunnies. While I was fine with spiders raining down on us and swarming the beasts, the bunnies were another story. I somehow managed to keep my cool and focus on the fight unfolding before me.
The group joined Ralliakkan in finishing off the remaining Chuul and the troglodyte, and then the bunnies swarmed down the stairs. Those horrid monsters pounced on the final Chuul and ate it alive. After it was dead, I tried to usurp control of the bunnies from Pharin, to order them to drown themselves, but they were too strong to be influenced by my flute. There's always next time. At the end of the battle with those beasts, only ten of the twenty crew members they had started with were still alive.
Then Ralliakkan heard a scratching noise, like something was climbing around the underside of the ship, looking to gain entrance. Everyone rushed upstairs to see if they could find where whatever was scratching would be surfacing. Finally, Pharin sent a bunny into the sea to swim beneath the boat and find the source of the noise. The bunny found itself facing another undead troglodyte, and Pharin ordered it to attack. Dervish flew down to investigate, and saw Pharin's bunny mauling the troglodyte's eye... Dervish and the bunny quickly finished off the troglodyte, and resurfaced to Ralliakkan asking where the map was.
Dervish had neglected to search for a map, so Ralliakkan quickly dove in the water and ripped it away from its quickly sinking, dead holder. Dervish caught up to Ralliakkan, and map in tow, they returned to the ship. The map showed the group where the treasure was, and they quickly directed the ten surviving crew members to the island indicated.
After a few more hours, the group reached the cave that the map had indicated, and headed in. It was a several hour long trek through the cave, which was constantly going down into water, which deepened and shallowed at random. Eventually they came upon a fifty foot tall, vertical wall, with absolutely no hand-holds. Between brooms and spells, the group was able to travel up the wall until they entered another cavern.
The new cavern was huge and round, with the sides slanting inward to make a peak at the top; the peak was open and they could see the sky above. It seemed that they had entered a hollow volcano. Ralliakkan quickly identified a secret door, and after much searching Pharin found the trigger to release the door. Instead of a door sliding open, like one would expect, the volcano slowly moved outward, eventually revealing a treasure room, filled with riches and magic items. They had found and obtained what they were after: money.
With the loot packed away, the group headed back to Zeif to collect their bounty and divvy their new found wealth. I, of course, did some spinning on exactly how many Chuul and undead troglodytes we fought; the harder and more epic it sounds, the more money we get.
***** Day three in Zeif
When the group entered the tavern the next morning, they were greeted to Ralliakkan, Lan, and Oryn sitting at their table. Oryn delivered the grave news that Jayce had died, killed by his evil elder brother. His death was serving a purpose though, Jayce's parents (who were royalty among the barbarians) were using this horrid incident as a way to rally the barbarians. In death, Jayce was now a martyr, and no one was permitted to resurrect him. I was sadder over his death than I should have been, apparently I had grown somewhat attached to him in our travels; I did not realize that he could have been more than a challenge. But somehow, even through the sadness I felt at peace; due to the magical effects of the sword I had picked up from the volcano. Pharin learned that Haasenpfeffer was currently escorting Jayce's soul to his afterlife in the realm of positive energy.
He did bring the group good news in addition to the bad; Oryn told the group was that he had the Book of Vile Darkness, and Josiah, in custody. Though he was thus far been unable to get the book unbound from Josiah- it liked him. When Oryn had been in the midst of fighting Josiah to obtain the book, Haasenpfeffer appeared out of nowhere and landed on top of Josiah. Haas' positivity was great enough to suppress some of the evil in the book, just enough to allow Oryn to take him as a prisoner.
Oryn also told the group that the Hand had been acquired by one of his agents. They now had two pieces of Vecna away from the cult! He gave Pharin a new skull, that when given fresh blood and flesh from an undead creature, could point the way to the other pieces of Vecna.
They told Oryn that the Fang was pointing directly south, and they believed it would be taking them to the Forgotten City, in the southern desert. Oryn told them of an old legend that the Thri-Kreen guarded the Sword, and to use caution around them. He advised them to also be cautious in Kester, which would be the last city the group would see before reaching the Forgotten City.
Aerathema had spent the last five days trying to break Josiah, to no avail. By the time she emerged from the interrogation room Oryn had set up in the inn, she looked utterly drained. I gave her a restorative spell to help her get some rest. Jarrid had been working with Aerathema to break Josiah, but his efforts were also in vain. I suggested trying to break him with my bagpipes, I'd been working on developing a song that would make a rabbit's head explode, and I thought maybe I could modify it for Josiah. For some reason, this disturbed Oryn, and he walked away.
After Oryn left, Lan pulled the pouch containing the Deck of Many Things out of his pack. He had been carrying it since the gala, because Pelor wouldn't allow him to actually draw from the deck- making him the best guardian of it. Lan asked if anyone was feeling like they had luck on their side and wished to draw from the deck. Everyone said that they were indeed feeling lucky, and Pharin shuffled the deck.
Dervish drew first. but luck was not with him. He first drew the Idiot card, and his second card was the Donjon card and he found himself instantly imprisoned, leaving all of his belongings behind...
Aurora drew next, and luck was not with her either. I drew the Void card, and my soul became instantly imprisoned, leaving my body behind...
Pharin stepped up next, and drew the Talon card, making all of his magical items disintegrate.
Ralliakkan drew the Rogue card, which made one of her friends turn against her...
Nanu received Euryale, a nasty curse that one a deity or the Fates card can remove.
Skye drew last, and received the Fates card. The moment Ralliakkan saw Skye's draw, she grabbed the genasi by the throat and demanded that she undo all that has just happened; taking them back to the moment they decided to draw. Skye insisted that Lan shuffle, not Pharin, and that no one cut the deck. She was the only one who remembered what had just happened, and even though she told everyone about their previous draws, no one believed her. She's such an airhead that she could have been spacing out and imagined the whole scenario.
The second time around, Lady Luck decided to visit some the group. Everyone, except Skye, Pharin, and Nanu, received good cards, including Pharin's spider familiar. Skye was the recipient of Euryale this time around, and she began praying to her God to remove it. She also had Lan and Lothar ask their Gods, who didn't care. Nanu drew the Skull card and found herself fighting a spectre of death; which she managed to defeat, but gained nothing from it except her life. Pharin drew the Rogue card, so he now has a mortal enemy for life- but that's much better than his items disintegrating.
Shortly after the group had finished drawing their cards, Jarrid emerged from the interrogation room. He gladly took a card, since he felt he had nothing left to lose. The Knight was Jarrid's card, and a young male fighter appeared before him, swearing fealty to him until death. This enraged Jarrid, and he told the group to outfit the young fighter so he could vent his rage on him. While the rest of the group knew that would likely result in the lad's death, they didn't have much of a choice- the boy was no match for Jarrid, even when he isn't raging. They gave him some armor and weapons they had received the day before at the volcano and sent him to his doom.
Eventually Oryn returned, with Lothar and a bundle of things- Jayce's belongings. The group somberly divvied up his things as they saw fit.
After that grievous task was completed, Oryn showed everyone into the interrogation room. He had a plan to use divination to get the book away from Josiah- he offered him a draw from the Deck. Josiah drew the Void, making it so that they could take the book.
The problem the heroes now faced was that the Book had to be bound to someone, and they had to decide who would take charge of it. Taking custody of the Book would mean that the owner would be locked in a warded room, like the one they were currently standing in, and study the book. Lothar volunteered himself to take it, saying the Moradin had granted him the knowledge to have the book without it completely devouring his soul. Nanu offered to take it, but Aurora pointed out that she can't sit still, and after a few hours the NightmOrc would be losing her mind from being penned up. There was no one else who could take it, I wouldn't for fear that I would have to experience that Hell I felt when I sung to it. With a heavy heart, they let Lothar take them book; once it bound itself to him, Oryn sent him away. He left the group telling them to hurry up with getting the sword so this wouldn't happen again.
*****
The next morning our heroes departed from Zeif, heading south toward Kester. When they emerged from the tavern, they found Aerys waiting for them, with horses in tow. The ranger was not happy to be going with the group, since she had heard bad things happened to those who were with them; the group hoped that wouldn't become a pattern.
This is the area the group stayed in for the course of this chapter.
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