Aurora, the Valley Elf Bard
Pharin, the Drow Wizard
Skye, the Air Genasi Druid
Dervish, the Kasathe Fighter
Nanu, the NightmOrc Fighter who is late
Lan El'Mandragoran, the Human Paladin
Oryn Talus, the mysterious and ancient "Halfling" who has employed the group
Jayce and Jarrid, the Human Barbarian brothers
Nanu, Jayce, and Jarrid arrived at the museum with only a few minutes to spare before the opening. The trio had had some difficulty getting through the crowds surrounding the museum to get to the doors. Everyone else was in place by the time they arrived, so they quickly took their places. Nanu stood just inside the doors as a guard, Dervish, Pharin's spider familiar, and one of Skye's zombies stood guard at the heart itself, Pharin stood on a balcony overlooking the gallery as a whole, Aurora, Jayce, and another zombie were posted on the right side of the gallery, Skye, Jarrid, and yet another zombie on the left, and Lan patrolled in a circuit through the entire gallery.
The group was given amulets to allow them to bypass the security wards Oryn had placed on the museum, so that they could cast spells and attack if necessary. They discovered these amulets also allowed them to communicate, and teleport around the museum's grounds.
Everything went well until around one am, when suddenly members of the group realized it had grown colder inside, their breath had become visible. The temperature continued to drop slowly, subtly over the next few hours. Eventually they realized that their breath was creating ice crystals, and the temperature was still dropping; the leather band Aurora had on the strap to her drum snapped from the cold. There was a minor scuffle with a noble who refused to listen when Dervish told him to stop leaning on a post; after being thrown outside Nanu "mule kicked" him, which resulted in his death. No one else misbehaved after that.
When the last group was admitted entrance, the hundreds of people still waiting outside began to riot. Lan immediately went down to attempt to sway the mob to calm down and leave. The Bane decided they needed to get people out of their quickly, but kicking them out would mean Oryn would have to give refunds. They decided to subtly get them to leave. Pharin made fog appear to be coming from the Heart, and summoned dancing lights to harass the patrons; they thought this was all part of the show, and stayed. Pharin decided to step it up, by sending acid splashes at the crowd, making it look like they were originating from the Heart, and many still thought it was part of the show. Dervish tried telling the people that the Heart was awakening, that their lives were in danger if they stayed, which only got a few more people to leave but most still thought this was part of the show; he isn't as convincing as the bard can be.
Meanwhile the situation at the gate was growing worse, with people pressing against the mithrilmantine walls that surrounded the museum. The group within the museum finally began to realize that they needed to leave, and began frantically rushing through to make sure they saw everything; they weren't going to let potential doom stop them from this once in a lifetime opportunity. As the people began leaving Oryn, Dervish, and Skye went outside to help with the crowd. Pharin imagined an identical balcony on the opposite side of the gallery, with a window, then stepped over to it to gain a better view of the mob outside. Jayce and Jarrid stayed with the Heart, and Aurora moved to the door to inspire Lan so he would be better able to sway the mob.
The temperature dropped so low that all of the glass in the museum shattered, and all of the wards went down. Suddenly no one was able to teleport and could not get back to the Heart quickly. A group of cultists came through the broken windows of the museum, intent on getting the heart. Pharin had his familiar encase the Heart in webs to better protect it and make it harder for the invaders to remove it. The fighters were fairly easy to kill, and the Bane was able to keep them away from the Heart. Some how during the fight, Pharin managed to drop a flaming sphere on himself, which the others would have found amusing under normal circumstances.
Then a drider lich appeared, and that is when the troubles really began.
Then a drider lich appeared, and that is when the troubles really began.
The drider lich appeared in front of Pharin, and would likely have killed him if not for Skye. Skye unleashed a moon beam on the drider lich which hurt it enough to turn its attention from Pharin to her; unfortunately for Aurora, she was between Skye and the lich, and took a brutal hit from it. Skye was able to finish it off with a brutal moonbeam that was even stronger than the first.
Two clerics oozed through the windows at about the time that the lich appeared, and stunned Jayce and Lan. The Bane tried to hit the clerics to get them to release their holds on the two, and eventually killed one, the other vanished. While everyone was picking themselves up, a female drow walked in and sealed all of the doors and windows.
She was a priestess of the cult, and had come to claim the Heart. The Bane attempted to keep her from it, but to no avail. Pharin attempted to send his familiar and the Heart to his brother, but the priestess stopped the spell. She banished Pharin, who is from Toril, he lived in the keep that the Ironfang Eight now reside in; had she been able to keep him there for a minute, he would have been unable to return, and the Eight would have ended him quickly. Pharin spent his time going through his belongings and managed to grab a few items before returning to the museum.
The priestess began methodically paralyzing the group as they attempted to attack her. Lan managed to land one hit on the priestess and injure her. Every other attack was futile, she either overcame them or they were stopped by a sanctuary spell. Nanu managed to get between the priestess and the Heart, and when the priestess magically ordered Nanu to move, she grabbed the Heart, still encased in webs with Pharin's spider inside as guard, and leapt; the priestess paralyzed her in mid-air and she crashed to the floor, still holding the Heart. Lan put up a radiant force field around Nanu to try to keep the priestess away, and Aurora ran to guard Nanu. The priestess banished Aurora, who had a spiritual moment, as the Ethereal Plane she was sent to is where the Valley Elves originated from before coming to this world. Before the priestess could reach Nanu, Oryn appeared with the moon card from the deck of many things. Oryn had been absent from the battle until now, doing a divination ritual to allow him to draw that card. He used his first wish to get rid of the priestess.
After she left the group unwrapped the webbing that encased the Heart, to find it was gone. Somehow the priestess had managed to use her blood to bind the Heart to her, so it left when she did. Pharin gathered up a vial of the bloody webbing in hopes of using it to find her through a spell. Upon discovering it missing Oryn angrily stormed out and was not seen again for a few hours. The group spent the next two and a half hours cleaning the museum, with Aurora singing an uplifting song about the ancient Pandarans who once occupied the Barrier Peaks, the mountains that surround the Valley of the Mage.
After cleanup was finished the group was brought breakfast, and Oryn finally reappeared. Oryn decided it was now the time for complete honesty, and explained to the group exactly why he had hired them. He explained that the cult they were fighting had now gathered all ten pieces of Vecna, and were planning on using it to bring him back mind, body, and soul- not the lich demigod, but the man himself; they even managed to find the Book of Vile Darkness, which contains the spell needed to succeed. Oryn hired the Bane because there was a chance that with them present the Heart could have potentially been saved. While the Heart was lost, the group did manage to rescue the Sword and Fang of Kas, both of which are needed to complete the ritual. The cult had a way of detecting the sword when it is activated, so Oryn quickly activated it to make them think he had it, and insisted the group take it with them.
Oryn asked the group to help him stop the cult, starting with going after some of the spell components they need. The components needed were rare, and absurdly difficult to find, so that would be a good place to begin to block the group. The Bane agreed to join Oryn in his quest to stop the cult, and were given nineteen hours to find equipment and prepare for travel.
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