Journal Entry 21

Adventure Journal - Session 21

The Folkestone heroes had reunited after most of the party's sortie into the Shadowfell. Ur-Kadar, brave paladin dedicated to slaying demons in the name of Bahamut; Jaeren, bane of demons, rebuking them with Pelor's radiance; Marik, wielder of eldritch powers; Luke, caster of apocalyptic magics; and Barrack, as indomitable as the hammer he wields. The group had regrouped in Folkestone after battling the fell forces of the dark fey and Barrack had nosed out some information regrading the Cult of Orcus' activities in Carrowheel.

The group spent the morning organizing their things about Folkestone, obtaining a letter of introduction from Lord Jessup and Luke went looking for his friend Pendingle. Pendingle was out of town on an “errand” for Neltharian. Luke sent a message to Pendingle, with Pendingle responding that he was fine and just in Inequity on en errand for Nelly. Luke questioned Nelly on what this errand was to which Nelly was evasive.

The group debated pursuing Pendingle to find out about his mission, but decided to travel to Carrowheel to investigate the cult of Orcus activities there. Early in the morning Neltharian gated the stalwart heroes to house Talnivarr to meet with his associate Rudifer Crumbley, a fellow agent of the Order of Candrical. Rudifer met the group and took them to a local inn to discuss what the cult of Orcus was doing in town. The Cult was doing their usual MO of kidnapping sailors on shore leave along with some of the other easily overlooked people in the larger town.

After the meeting with Rudifer the group headed to the towns keep to deliver their letter of introduction from Lord Jessup to Lord Blackwell. Lord Blackwell received the group and they exchanged information regarding these disappearances. The group was also warned against going into the Downspout, as it is commonly regarded as a “tough place”. The next stop for the party was Pots equipment store. Pottengal Mottlesworth, or Pots as he is known, is a disgustingly obese, unhygienic individual who was widely known to buy and sell enchanted items. Unfortunately, Pots required a password to do any business and was quite unhelpful in his disgusting way.

Next the group went around the corner to The Down Spout, a hive of debauchery and villainy that most respectable folk avoided. The group of course felt right at home. After speaking to the barkeep, looking for information, Marik and Barrack were directed to talk to Tarran Bradlethun. Nestled like a spider in the middle of a web of informants, Tarran traded what he new on the subject of the kidnappings for a small fortune in platinum. His prices were high, but his information was good and two days later the group had the locations for the houses the cult was using.

Upon receiving Lord Blackwell's blessings the group broke into the cult's safe house in town. After a brief search it was easily confirmed that this was a house being used to traffic in people. Blankets were strewn about the floor mixed with chains and manacles. After a little more searching some foul concoction was discovered, with Luke and Jaeren determining that this liquor would render any non-dwarf insensible for a time.

Verifying that Tarran's info was accurate at least this far, the group tromped out into the wilds, heading towards the manor house the Cult was using for it's base of operations. After a brief rest and reconnaissance, the group marched up the path to the manor's front door. Walking up under the bright mid day sun, there was no pretense at stealth. The front door to the house flew open and a troop of people marched out. The leader of the cultist demanded to know what the heroes wanted, with Barrack rapidly answering in a curt manner. Battle rapidly ensued. The fight went back and forth until Marik let loose with a series of attacks, blasting their warlock leader with his rod and then scorching two other minions with his acidic breath. With their leader down and their support gone the remaining soldiers were overcome, though even in dying they inflicted grievous wounds on the heroes.

Forcing their way inside, the heroes were immediately confronted with new foes. Another warlock, with his accompanying acolytes and guard and a fearsome canneloth demon! Jaeren and Ur-Kadar eagerly rushed the demon, unleashing their holy powers on it. Barrack broke right and began hurling his lesser hammer, menacing the foul warlock. Luke and Marik moves left rolling through another acolyte, further flanking the warlock and demon. The foul agents of demons put up some resistance, but Marik struck true, felling both the warlock and and his guard after the “avatar of Pelor” fell back out of the melee with the demon. After fumbling initially, Ur-Kadar finally connected with the demon, slaying it. Rapidly searching the main and upper floors revealed living space, but nothing sinister. The group then headed down the stairs into the basement to explore further.

At the bottom of the stairs the heroes discovered a secret door, through which an unfinished tunnel and a pool of drinking water were found. Further along this secret passage was a series of cages containing three still living captives in individual cages. All three captives were unconscious and the adventurers figured this was a mercy and let them sleep while they emptied out this den of evil. Through the next door our heroes encountered a summoning circle complete with a large tentacled demon. Combat ensued with the hapless demon beset on all sides. In addition to being stunned at the outset of combat it was confined by a blade barrier. As soon as it evaded the barrier it was thrown back into the whiling wall of blades by Barrack. It was quickly dazed forcing it to stay within the barrier, and it made short work of it. Behind a pair of curtains it was determined that the underground passage continued onward.

Shortly after the summoning circle room there was another intersection with a type of corrupted, foul chapel at the end with more twisted people in service of the cultist in desperate need of release from their lives. To this end the heroes quickly complied, dispatching the demon worshipping heretics with alacrity. During the battle, the party noticed a series of decorative skulls aligned at the end of three dead end passages. Upon touching two of them traps were set off, blasting Jaeren with lightning and scorching Barrack’s shield with fire.

Marik however was rapidly teleported to another room where a cultist was frantically turning dials on a dais in the middle of a pentagonal room. Marik noticed that the cultist had only had time to change three of the dials and that two of them were untouched as he sent the cursed pawn to his end on the end of his mighty spear. One each wall of the room was a door. Each of the dials were numbered 1-26, with the two untouched set to 5 and 18. Upon experimenting with one of the dials, turning one of the altered ones one increment, a door popped open and minor ape demons jumped out attacking the party. They were banished quickly, when Barrack pointed out that he knew of another mystical series containing 26 characters... the alphabet. Despite the protests of the wizard, the group discerned that this probably indicated that the dials formed a cipher with each number meaning a letter and they needed a password to move forward. Never crediting cultists with much creativity Barrack suggested they try the word “enter”. Turning the dials to the numbers that would correspond to the remaining letters in the word enter, another skull appeared for the group to move forward with.

Journal Entry 20

Journal Entry 19

Journal entry 18

Adventure Journal - Session 18

Having routed the frost dragon guarding a section of Agronomir’s staff in the Temple of Burning Ice– Barrack, a defensive minded dwarven Fighter, protector of the party; Marik, a dragonborn Warlock, inescapably bound to a pact made with the fey that grants him praeternatural powers; Jaeran, an elven Cleric upon whom Pelor has granted a modicum of divine power; Luke, a cloaked half-elf Wizard of arcane might; and Ur-Kadar, dragonborn Paladin of Bahamut, a holy warrior dedicated to upholding the tenets of his faith and dispensing justice with his powerful axe – the adventurers return to the troll cave to discover their companion - Syxia, a tiefling Rogue, dark daughter of a cursed bloodline, her ancestors given to the infernal worship of fiends – missing and the cave she was sheltering in showing great signs of battle.

Immediately Jaeran and Luke cast their spells and rituals to locate the party’s missing member, but to no avail. Though the castings were great she was beyond the magic’s ability to transverse, either by distance or misfortune. Being unable to gather any information on their missing companions and with an appointment with an old acquaintance drawing close the party determined to return to Folkestone and regroup. Gating into Neltharian’s basement yet again the party immediately ask him what he can do to find their missing companion. Neltharian informs the party that he needs some item to help attach a searching spell to, at which Luke hands over a pair of silken, frilly panties; undergarments that had gone missing some time before from Syxia’s possession. Saying he needs time for the spell Nelly excuses himself and the party heads into town to attend their various affairs.

Barrack and Ur-Kadar head to the newly built temple of Bahamut, with its shiny statuary and fresh appearance new converts to the church have been a regular occurrence. Jaeran travels to the temple of Pelor and has the above observation pointed out to him-resulting in a complete bankrupting of the elven priests funds to help maintain the temple’s position in the city. In exchange the high priest teaches the elf some much-desired rituals. Luke heads to the Crested Cock, as is his custom to find Pendingle, who is much sorrowed by falling in love with a woman of status. Marik goes looking for Drachen Silvani to see if any new magical toys are available with the wealth of a dragon’s horde (he leaves disappointed). The group meets up at the crested cock after their errands with Barrack telling Maldrick of the winter wolf pelts being made into rugs for the inn.

The next morning the party travels out into the woods to meet their previous companion Tolinyr. Barrack greets him and immediately begins questioning him about the Staff of Agronomir. Tolinyr gives the party a brief synopsis of where he has been (leaving Luke suspicious) indicating that he has joined a coalition of individuals trying to derail the cult of Orcus as well. Their plan has been to get ahead of the cult and find one of the seals before it is broken. Once such a location has been found it is their intention to fortify and defend it. The eladrin wizard also expounds saying how he might have exaggerated the danger that the staff presents, merely saying it could be used to enslave and summon demons in the wrong hands. Barrack tersely says, bah, it is merely a useful tool then, no more evil or good than the hand wielding it. Much less to worry about than they were initially led to believe. The party leaves Tolinyr, letting him know that if he or his mysterious group needs help (i.e. blunt force), they are more than willing to lend a hand to kill cultists.

Returning to town the group head directly to Neltharian's to see what he has learned. The great wizard has narrowed down Syxia’s location to near Dunwin in a manor that the group believes to be the estate of Valen Thantos, her father. The group immediately asks if Neltharian has a gate address in Dunwin, to which he replies yes. With the address in hand the group gathers their equipment and immediately head out in search of their lost friend. Using the gate address the party teleports half way across the continent and find themselves in a basement. Belatedly Barrack realizes that this gate is located in house Talnivarr, the wizarding house who would like to have a talk about a certain raid the group performed some time ago. Keeping their heads down and letting Luke do the talking they quickly get outside of the house and go looking for the seedy side of town.

The group goes through several plans, ranging from going through town trying to look incompetent and draw attention to them. They put out a contract for information on Syxia to which a poor report made the group refuse payment (information provided by Syxia’s brother). Despite the group’s efforts at being discrete and subtle, they returned to the modus operandi and mounted up and rode for the Thantos estate. They arrived and politely knocked on the gate, requesting to speak to Syxia. A servant returned and informed them that unfortunately Syxia has been slain. The group verbally pushed their way into an interview with Lord Valen and said their good byes over her grave. Jaeran queried whether efforts had been made to raise Syxia to which the answer was she was beyond saving.

Furious beyond words Barrack and Ur-Kadar started to verbally formulate plans for revenge. Syxia’s family offered them the hospitality of their guesthouse while they discuss family matters. They could possibly be able to help with avenging Syxia. In the morning the party sat down and was informed that Syxia’s family wanted vengeance for their daughter/sister’s demise. Despite there being no love lost, there was a matter of pride and honor involved. However they could not take direct action without inviting further reprisals, an outside force could take action. Barrack adopted an ice-cold smile and simply said point us in the direction.

The next morning, armed with the gate address of Syxia’s former fiancé, Zarunkumar Argus, the group teleported into the basement of House Argus. Two startled guards leapt to their feet to stop the intruders. Barrack and Ur-Kadar barreled into them with Luke and Marik raining deadly spells upon their head quickly defeating them, but the damage was done, the house was alerted to the group’s presence. Racing upstairs the group encountered their first resistance at the top of the master stair. Standing guard to a double door was a trio of tiefling guards. Adopting their standard formation with Barrack and Ur-Kadar up front, a pair of tiefling black blades attacked from behind striking the group’s more vulnerable members. The group divided their efforts between the fronts with Luke sending one of the backstabbers over the rail as he was unable to resist a hypnotic illusion. The door guards were beginning to fall when the tiefling rogue still upstairs suddenly disappeared only to reappear behind Luke stabbing him with his poisoned blade. The rest of the tieflings were quickly overwhelmed. The tiefling recovered from his fall and ran back up the stairs. He was met by Marik and Ur-Kadar and he suddenly turned invisible as well. Surprising everyone Barrack suddenly hurled his throwing hammer at empty space. Even more surprising was the hammer stopping, striking the invisible tiefling up the side of the head. The injured tiefling stumbled through the double doors out of sight.

The party waited a minute to catch their breath before barreling through the doors to confront the master of the house. Battle was immediately met without quarter neither asked for nor given. A wall of fire was thrown up to slow the tieflings along one flank, thinking that even if it couldn’t harm them, at least it would slow them down. Zarunkumar, however, found it useful and he mentally threw Luke into his own spell! Barrack stayed back with Jaeran and Luke keeping the sword swingers off so that they may cast their spells. Ur-Kadar rushed the tiefling lord, slamming him into the back wall of the room, in retaliation Ur-Kadar was spelled and hurled across the room. The battle raged on, when most of the guardsmen fallen, Barrack charged Zarunkumar and began hammering into him. This gave Ur-Kadar a chance to engage the tiefling and between the two heroes the dark master quickly went down. The remaining tieflings posed little resistance after their father fell, falling quickly to the heroes. The house was raided for loot and soaked with oil and other consumables, and then set alit. By comparing their fallen foes to various portraits in the main hall, they conclude that there is one member of House Argus unaccounted for. The heroes gated out as the fire built, returning to Folkestone, with Syxia avenged they could return to the business of stopping the cult of Orcus.

Journal Entry 18

Adventure Journal - Session 18

The party decided to rest in the foul smelling troll cave and then attempt to scale the mountain in the morning. The troll king's crown, now identified by Luke and Jaearan as the Crown of Lost Souls, is an evil relic from the distant past. They conclude that they will keep it while looking for a way to destroy it. The next morning the heroes wake and begin preparations for the long and difficult climb to the summit. Syxia wakes to discover that she has a runny nose and fears that she is catching a deathly cold. She's very worried about it becoming more serious and makes life miserable for the party all morning. She informs the party that tieflings, in general, aren't made for the cold, and she doesn't like how bulky clothing makes her look fat. As such, she refuses to participate and instead just wants to wait in the warmth of the cave, no matter how gross and disgusting. Having had enough, Barrack tells her to stay and the party leaves the cave in search of the Palace of Burning Ice.

The climb up the mountain is difficult. Jaeran nearly kills himself by falling a couple times, surviving only due to the ropes fastened around his waist and anchored by Barrack. As they reach an area near the top of the mountain they find that there is a small trail that leads to a small, flat plateau. The party notices five dwarf-like creatures that are blue and appear to be made out of ice and frost. Luke identifies them as the bjurn. Luke explains that they are similar to the Azer, only from the elemental plane of water. The party decides to attempt to talk to them as their odds of sneaking by them were dismal. Luke advances and tries to converse with the bjurn guards, with disastrous results. Combat ensues and the party learns the engaging two bjurn can be difficult because the extreme cold emanating from them slows them down. Despite this, the party wins out and they continue toward a major clearing. As they advance through the snow, the can eventually see a an entrance carved in to the stone wall of the mountain. The walls are shear and the top of the mountain is not far overhead.

Standing guard at the entrance are two bjurn warriors and a large winter wolf. As the party engages them, one of the guards bolts back inside while the other two defend the entrance. The winter wolf's frozen breath is biting, but the party quickly deals with them and enters the ruins of the Palace. The corridor leads to a large, circular room with a large hole in the middle. There are several corridors leading in with two bjurn and another winter wolf guarding a door to the northeast. As the party moves forward to engage the guards their trap is sprung and four more guards enter from the corridor. It is clear that they hope to overwhelm the party and disrupt their normal battle plans by engaging them from many angles. The party, Barrack in particular, make good use of the chasm in the middle of the room. The winter wolf, the most dangerous of the enemies, is forced into the rift and it plummets to its death. The bjurn put up a good fight, but the heroes win out in time.

The party finds a passage that leads up, and one that leads down. The one leading up ends in a door. The party listens at the door and hears a great amount of commotion. As they bust in the door they see a large room containing four bjurn, a winter wolf and a large frost giant sitting on an icy throne. The frost giant, named Brokke, is arrogant and tells the party that he is going to break them to pieces and encase them in ice. Combat ensues with the winter wolf and bjurn forming a defensive screen in front of the frost giant. The giant calls launches icy arrows with his giant bow, rains down chillshards and attacks with his giant spear. In the end, he attempts to barter for his life but no quarter is given. The party finds a frostwolf pelt +2, a great spear +2 and many coins.

Journal Entry 17

Adventure Journal – Session 17

Having infiltrated Balthazar’s Tower in search of the second piece of the legendary staff of Angronomir, heroic wizard of the ancient world– Barrack, a defensive minded dwarven Fighter, protector of the party; Marik, a dragonborn Warlock, inescapably bound to a pact made with the fey that grants him praeternatural powers; Jaeran, an elven Cleric upon whom Pelor has granted a modicum of divine power; Luke, a cloaked half-elf Wizard of arcane might; Syxia, a tiefling Rogue, dark daughter of a cursed bloodline, her ancestors given to the infernal worship of fiends; and Ur-Kadar, dragonborn Paladin of Bahamut, a holy warrior dedicated to upholding the tenets of his faith and dispensing justice with his powerful axe – began by searching for the remaining rooms in the third level of tower.

The party is surprised to hear the sound of the levitation tube activating and braces for combat. To their surprise, and relief, it is their dragonborn warlock, Marik ascending into the main room. Although he looks like he has recovered from a grave illness, he assures the party he is fit to help them with this challenge. His arrival is timely as Syxia has become ill and is incapable of continuing. Whether it is due to a broken fingernail, wardrobe malfunction, lack of sleep, pouting due to lack of treasure or gender related illness is unclear. Preferring not to question her about it, the party moves on and inspects the rest of this level. They find a workshop with a variety of tools that look to be used for the assembly of constructs, a library of sorts that contained material on the research conducted in the tower that dealt with the mysteries of the human soul and the creation of golems and such, and a bedroom adorned with the sun and stars.

After inspecting this level, Syxia crosses the bridge through the cracking wall of energy, locates and then pulls the lever initiating the levitation tube to the next level. The party ascends to the next level to find themselves in a dark room that is filled with cobwebs. They recoil as they hear the mechanized sounds of gears turning and the chink of small steel tips reverberating off stone. Luke lets a scorching burst fly in an attempt to create light and burn down the cobwebs. These webs, however, are more resilient than normal they all don’t burn away immediately. Suddenly, a small, metal spider construct leaps from behind the webs and attacks Barrack. Barrack raises his shield in time and knocks it to the ground. From the doorway to the right another spider emerges and leaps into combat. The heroes engage the spiders and are largely able to fend off their leaping attacks all while avoiding the burning webs and choking smoke. Their efforts, however, have attracted a new foe. Lumbering into the room is a vaguely humanoid-shaped creature is composed entirely of webs, except for its eight spider-like eyes and sharp mandibles. Luke recognizes the creature as a web golem.

The area around the golem is a swirling storm of sticky threads that slows anyone near it and makes attacks against it more difficult. The golem also has exceptional reach and its sticky tendrils are capable of grabbing anything it touches. The party recognizes that the construct is vulnerable to attacks by fire and they attack it with every fire based assault they have. Barrack pounds the golem with his hammer but ends up being stuck to the beast, unable to move. Jaeran blinds the beast with a searing ray of light, but the golem retaliates by grabbing him and slamming him into the floor. In the end, the party endures and golem and the mechanical spiders are destroyed. The party scours the level and discovers several bedrooms that must have been used by the artificers working in the tower. They have not been used for a long time. Syxia again traverses the iron bridge, flips a switch and the party ascends to the top level of the tower.
This levitation portal opens to an expansive room the full size of the inner tower. They survey the room to see two large robotic beasts before them, five unfinished sets of infernal armor, a small metallic drake and a shield guardian adjacent to a robed, humanoid construct yielding a magician’s staff. It takes a few seconds, but the constructs spring to life and the robed figure, who we’ll call Balthazar’s Assistant, vocalizes with a strange, humming sound. Dialogue ensues with the Assistant asking repeatedly where the creator was and when he would return. Marik begins inching toward the door that the Assistant infers leads to the Staff segment. Ur-Kadar creates a clever ruse where he tries to convince the Assistant that they are his latest creations and that they were sent by him to recover the staff. Unfortunately, this does not compute with the Assistant’s linear logic and the situation devolves to combat.

Ur-Kadar and Barrack surge forward to engage the two large mechanical defenders allowing the other members of the party to focus on the smaller targets. Luke conjures a massive stinking cloud that destroys two of the incomplete minions and damages the shield guardian and the Assistant. The Assistant stays near the shield guardian, who soaks up much of the damage. The Assistant then does something unexpected and unseen so far by the party. He raises his staff and dispels the poisonous cloud. The spark lasher flies to the left and an arc of lighting shoots from his mouth and strikes Marik. The defenders, try as they might, are unable to make any headway as they either miss their targets are their weapons clang off their tough armor. In retaliation, one of the mechanical beasts opens his mouth and a deafening wave of force erupts, throwing several party members back and dazing them. The Assistant continues firing disrupting bolts that teleport their target 5’ if they hit.

The fight continues for some time. Luke has managed to destroy all of the guardian minions. Marik’s Hunger of Hadar inflicted damage initially, but the Assistant teleported to safety while the shield guardian moved out of range. The spark lasher continues to spray the party with bolts of electricity while the large robotic beasts continue to trade blows with Ur-Kadar and Barrack. The group realizes that they must change up the battle and focus on the Assistant. Barrack uses his shield and gauntlets to open some space and separate the two constructs. Jaeran then charges forward to engage the guardian and Assistant and calls upon Pelor to create an area of consecrated ground. Barrack then follows Jaeran as they plan to focus their attacks on the Assistant. Meanwhile, Ur-Kadar is finally heating up and manages to destroy one of the massive constructs. The Assistant raises his wand again and with a blast of arcane energy destroys Jaeran’s divine zone of healing. Luke and Marik, who have been concentrating on the spark lasher, take one more blast of electrical energy before they combine to destroy the pest.
The remaining large defender seizes the opportunity to move and engage the elven cleric. Its large metal jaws strike twice viciously, knocking him unconscious and near death. The Assistant then turns in the direction of Marik and Luke and unleashes a shriek of deafening thunder. Marik absorbs the full effect of the blast and he crumples to the floor, while Luke manages to ward off most of the damage. The party is now down to three combatants. While Barrack is exchanging blows with the shield guardian, which is tantamount to two stones smashing into each other, Ur-Kadar bears down and raises his mighty axe. He lands a critical blow on the beast and sends metal parts scattering. His next assault both finishes the automaton but also heals Jaeran, who was very near death, as well. Barrack finally reduces the shield guarding to a small mound of rubble, leaving the Assistant all alone. The remainder of the fight doesn’t last long and the Assistant is powered down for good.

A quick search of the room reveals a handy haversack in a desk. Inside the sack are a +2 Pavise Charm, +2 Baffling Cape, potion of clarity, Boots of Unchecked Passage, and two stones that are laced with arcane power. In the desk is also a notebook of some age. Thumbing through the back of the notebook it appears that the writer discovered the location of the Temple of Elemental Chaos, where he believes more pieces of the Staff of Angronomir reside. Remembering the reason they came in then first place, they open the door to reveal yet another iron bridge. Only this time, the bridge has two small arms that extend out the side and the staff segment appears to be powering the wall of crackling energy. Luke uses his mage hand to recover the Staff piece and the strange black lightning suddenly ceases.

Barrack, always curious, follows the bridge over the small room on the other side and attempts to smash out a window. While it is magically sealed, the stubborn dwarf turns his attention to the stones holding the window in place. Although it takes almost an hour, the party wisely chooses not to interfere with a determined dwarf who is perturbed about his recent battle. They conceded that it is better for the stone to feel his wrath than any one of them. Eventually, the stone is dislodged and he peers into the land beyond. For what must be miles around the tower, the land is charred and desolate, with little vegetation and no signs of life. Satisfied, they return to the main room and Jaeran prepares the portal back to Nelatharian’s.

The party arrives in Neltharian’s cellar. Neltharian greets them and asks of their recent happenings. They briefly explain what they found in the tower and their recovery of the staff. Luke had joined the two pieces of the staff, thereby proving to Neltharian that they were successful. After a few minutes, the party asks about the third piece of the staff and Neltharian tells him that his research leads him to a location in the Glimmering Peaks. The wizard believes the fragment could be in an ancient temple located high in the snow-packed mountains. The party decides to take their leave and head over to the Crested Cock to consider their options.
They arrive at their favorite tavern and are greeted by Meldrick and his wife. While the crowd is relatively light, Pendingle is strumming his mandolin and singing in the back. He gives the party a wink as they enter and joins them upon completing his ballad. The bard and Luke share a quick pint and Luke agrees to provide another magical light show to go along with his playing. Syxia heads straight for the baths in an attempt to rejuvenate. The remainder of the party reviews their options. Concerned that the party seems to always be a step behind the cultists, Barrack floats the concept of sacking a Tiefling House. It appears the tieflings are in league with the cultists and this tactic may provide more useful information. Additionally, if they chose to target Syxia’s House, it would also remove the existing threat of retaliation for her escape. While the plan has merit, they decide to pursue the third piece of the staff. They decide that they will head to the Glimmering Peaks by way of Inequity and Draig Durrock.

Barrack then makes a quick trip up to the Keep to visit with Greven. Barrack updates Greven on their progress, reviews their next course of action and asks him to have someone discreetly keep an eye on Neltharian. Greven scoffs at watching the “crazy old coot” but eventually agrees. Greven informs Barrack that there have been no undead sightings and that Folkestone continues to grow. Satisfied, Barrack returns to the Crested Cock and finds that Jaeran has left to talk with Father Corus. Father Corus has found no information regarding the shield, but has asked his colleagues in Dunwin for assistance. Barrack and Ur-Kadar then travel to the Shrine of Bahamut and fledgling Temple to Kord. Both of these temples continue to grow and so each warrior leaves a handful of gold coins to continue the work.

The party returns to the inn and retires for the evening. They rise in the morning and prepare for the weeklong journey to Inequity. Upon leaving Folkestone, Barrack receives another message from Tolinyr. The eladrin wizard says “Friend, I have grave doubts that the ancient artifact you seek can be used for good. What is broken should not be remade.” Barrack then replies that they would like to learn more and that they should meet so they can discuss this matter in detail. Tolinyr quickly replies that he would like to meet, but he cannot at this time. He will send word when it is time, but he expects it to be soon.

The trip is otherwise uneventful and, upon arriving, they seek an audience with Lord Braccus. They are told it would be the customary 15-20 minutes and they are surprised when Braccus comes down to meet them personally in less than 5 minutes. They exchange pleasantries while they all walk to Braccus’s primary chambers. Braccus appears to be in much better spirits and he confirms that Inequity’s affairs are getting along quite nicely. The port is busy with traffic and the dwarves have even sent their first caravan of trade goods to town. Barrack informs Braccus that they intend on having a discussion with Isenicus from the Moondust Temple. Much to their surprise, Braccus indicates that Isenicus is already in his dungeon. Braccus says that he received the party’s warnings and decided not to take any chances. So far, Isenicus has been unwilling to provide any information. Braccus says that the party is free to question the prisoner, but adds that it must be done discreetly. To wit, Ur-Kadar says “We don’t do discreetly.” Barrack counters by telling Braccus that they won’t leave any visible signs of interrogation.

The party begins by attempting to intimidate the false cleric of Sehanine, but his warped mind does not yield. He refuses to acknowledge any connection to the cultists and professes his innocence. Barrack and Jaeran then remember the man they saved from the clutches of the cultists and they leave to fetch Delyd from the Sun Temple. They are pleased to find that Delyd has become an acolyte of Pelor and he continues to make progress back to a normal life. He agrees to accompany the dwarf and elf back to the Keep, but says that he remembers very little of that black time and will probably be of no assistance. However, as his eyes meet with those of the man in the cell, he freezes. Delyd’s mouth is agape and his eyes are wide with terror and the room fills with the pungent smell of urine. It’s clear to everyone, including Isenicus, that the man in the cell is associated with the demon cult. Feeling for Delyd, Jaeran escorts him back to the Sun Temple and he leaves him in the care of Brother Kleros.

Back in the dungeon, Isenicus’s mood changes and he turns violent and evil. He tells the party that his brothers will succeed in freeing Orcus and that he and his demon hordes will wash Soltara clean leaving on his brothers to rule over the land. He also says that Helvanicus, or Brother H, has already opened three of the portals and they will soon find and open the fourth. He repeats that there is nothing the party can do to stop his brothers. The party is able to find out that Helvanicus is east of Ithacar, somewhere in the wilds of Wysteria, searching for the remaining portals of power. Knowing they have learned all they can, they leave the prisoner and inform Braccus of what they have learned. Braccus then sentences Isenicus to die and he will be hanged as a traitor at first light tomorrow. Finally, Braccus asks Barrack to serve as an emissary of Inequity and seek a stronger bond with the dwarves of Draig Durrock. He agrees and the party retires to the Black Gull. They set off for Draig Durrock the next morning after watching Isenicus hang.

The party arrives in Draig Durrock after an uneventful week long journey. They are greeted warmly and given the best of accommodations. Thurr explains that they are doing well and that the inhabitants of Draig Drammen decided to join them, in addition to several smaller clans that were hiding in the hills. While they would like to retake Draig Kharrak, they will wait patiently, a skill in which dwarves are proficient, until they are ready. Barrack then asks Thurr if they could leave one of the portal stones with them so that the party could return here quickly. He explains the possible dangers in allowing the portal to remain here, but Thurr agrees to have a special room constructed to hold the relic safely. Finally, Barrack conveys that the leadership of Inequity would like stronger ties with the dwarves and Thurr agrees. The party leaves the next morning for the Glimmering Peaks.

The journey though the mountains is long and difficult. There are several times when the group was close to losing its way when Luke or Jaeran were able to recover. As the group nears the base of the white capped mountains, they stumble upon a large cave emitting a foul odor. With Syxia refusing to investigate, the group decides to investigate the underground lair. The party enters into a rather large cavern with a small, noxious pool on the opposite. The inhabitants, three large trolls are surprised and the party gets the jump on them. Barrack and Ur-Kadar move to the front in an effort to form a defensive wall using the cave’s natural entrance to shield the rest of the party. Two of the trolls lumber forward while the third retreats deeper into the cave. Barrack recognizes the larger one as a cave troll mangler while the other one is a more common fang troll.

The mangler makes its way forward with more speed than one would think given its size. The beast uses its grotesquely large hands to grab and hold on to its victim. It is powerful enough to use a held victim as an improvised club or simply launch them a good distance. Having fought trolls before, the group wisely uses its fire and acid attacks each round. These consist of Ur-Kadar and Marik’s breath weapon, Luke’s scorching burst, and Marik’s gloves of eldritch admixture, which allow him to add fire or acid damage to his cursed targets. Jaeran conjures a blade barrier and Barrack makes good use of his gauntlets of the ram to continue pushing his victims into the blade barrier. Despite Ur-Kadar getting flung like a projectile, and a few more bumps and bruises for the party, they finish off the two trolls and move into the cave. Syxia blatantly refuses to enter such a smelly place despite Barrack’s threats to bind and gag her. Instead, she agrees to stand watch outside the cave.

The party advances to the rear of the large cave where they encounter a fang troll, a bladerager troll and an immense troll standing before a crude throne covered with uncured hides and captured banners. A crown of black iron wrought in an ancient design is hammered—literally, complete with twisted iron nails—onto his head, although his green skin has grown over the crown’s black iron band in places. The fang and bladerager trolls advance to engage the party while the troll king is content to stay back. The party is surprised when the troll king fires a necrotic bolt from his hand. While melee continues, he waves his hand and summons four shades into the combat. The shades take up the forms of fallen heroes: fighter, wizard, ranger and rogue. The fighter shade closes for combat while the other shades move and attack from range. The pitched battle with the forward trolls continues and the party makes progress. The party again combines its elemental attacks of fire and acid and they combine to destroy the fang troll.

A ranged blast from the party dissipates one of the shades but the troll king summons it again on the next turn. As Marik nears unconsciousness from damage sustained in battle, he can feel his soul being gently tugged in the direction of the iron crown. There is no doubt that this artifact is an evil relic. But before they can decide what to do with it, they’re going to need to carve it from its current resting place. As one of the shades flanks the party, the party recoils as they see the troll touch the crown and instantly trade places with the shade. Marik uses the thief of five fates power to steal an action from the troll and buy the party some time. As the bladerager troll is finally put down the party is now free to concentrate all of their attacks on the troll king. While it is a difficult fight, the party holds nothing back and they eventually slay the troll king. While Luke, Jaeran and Marik investigate the crown, the rest of the party picks through the cave and discovers a variety of items, gems and gold worth approximately 2,500 gold pieces. The party’s next move is to decide what to do with the crown and then begin climbing the mountain to find the Palace of Burning Ice.

Journal Entry 16

Journal Session 16

Having defeated a fearsome naga and claiming the first piece of the legendary staff of Angronomir, heroic wizard of the ancient world– Barrack, a plain-spoken dwarven Fighter, powerful wielder of the hammers favored by that strong and dour race; Marik, a reptilian dragonborn Warlock, heir to an ancient and proud lineage, but inescapably bound to a pact granting him supernatural powers; Jaeran, an elven Cleric upon whom the gods have granted a measure of divine power as a reward for his faith; Luke, a cloaked half-elf Wizard of mysterious origins and arcane might; Syxia, a tiefling Rogue, dark daughter of a cursed bloodline, her ancestors given to the infernal worship of fiends; and Ur-Kadar, dragonborn Paladin of Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon, a holy warrior dedicated to upholding the tenets of his faith and protecting the weak with his battle axe – began by considering the man they had seen on the other side of the magical portal near where the piece of the staff had been affixed.

Luke and Marik relied on their learning and experience in matters arcane, and bent their minds to a thorough examination of the portal. They believed that the staff had served as a focus item that kept the portal open, and they felt that if they were to replace the fragment of the staff where it had been affixed, the portal would reopen. The party discussed their options, and ultimately decided to replace the staff and question the man on the other side. With nerves of steel, Luke replaced the staff, and the portal reopened. The man on the other side seemed genuinely surprised to see the gateway open again, and he began pleading for the party to help them. Before deciding on such a course of action, the party had many questions for him. He revealed that his name was Erisend and that he had been imprisoned beyond the portal for longer than could remember. He related that it had been a mighty struggle for him just to maintain his sanity. Based on his clothing, mannerisms and patterns of speech (as well as the content of his answers to the heroes’ questions), the party estimated that Erisend had been held prisoner for nearly 500 years. Erisend stated that he was an agent of House Talnivarr and came to his present location from the Keldarian League – his mission had been to investigate claims of necromancy in the College of Magic south of Dunwin. He claimed to have confronted a young wizard named Marzoth and his betrothed, Lucritica, with a fellow House member, a female eladrin named Gwrach (or, more properly Gwrachallinora). He could not recall the name of his former companion until he saw the ring the party had recovered from the naga, and he was unsure of what might have happened to her. He again begged for the party to help release him. He explained that someone would need to reach through the portal and pull him through. Without hesitation, the party members agreed to this course of action, and freed Erisend, who was very grateful. He was greatly weakened by the ordeal of his long imprisonment, but had barely aged during his confinement. He said that he wanted to get out of the trackless marshes, and needed to return to House Talnivarr and render his report (despite how long he had been gone). The party said that they would escort him out of the Fens and then take him to the wizard Neltharian in the town of Folkestone. From there he would be able to travel by portal to the Great House.

The party trekked through the swamp, and after three days of difficult travel in the boggy murk, returned to the hut of Gwrach the hag. Forcibly taking the ring from a resisting – and pouting – Syxia (after an argument that ended with Barrack silencing her like only he can), her companions returned the ring to the swamp hag. As she slipped it on, she transformed back to her old self – an eladrin wizard. She recognized Erisend, and they spoke privately for a brief period. She explained that she was cursed by Marzoth and turned into a hag. Furthermore, the curse forbade her to state his name and bound her to the confines of the swamp. She said that she missed the Feywild, and instead of returning to the House with Erisend, she decided to return to her homeland. She thanked the party and told them that she would be willing to help them in the future, if possible. She then departed for the Feywild, while Luke performed the linked portal ritual.

The party appeared in the cellar of Neltharian, who let them up into his shop after hearing them arrive. The party introduced Erisend to the wizard, and after several minutes, Neltharian was convinced that his story was true; he then sent Erisend off via a portal to the Great House. Neltharian then turned his attention back to the party; he had news for them. He reported that one of his “associates” in Carrowheel, one Polliver Dourstone, had investigated the house of Danelious Zharam, and was surprised to find the place deserted. In fact, it looked as though it had been empty for a long time (but, curiously, the taxes had continued to be paid). Also, he had discovered a teleportation portal that he believed led to Balthazar’s Tower. Neltharian noted that he was also working on determining the location of the third piece of Angronomir’s staff, believed by some to be hidden somewhere in the Glimmering Peaks. Finally, he confirmed that the piece of Angronomir’s staff that the party had recovered was indeed authentic. He offered to keep it for “safe-keeping,” but the party insisted that they would like to hold on to it. Neltharian seemed content with that decision, and made no counter-argument. After some discussion, the party decided to use the portal in order to investigate where it led, in the hope of finding the second piece of the staff. After a long and demanding wilderness quest, the unanimous decision was to rest for the night in Folkestone, and proceed with the quest for Angronomir’s staff the following day. As the party prepared to depart Neltharian’s shop, the hulking reptilian warlock nearly collapsed from exhaustion, as his chest heaved in great wheezing spasms. Helping him to a chair, the wizard immediately saw that Marik was still suffering terribly from a serious disease he fell victim to in the Fens, and informed the party that they must proceed without him. Marik would rejoin the party as soon as he was well; in the meantime, Neltharian agreed to look after the dragonborn warlock and nurse him back to health given his grave condition.

The party then headed directly to The Crested Cock, where they presented their old friend, Meldrick the innkeeper, with one of the hydra’s heads. They noted with some pride that Folkestone was continuing to grow and prosper. The heroes could see that Meldrick was pleased with the large crowd gathered in the tavern that night listening to Pendingle the bard, who was entertaining the crowd with a bawdy limerick about nymphs.

When summoning nymphs be prepared
For they might have their naughty bits bared
But, listen up smarty!
If its brought to the party
You can bet it is meant to be shared!

Luke was thoroughly amused, and ordered several rounds of strong ale. He offered to add a light show to Pendingle’s act using his powers of prestidigitation. He did just that, and the assembled tavern patrons hooted and hollered with delight. Pendingle then broke into another song about a Goliath who practiced ballet. Luke remained in the tavern all evening, continuing to drink heavily. After retiring to her room to change, Syxia looked for Belandor, corporal of the guard, only to find out that the handsome warrior was on duty in the keep, and could not be reached. Disappointed, she sat at the bar nursing watered wine, and turned away any number of suitors (since none were rich, handsome princes. Or rich. Or handsome. Or princes.) and their offers of ale, companionship or certain amorous activities. Dejected, she instead went shopping to replenish her stocks of clothing, opting for very inexpensive and functional (as well as cute, short, head-turning and tight) items, as well as splurging on lingerie and stockings (hard to come by among dwarves or in swamps, and which would fill half of her backpack). She then returned to her room, and took a long, hot bubble bath and washed her lustrous blue hair before going to sleep in a nice, comfy bed.

After a pint or two of dwarven stout, Barrack went to the keep to see Greven the magistrate. He told Greven everything that he and his companions had learned, and Greven was very impressed with the heroes’ activities and victories. Barrack also inquired about The Animator. With no recent undead sightings, however, Greven assumed (and hoped) that the foul villain was no longer an issue or threat. For his part, Jaeran paid a visit to Father Corus, in order to see if that worthy could relate anything about the magical shield he now carried; he promised to find out as much information as possible. Barrack returned to the inn, and he and Ur-Kadar stopped by the temples of Bahamut and Kord. They found the progress suitable and donated more gold to these divine shrines. They then returned to The Crested Cock, where Ur-Kadar threw a very inebriated Luke over his shoulder, and retired for the evening.

The party awoke in the morning and prepared to head off to Neltharian’s shop. Barrack was getting very impatient with Syxia, as she made the party wait for nearly an hour before she was “ready to go.” He was about to rebuke and reprimand the devil-girl when he received a mental message from their old friend, the eladrin wizard Tolinyr. The eladrin’s voice rang in the dwarf’s mind: “It has been a long time, friend. I have learned a great deal since I departed, and I fear you are being misled. Be wary.” The dwarf tried in vain to send a return message, but the magical connection was gone. Barrack also realized, too late, that they should have sent a message with Erisend to House Talnivarr to make sure that Neltharian was in good standing with the House. Setting off, they arrived at Neltharian’s shop, and the wizard prepared the portal. Feeling that they must trust Neltharian (until they found a valid reason not to), the party stepped through the portal.

They found themselves in a 20’ by 30’ room that contained the outline of a door in the stone wall, and were suddenly aware of an incredibly cold presence surrounding them. Luke and Jaeran realized that they were surrounded by negative energy and would be unable to recover as usual from extended rests. The realization sunk in that the party would have to complete this stage of their quest with only the resources they brought into the accursed place. Resigned to the situation, and their fate, they examined the room for a way out.

On the face of the door was a 4 x 4 grid with a series of numbers (see the picture attached). It had a series of numbers that appeared, at first, to have no connection. Luke used his mage hand to push on the numbers, but it had no effect. Ur-Kadar reviewed the numbers and found that each row and column added to a common number, 44. However, what that meant continued to elude the heroes. Syxia, tired of the puzzle, planned to touch a series of numbers in a random order, but was blasted back into the air by an electrical shock, and landed on her rear end in the midst of her companions. Embarrassed, and angry over a cracked nail, Syxia went to a corner and drew up her knees, and waited for her companions to think their way out of the situation. The party thought about the obstacle for some time before Barrack reached up and touched a number in the top left of the grid. He too was blasted back as a surge of electrical energy jolted through his body. The party noted that if the grid was broken into quadrants, the 4 squares in the diagonal quadrants added to either 33 or 55. Any possible meaning was lost on them. Barrack sought to eliminate another number, and was again subjected to a violent electric shock. They eliminated some numbers by assuming that doubles of a specific number were not part of any solution. After several more attempts, they found themselves no closer to a solving the puzzle. They returned to their initial observation and decided to examine the number 44. Someone mentioned that if you add 4 + 4 you get 8, which is a number on the grid. But could it really be that simple? Barrack reached up and touched the number, then disappeared in a flash of light. Luke followed his lead, as did Ur-Kadar, Syxia and finally Jaeran.

Barrack found himself in a large round room with eight alcoves and no apparent exit. In the alcoves were 6 animated suits of armor and 2 mechanical canines. He had fought the dog-like iron defenders before, but the armor constructs were new to the dwarven veteran. Now knowing when, or if, his compatriots would arrive, Barrack charged forward, pursuing traditional dwarven tactics. He tried to position himself with his back to a wall to avoid being completely surrounded. Luke then suddenly teleported into the room and he attempted to make his way to an empty alcove. He summoned a flaming sphere, and placed it behind the group assaulting Barrack. Ur-Kadar entered the room as one of the armored constructs was destroyed. Barrack was surprised that the constructs were so easily destroyed, until he saw their golden, glowing eyes go out for a moment, then start to blink rapidly. Within a few seconds, the construct exploded with great force. Luke was caught in the blast and faced the full force of the explosion; he was blasted by shards of white-hot, razor-sharp metal, and succumbed to unconsciousness. As he lay dying on the floor of the chamber in a pool of his own blood, his flaming sphere went out. Syxia then entered the room, surveyed the chaos, smiled and drew her wicked blades.
Ur-Kadar and Barrack together could have easily destroyed the animated suits of armor, but the explosions were something new, unexpected and dangerous to them. Luke somehow regained consciousness, but just as quickly was hit by another blast as Syxia’s daggers found an exploitable gap in one of the suits of armor; blood streaming from a dozen serious wounds, the wizard again slumped to the floor. Jaeran strived to work quickly in dispensing his holy words of healing power, but even diving healing was quickly depleted by the exploding constructs. The party recognized that having their dragonborn warlock – who, while capable of deadly ranged strikes, was hovering between life and death as he heroically fought off a terrible sickness many miles away – would have been very beneficial. However, the heroes were able to methodically dismantle their enemies despite suffering a great deal of damage, and the reserves of their powers. Syxia found a secret door that led to a staircase going up. They followed it to where it surprisingly ended in a blank wall. Syxia again found a secret door, and the companions went through.

The party proceeded through the door, and Barrack was attacked by what looked like a huge, animated bear trap. The scythejaw animate clamped on to his leg with brutal force, and he struggled to shake free. The other party members entered a large semi-circular room with several columns. A large brass golem, in the form of a minotaur bearing a massive axe, stood guard in front of the door on the opposite side. The party engaged the metal beast and tried to avoid its mighty swings. After taking several blows, the golem went on a rampage and rushed forward, knocking several party members prone. It followed up the charge with a arcing swing that targeted anyone near it. It inflicted significant damage, but it, along with the scythejaw, was eventually destroyed.

After surveying the room, the party found a levitation tube in the room that might lead to an upper level if it were activated. The party searched for a lever or other way to activate it without success. They then turned to the door. As Syxia opened the door, she saw a wide open space that separated the outer corridor from an alcove. A flat iron bridge with thin decorative guardrails spanned the gap between the two areas. Dozens of bolts of black lightning flicked from one wall to the other, filling the air with the concussive sounds of popping and crackling; a flesh-numbing chill permeated the very air of the place. Syxia steeled herself, and went quickly and quietly across the bridge. She proceeded to the alcove on the other side and noted that a seemingly non-functioning arcane ballista was there, as was a small lever. She pulled the lever, activating the levitation tube.

The party ascended to the next level of the tower, and found themselves in a large round room with an open door behind them. This huge chamber was dominated by a pattern of deep slots in the ground with tangential slots ending inside rings of archaic engravings (see map). The slots formed half circles, one smaller than the other. Inside the rings on the top semi-circle stood two large automatons, each possessing a massive metal hammer for one of its arms, and two more iron defenders. As the party surveys their surroundings, a blast of energy enters the room and exploded. They turned to see that the open door led to a familiar bridge and an active arcane ballista. Unsure of what power the arcane carvings on the floor might possess, the party steered clear of them. Barrack and Ur-Kadar engaged the hammerhands, while the party scattered to avoid the blasts from the arcane ballista. Ur-Kadar was hit by one of the constructs and was knocked back into one of the magical circles; he instantly disappeared in a flash of blue light. The party was suddenly without one of its defenders and the situation grew more difficult and dangerous. And who knew what soul-shredding horrors Ur-Kadar was facing on his own?

The party struggled with the enemy but began to gain the upper hand despite taking significant damage. After many rounds of combat, they heard something from the teleportation tube. Fearing that it could be more mechanical defenders, they turned to see that Ur-Kadar had made his way back to the fight. The fight in the internal tower was winding down, and Ur-Kadar and Syxia turned their attention to the arcane ballista and rushed the bridge. While the agile and nimble Syxia was fleet of foot, Ur-Kadar’s momentum took him to the front. Just before engaging the giant ballista, he plummeted through the bridge, realizing too late that it was merely a clever illusion. Syxia watched in horror as the valiant dragonborn plunged into the stygian abyss with an impossibly guttural shriek. Filled with fury, she leapt forward, the toned muscles of her lithe body giving their maximum effort. As she landed safely with an acrobatic flourish, she sprang to her feet near the ballista. Luke blasted it with force daggers, while Syxia carved it up from behind, her daggers trailing venom and fire. Suddenly, Ur-Kadar appeared in the middle circle of the inner tower. He raised his axe with a determined look in his reptilian eyes and charged.

Within moments of destroying the ballista, the party realized – with great dismay – that Ur-Kadar was wild with rage, and was no longer in control of his actions. He took a mighty swing and his magical axe slashed into Barrack. Luke hurled a chill strike at the paladin to slow him down while Jaeran hit him with sacred flame, in an effort to give him a chance to break free from his domination. Barrack fought back with his warhammer, and pushed Ur-Kadar back in an effort to hold the bridge and protect the remainder of the party. Several staggering blows that would have killed lesser fighting-men were exchanged before the madness drained from Ur-Kadar and his own mind returned. Exhausted, he slumped to his knees and apologized to Barrack and the others. Barrack, breathing hard and soaked in sweat, reminded him that the attack was not his fault, and postulated that the paladin had fallen under a geas. The party rested for as long as they dared; they recognized that they had used a considerable amount of their powers and resources in claiming this level. With a deep breath, Syxia pulled the switch and activated the levitation portal to the next level.

Upon their arrival, the party saw – much to their dismay – an oddly-shaped room dominated by a massive brute made of steel, wood and stone: a slaughterstone eviscerator, a massive construct with a mass of swirling, razor-sharp blades. As the party moved to attack, two additional foes – animated suits of armor, as they had fought before – appeared. The party was split into two groups, and the animated suits of armor were quickly isolated and destroyed, as the party had learned their lesson about destroying the things from afar, outside the range of their explosive death throes. As the rest of the party made short work of the armored constructs, the slaughterstone eviscerator moved forward to attack as its clicking, whirling blades performed a dance of death around the heroes. Syxia was caught in a storm of blades and was severly wounded; she quickly repositioned herself off to the side of the thing – she had learned that she simply could not close with and trade blows with the thing, as its blades were simply too deadly. Instead, she decided to time her strikes, cutting deeply with her magical daggers while dancing just outside (or just inside) the range of the whirling, spinning blades.
In the meantime, first Barrack, then Ur-Kadar hammered away at the eviscerator as Jaeran and Luke attacked it with magical attacks both divine and arcane. Eventually, the whirling blades stopped spinning, as the heroes reduced their opponent to a pile of twisted metal, stone rubble and splintered wood. Exhausted, the heroes bound their wounds and recovered for a moment before deciding on their next course of action.