Session 104

Upon reaching Archmage Kyran's tower in northeastern Myr, he informed the party that if the Yuan-Ti were seeking this "Lod'exenter" artifact somewhere in Arak, they would need to move fast to beat them there, as the Yuan-Ti already seemed to know where they were going. He understood Hebor's hatred of magic given that he had been experimented on by the Yuan-Ti when he was a broodling, but said that teleportation would be the only way to reach Arak quicker than the Yuan-Ti. He gave the players some cloaks to disguise their appearances as they would need to start their journey by teleporting to the abandoned Sorcerer's Cabal tower known as Mythward, north of the town of Thenaphor in Arak. Bringing the group to the basement, he showed them an empty archway that seemed to lead nowhere and a control panel where a crystalline sphere lay in the center. Archmage Kyran lay his hand upon the sphere, chanting some arcane words, causing a gateway to ignite in the arch, startling Hebor, who seemed hostile to the idea of going through. However, Archmage Kyran reminded him of the stakes of the Yuan-Ti reaching the crystal and said this was the only way to reach it before them, so Hebor reluctantly passed through. As the party felt themselves being pulled through space somewhere, with lights flashing towards them rapidly, they came to an abrupt stop in an unfamiliar room, with the experience of teleporting wreaking havoc on their stomachs. As they took stock of their surroundings, they found themselves in a decrepit tower similar to the one they just came from. Archmage Kyran lamented the tower's state of disrepair, stating that he should really get around to sending someone to revitalize it and return to studying Quen's Wellspring. Kyran explained that the mountains would be treacherous to cross, so they would need to travel south to the end of the Great Divide mountain range and circle around to reach Geledon. He then escorted the players outside where there was a road leading south, which they began to walk, in order to reach Thenaphor.

The terrain was far different than what they had seen in Myr, and the architecture they saw as they began to near the town of Thenaphor was all new. Nearing the town, Archmage Kyran warned the party that even with the disguises, their appearances may garner attention, and said perhaps it's best they wait on the outskirts of town while he and Anna fetched some supplies for the road. As he began to walk towards the town, a group of adventurers bearing simple weaponry and armor traveling the nearby road spotted them, and one of the adventurers tapped the shoulder of their companion, pointing toward the party. The adventurers hailed the party, asking to speak with them. As they neared, Hebor saw one of the adventurers reach for their blade, hand on hilt, as their companion began to ask who they were. Kyran sighed and questioned what business it was of theirs and told them to bugger off, but they persisted. The adventurers seemed to be able to see just enough of Hebor and Nala's shape to discern that they were not of this world (or perhaps even monsters), and pointed out that they had met every race of Aellorah and they were clearly not one of them. Archmage Kyran again tried to dissuade the man, and Nala attempted to scare him off by having Sparky run a circle around him. As he panicked and questioned what the creature was, Nala toyed with him by responding as if she didn't know what he was talking about. The man drew his blade, and having enough of the situation, Archmage Kyran recited an incantation, causing the four adventurers to drop to the ground. Hebor, alarmed, asked what he did and asked if they were dead, but Kyran clarified that he had put them down for a nap. Kyran then pulled out a wand he used to extract the memory of the encounter from each adventurer's head before having Anna destroy them. They then head into town for supplies, leaving Hebor concerned, but satisfied. After returning, they head off to the next town…

Arriving at the town of Dedenatorr almost two weeks later, the party was told that it was one of three towns in Arak surrounded by a circular forest, and that they were known for sweet confections, which Archmage Kyran promised to procure for them. The party took position near the treeline to stay out of sight as Kyran and Anna proceeded into town. Garvin stepped away for a moment, making a reference to "bleeding the lizard", concerning Hebor and Nala, after which Garvin clarified that it was just an expression, and walked away. As they waited, a group of small children chasing each other came near the group. Upon spotting the players, two of the children ran off screaming. The third seemed curious and began to question Nala about what she was. Nala entertained the child's questions, but Vernon seemed to bother the child, and when Garvin returned, he told the child to scram. The child, bothered by this, ran off just as Archmage Kyran returned. Anna asked if they should be concerned about the child telling the villagers of the party, but Kyran dismissed this, referring to children's fleeting memory and accounts of events. He gave the party some confections from the town before they moved to continue on their journey, taking a wide berth around the town.

A bit more than a week later, they arrived in the town of Phenedulon, where they spotted a forest off to the east of the town with large brambles jutting out from the forest which seemed to writhe around on their own. Curious, the party questioned Kyran, and he gave them a little history lesson, explaining that it was the first Wellspring anomaly of the Reckoning period, a time in which an inordinate number of Wellspring eruptions plagued the world, causing mass devastation. He said that the brambles, called the "Briar Patch", would grab anyone that wandered too close and drag them inside, tearing them apart with razor sharp thorns, and that the Briar Patch seemed to be creeping ever closer to the town each year. He explained that during the Reckoning period, the time during which he first became the Archmage, their organization had come into conflict with a group known as the Obsidian Cloister, which sought to use the power of the Wellsprings to become gods, but their attempts had directly resulted in several Wellspring eruptions. He explained that each time the two groups came to blows, a Wellspring eruption would soon follow, and they would later discover after they had defeated the Cloister almost two millennia later, that using too much powerful magic in a short time frame in a small area could cause a chain reaction that would send a pulse outward, and if that pulse reached a nearby Wellspring before dissipating, that it would trigger a Wellspring eruption. This led to the passing of a set of laws known as the Flow Accords which outlined safety measures to employ to avoid triggering eruptions, which caused a great deal of controversy. After gathering supplies in the town, they continued on their way.

After traveling south and looping around the Great Divide, and following the base of the mountains north through a forest where they encountered a Wellspring anomaly involving mists that caused them to travel in circles for a time, the party finally reached the port city of Geledon, which was no longer frequented by many merchants, as its inconvenient position made other port cities more desirable -- though before the Dreaming Wastes region was destroyed, it was perhaps more desirable for those traveling to the Savage Frontier or the Dreaming Wastes itself. Kyran found a local Elven Enforcer and began to ask him questions, asking for directions to the Dreaming Wastes. The Enforcer seemed incredulous that he wished to go there and gave him a hard time, but ultimately relented and seemed to not care if Kyran got himself killed. He made mention that though the Antiquarians' Guild restricted travel there ages ago and none would transport him there, there were occasionally "suspicious" characters traveling in that direction, and he specifically said to be wary of anyone with "pink eyes". Disturbed, Kyran made one last stop in the city, collecting a large store of supplies, before stowing them in his Bag of Holding, which confounded Hebor, who seemed bothered by it. They then proceeded south toward the Yawning Strait which the Enforcer had mentioned would lead them to the Savage Frontier, after which they would have to travel west across two narrow channels to reach the Dreaming Wastes.

Arriving at the shores of the Yawning Strait, Kyran produced a small box, placing it in the water and incanting, causing it to unfold into a large boat, which confounded Anna and disturbed Hebor, who did not want to get in. After convincing Hebor to comply, Kyran used his magic to propel them across the water. Once they reached the opposite shore and Kyran folded up the magical boat, they proceeded inland, not knowing where to go next. After traveling across the desolate wasteland for a couple days, they saw a small village in the distance. However, upon reaching the village, they found that it looked abandoned. Proceeding to what appeared to be the tavern of the decrepit village, they were shocked to find that it appeared as though a fire had recently been lit in the fireplace, and there was a table with a piece of parchment and a map. The parchment seemed to have orders for a subordinate to bury something in the village of Aramore, which according to the map appeared to be north of Geledon, and to kill any witnesses, and then return to them in a location marked on the map in the Dreaming Wastes. Kyran pondered what anyone would be doing out in the Dreaming Wastes. They collected the map and decided to proceed to the location marked in the Dreaming Wastes on the map. Traveling west and arriving at the shore separating the Savage Frontier from the Dreaming Wastes, they again used the boat to traverse the narrow channels, and disembarked on the opposite shore, whereupon they found a desolate land devoid of all life, without even any background noise indicating insect life, and the haunting wind blowing across the landscape.

The group quickly found a faded road which they followed south and to the west until they eventually encountered what appeared to be structures, which when they got closer, they identified as crumbled buildings. Kyran asked Anna if there was any record of a settlement this deep into the Dreaming Wastes, or any at all, but she seemed to be just as confused as him. They proceeded into the city, where they began to have an unnerving feeling as if they were not alone. As they listened to the howl of the wind blowing through the crumbled ancient city, they came across what appeared to be a large crater surrounded by scorch marks, with the nearby buildings apparently reduced to pebbles, and a large rock nearby big enough that the lot of them could not hope to lift it, was split into pieces. Vernon attempted to use his ability to sense nearby life and as the magic faded, he suddenly got a ping indicating two lifeforms other than the party nearby. They began to search, and spotted a mostly intact structure in the distance. As the sun began to set and they neared the structure, they saw a dark figure moving amongst the ruins heading toward this structure. They followed carefully, eventually reaching what appeared to be the remains of a graveyard, with all the graves exhumed. They followed the figure to a mausoleum leading to a crypt which was almost perfectly intact. Kyran said that this must be what they're looking for and told them to be careful, as they proceeded down the stairs into the crypt.

In the crypt, they were hit with a whiff of stale air and a slightly sweet smell. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, they saw some strange pink glowing mushrooms lining the walls. Kyran stopped to inspect them and asked Anna if she could identify them, but she had no idea. As they were studying it, it gave off a puff of sweet-smelling pink spores, startling them all. Kyran suggested giving the mushrooms a wide berth and they proceeded forward. They saw two paths leading to the sides and some stairs ahead. They briefly explored, with Anna finding a library with pristine condition books and some notes on a table in one room and a storage room. Meanwhile, Archmage Kyran found some manner of garden with profane plants being grown and a room containing what appeared to be a gateway similar to the one they used to reach Arak. Kyran speculated that this could be the home of a powerful sorcerer, but wondered what they would be doing so far away from civilization. He suggested not angering the resident if they encountered him, and they proceeded down the stairs to the next central corridor where they found three corridors. Ahead seemed to be double doors, and the sides were similar to the corridors above, with doors leading off to the side. Anna proceeded left while Kyran took the right again with Garvin. Anna proceeded to investigate the sole door in the corridor, where she saw glowing runes adorning the door. She spent some time studying it before casting Dispel Magic to unravel the door's protection. Cautiously opening the door, she proceeded inside, entranced by what she saw -- three altars, with two holding an assortment of weapons, jewelry, and trinkets, and the third holding a large glowing crystal which refracted light like water in a cave reflecting light on the cave walls. Entranced by the sight, Anna walked across the room, not being wary of where she stepped, and triggering a magical trap which paralyzed her in agony. The party behind her then heard shuffling as several people emerged from the loculi in the walls in the room, and several more charging at them from behind in the corridor.

The party began to battle the strange people, who had glowing pink eyes. The strangers had some minor magical abilities which gave the party a difficult time. However, after cutting one down, they heard a screech from down the other corridor that Archmage Kyran and Garvin had explored. Hebor saw Garvin charge in and cut down the man he was engaged with, who grasped at his throat as the pink light faded from his eyes and reached out to Hebor pleadingly. Kyran then rushed in, flinging a spell that released Anna from her prison. The party then re-engaged the strangers as Kyran instructed Anna to grab the crystal and then flee IMMEDIATELY. Kyran then cast a spell causing lightning to crackle in his hands, causing it to jump between each of the remaining strangers, frying them to a crisp. As he did this, a dark figure emerged from the opposite end of the corridor, giving off another horrible screech. Garvin then collapsed to the ground, screaming, with dark lines growing up his neck and his eyes turning black. It quickly faded, and he recovered, stumbling to his feet, as the party turned their eyes towards the other end of the corridor…

The figure, a decayed looking humanoid with Elven ears and sunken eyes glowing with a horrible red light, advanced toward the party. It stopped when Anna emerged from the room with the crystal in hand. This enraged the creature, who flew toward them. Kyran then rapidly cast a Wall of Force spell to block the creature, ordering the party to flee as quickly as they could. As the party fled up the stairs, they heard a blast behind them as the creature broke through the Wall of Force. As it gained on them, Kyran cast a Dimension Door spell at the top of the stairs, urging the party through it. Hebor seemed reluctant, but Kyran screamed at him that it was not the time and to get through the fucking door. Hebor complied and they reappeared several hundred yards away. Beginning to flee, they heard a distant screech and witnessed the creature raise its hands up with dark crackling green energy and slam it into the ground. As he did this, the party heard strange moans all around them as they witnessed blobs of darkness emerge from the ground, coalescing into vaguely humanoid shapes with heads and a solid cloak of a body. The figures then charged toward the party…