Session 107

As the party circles around to the other side of Mt. Ardreth to descend the opposite side, they travel in silence. Upon reaching the base, they make their way to the road and head north towards Baltacanath. However, shortly before they reach the converted ancient garrison city, they encounter a group of Letheni traveling the road. When they get close enough, Summer thinks she spots something unusual strapped to the thigh of one of the Letheni. Upon closer inspection, she realizes it's a wand. Getting a bad feeling, she decides to try a ruse to get the Letheni to avoid them, and begins fake coughing. This seems to put off the Letheni, who take a wide berth around the group. But after the Letheni pass them, Dain hears rapid chanting in what he identifies as Aurum. Alerted, he spins around and manages to get off a Counterspell before the one with the wand is able to hit the group with a Slow spell. Startled, as combat begins, the three Letheni begin throwing powerful spells at the party, but are repeatedly thwarted. However, at some point, one of them invokes some manner of circle in the air that causes Valdor to double over in pain as splotches of red and purple begin to appear all over his skin. Simultaneously, one of the magic users manages to turn Dain into a sheep. Valdor seems unable to properly use his magic, so the others cover him. One of the spellcasters creates a large Wall of Fire that scorches Merrick and Dorin, but Summer and Moonshadow manage to run around and pelt the spellcaster with arrows, causing the one who had polymorphed Dain to lose concentration, resulting in Dain turning back to himself, on all fours, with a mouthful of grass. As the first spellcaster goes down, Valdor manages to break free of what's afflicting him, horrifying the remaining spellcasters, who try to subdue the party, and are unsuccessful. Finally, Dain bashes in the head of one of the two that remain, and the third decides he's out of his league and attempts to Teleport away -- but Dain's Counterspell stops him dead in his tracks, causing him to attempt to run away in a panic. Dain uses Vortex Warp to pull him back towards him and demands to know what this is all about. The spellcaster makes one final attempt to return Dain to his four-legged form, but fails miserably. Dain points out that he's outmatched and to talk. The man begins to spit curses at Dain in Letheni before condemning him for working with a Ruxor user, looking to Valdor. Dain points out that Valdor has been trapped beneath the sea for the last 1,300 years and has done nothing to deserve this. The man says that all who practice Ruxor are evil, and says that just because he hasn't done anything yet doesn't mean he won't. Dain argues for Valdor, pointing out how he has helped them thus far and was working to cure the Ferroplague that is ravaging their people. The man seems confused and questions further, with Dain explaining the situation. The man seems baffled by this explanation, dismissing it as a lie, and saying that Valdor, by nature, receives his power from the god of corruption himself, Maven, and that he cannot be trusted. Dain says that if he couldn't trust Valdor, he wouldn't be working with him, and that if he turned on him, he would deal with him, which earns a chuckle from Valdor. The man says that even if he were to believe this, the Sorcerer's Cabal would never buy it, and they would send more to deal with him that are much more skilled than he. Dain tells him that he'll deal with that when the time comes, but for now, as a gesture of goodwill, he heals the man's injuries. He thanks Dain and promises to go to his superiors with what Dain has told him, and begins to hobble away.

Dain questions Valdor, wanting to know what that was about. Valdor says that the man was a Bloodsealer, a faction within the Sorcerer's Cabal that hunts those who practice his particular brand of magic, and that the man wearing the silly goggles on Mt. Ardreth would have spotted the aura coming from Valdor identifying the magic he uses to sustain his life. Dain then asks about the cure, now that they had a moment to talk. Valdor begins to explain that they would need to recover three rare ingredients to develop the cure: Hallowed Moss, Elthenbloom Sap, and Forgeborn Flow. The first two, he explains, involve finding borderline mythical locations within Arak. The first, the Hallowed Moss, could be found somewhere in a grove within the Eludre Forest to the north of Valensir. He explained that there was a curious Wellspring anomaly within the forest known to confound travelers by causing mists to roll in and redirect them, causing them to get lost and end up at the edges of the forest. He said that the Soth'mudol, or "Hallowed Moss", was a powerful healing agent. He said the second ingredient would need to come from a mythical tree, said to be the first created by Lys, called the Elthenbloom. He said its sap, of which it produced very little, was said to cure any disease, and that the tree itself was tended to by a circle of Druids somewhere within the Axalrea Hinterlands. He relayed a story to them that as he passed through Thenaphor on his way to them, he had encountered the locals who told him of a group passing through that had rescued a hunter of theirs from within the forest, which was suffering from some sort of blight that was killing the plant life. Dain realized then that he was speaking of the forest where they had confronted Aubron years before, and told him of the blight coming from Aubron's tower, The Obelisk. Valdor said that he was unable to locate much information regarding the Elthenbloom's location, but said that perhaps the locals would know. Finally, asking about the third ingredient, Valdor said that they would not like it, and explained that to be able to target the plague using the ritual, they needed an agent that identified with the plague itself. He explained that because this was the first Wellspring eruption to carry two effects, Maven had propagated his corruption on the wave of Flow that awakened the Forgeborn, and the Ferroplague's symptoms, including the metallization of skin, was reminiscent of the Forgeborn, meaning they were linked. He said that he would need some of the awakened Forgeborn's animate Flow, and that it could be extracted in the form of Filament, referring to the Filamentory magic of the Ashenfolk. Dain recounted their experiences in Reshyk recently involving the glamours that Ferrek had placed upon them, and seemed distraught that they would need to return so soon, but Valdor clarified that anyone could extract Filament, they simply could not do much with it without a Filamentor. Valdor said he only needed to weave the Forgeborn Flow into a cloth that he could use almost like a spell scroll, writing the ritual onto the cloth using ink made of the other two ingredients, the moss and sap. He said, however, that obtaining the Flow wasn't the issue -- the issue lie in how much of it he needed. He explained that a sufficient amount for weaving enough cloth for the ritual he needed to produce would require about 6 spools of Filament, which was precisely the amount that would kill the Forgeborn. He said that normally you could wait a week for each spool extracted from the host to allow them to recover from the strain, but that the longer they took to obtain these ingredients, the more Letheni would die. Summer wondered if they could get the Filament from six separate Forgeborn, but Valdor said that due to the fact that Filament was keyed to the identity of the host, you would not be able to weave together six different spools, as the identities would conflict with one another. He said that it was a terrible choice to have to make, but that it would need to be done. Afterwards, Valdor suggested they head to Baltacanath to rest a bit, and they set out.

Arriving at Baltacanath, the party was stopped at the entrance to the city, with an Enforcer who was garbed in equipment much better than the average Enforcer, saying that Letheni were not permitted in the city due to the outbreak, and that they would need to stay in an inn or tavern outside the city, to which he recommended Dewitt's Alehouse. The party set out there and rested for a bit, with Valdor sampling their most exotic drinks, before they left the next morning. Traveling far to the east, they passed through the towns of Landuwenian, Kor Silan, the city of Nolatuathan, and the town of Weminlestham, before finally coming upon Valensir, the home of Shadesteel. As they neared the city, they saw a large caravan of Letheni moving away from the city, with what looked like all their worldly possessions packed up inside. Summer noted that they appeared to be showing obvious symptoms of the Ferroplague, coughing as the party passed, giving them a wide berth, before arriving at the gates. A Letheni Enforcer stopped them, again pointing out that no Letheni were permitted to enter the city while the outbreak was in effect, and directed them to an outside inn, which the party stayed at for the night. They then head north to the Eludre Forest, where they began to explore for over a week, with the long days of walking about aimlessly wearying them, until finally they noticed some mists rolling in. They began to walk about aimlessly in the mist, not knowing how to navigate it, but quickly began to follow Moonshadow, who seemed to have some idea of which direction to take. As the mists began to clear, they came upon a beautiful, verdant glade containing pools of water, exotic plants, and a large-trunked tree with an archway made of branches and vines leading into a pitch black interior within the tree. Hearing the soft sounds of small hooves, they turned to see a strange creature looking up at them.

Dain greeted the creature, and was surprised when it said hello back in the common Myrian tongue. He began to question the creature, asking it about the Hallowed Moss they were searching for. The creature confirmed that they could find it here, though there would be a cost that perhaps they were not yet ready to pay. It nodded toward the archway leading into the darkness of the tree and told them they would find their answers inside. As they began to ask more questions, it turned and in a bright flash of green light, it vanished. The party proceeded toward the archway leading into the foreboding tree, where they were met with an endless dark void. They were confused to see the entrance disappearing into the distance behind them, much further than should be possible given the size of the tree, until they came upon a small room, with gnarled branches and vines making another arch into the room, and Letheni writing glowing above the archway reading "Change". Inside, they saw another archway on the opposite side covered by thick roots and vines, and in the room a small pedestal with a 5x5 grid of red and green squares that lit up as they approached, showing a strange pattern. A voice from within the room drew their attention to the corner, where they saw the strange creature, who told them that they would need to face three trials to obtain what they sought, and instructed them to press the squares on the pedestal. Summer made the observation, wondering if they needed to make all the colors on the pedestal match, and whether they needed to be green or red. The creature pointed out that they were in the forest, and asked what she thought. Approaching the pedestal, Dain and Summer began to inspect it, trying to figure out how to make the pattern all green. The two worked together, flipping square after square, eventually managing to solve the puzzle and making the pedestal a uniform green. They heard the sound of wood groaning and vines slithering as the roots covering the door began to recede. They noted that the creature seemed to be gone. They then proceeded through the arch, where they eventually came upon another one with Letheni writing above the arch reading "Protection". Inside, they found a larger room that appeared empty save for the large roots and wood obstructing the next archway. Approaching the archway, Dain noted that the wood appeared to be Wardwood, a type found only in Reshyk, and which his cousin Delani was known to sell at her shop. He explained to the group that the wood had properties that allowed it to adaptively resist any methods to harvest it. As he explained this, the wood covering the archway came to life, taking the form of two humanoid trees with claw-like hands that advanced towards Dain. The two fought fiercely, seeming to grow more and more resistant to any damage the players threw at them. However, taking Dain's advice, they began to rotate their spells and weapons to deal differing types of damage. Upon hitting one with Toll the Dead, they noted that the necrotic effect appeared to cause the creature great pain, and its bark began to expand, making it less resistant. The two creatures lashed out in protest, skewering Dain and Summer, and producing vine-like roots that snaked their way through the floor and burst out from underneath the group like spears, stabbing and then restraining Merrick and Dorin. Now knowing their weakness, the party began to use all methods at their disposal to wither the two trees, until eventually Moonshadow managed to land a lucky shot in the core of one, and Dain collapsed the other one's chest.

Proceeding forward through the second archway, they eventually came upon a third arch with Letheni writing above it reading "Life". Inside the third room, they found an altar with a small basin filled with water and a bowl next to it, as well as a tree sitting in the middle of a patch of grass on the opposite side of the room. The creature greeted them again, explaining to them that the final trial was upon them, and said that as the Soth'mudol gives life, so must they, saying that they would need to approach the altar and fill the bowl before lying down in the small meadow and drinking it. He said that whoever chose to do so would die, and their body would fertilize the Hallowed Moss they needed, and they could then take as much as they needed for their ritual.