Session 62

The party departs from Stillwind Pass and has only a minimal delay due to weather, arriving in Crystalwind just a little over two weeks later. They find the familiar sleepy fishing village and make their way to the longhouse with the familiar smell of roasting meat, the Three Lakes Tavern, and head in to find some Goliaths merrily drinking. They spot Kavaki, who is shocked to see that they are alive. The party informs him that the Lynoxi, Needle in Hay, attempted to kill them, to which Kavaki replied by laughing and telling them that it serves them right for trusting a cat. The party recounts their adventure, and at one point tells him of their encounter with the Wendigo, which causes all the Goliaths in the tavern to go silent and turn to look at the party. Briefly worrying that this might have been a faux pas, the party is surprised when Kavaki asks incredulously how they managed such a feat. The party retells the story of slaying the beast several times over the next couple of hours to a bewildered crowd. Several Goliaths push past the party, and when questioned, Kavaki tells them not to worry about it. Eskall looks out the door and notices the Goliaths who left gathering a few others before heading out in the direction of the woods where the party says they encountered it. When questioned about the Wendigo, Kavaki refuses to talk about them, but tells the party to ignore any screams they hear in the woods and if they hear sounds of Elk, to avoid them at all costs, as there are no Elk in the nearby woods. He is thoroughly impressed and buys the party food and drink. They enjoy the rest of the night and head out on their way to Odracanath the following day.

Running into another slight delay, the party arrives in Odracanath two weeks later and spends some time stocking up on supplies and shopping around a bit. Dain purchased a +1 Shield at Arcane Aegis for Eskall for his good behavior and then bought several potions from Mystical Mixtures. He also questions the forgewoman at Arcane Aegis about how he might learn to infuse weapons with magical elemental power, to which Aurelia replies by giving him the name of a book ("Elemental Enchantments: Forging Fury" by Magnus Stormweaver) he can search for in either Odracanath's library, or Mythwell's, though Odracanath unfortunately did not have the book. They then stock up on rations and head out. However, after only a day of travel, they happen upon a grisly site… a burnt caravan with bodies piled up around it…

Inspecting the burnt caravan, the party encounters a man with desiccated skin who resembles an undead, which puts Eskall at unease. However, the rest of the party recognizes this particular undead as Orick, Estrea's servant, whom they previously encountered in the Catacombs of Blackfrost. He tells them that a large force of undead swept through this region and marched in the direction of the Blasted Lands, a desolate region to the west of Odracanath that is home only to a lone tower, known as Viviflora, inhabited by members of the Sorcerer's Cabal. Orick says that he worries that Aubron is searching for something in one of the Blasted Lands' many ruins, but that he does not know what, indicating Aubron knows something that Orick does not, which unsettles him. He suggests that the party divert course to Viviflora and ask the Sorcerer's Cabal if they are aware of any ruins in the region that may be of interest to Aubron, and the party agrees. Before they set off, Orick tells Grim and Dain that he learned some interesting new information while investigating the Catacombs of Blackfrost that may be of interest to them at some point in the future. The party then set off for Viviflora.

Upon reaching the Blasted Lands, the party quickly learned why it gained its name, as it was a desolate region with no signs of any kind of life, plant or animal, for over 1,000 miles… just rocky terrain and a harsh sun. The weeks dragged on until they spotted Viviflora in the distance and noticed with curiosity that for miles around the tower, there seemed to be verdant plant life blooming and animals wandering through the region. Upon arrival they noticed a large telescope jutting out from the top floor of the tower. Upon knocking on the door, they waited maybe 10 minutes for a reply before a timid woman who introduced herself later as Lia questioned what the party was doing all the way out here. The party gave a brief recounting of their situation and Lia invited them in, saying that while she did not know what the undead could be searching for, she knew someone who might. She remarked that she was the only one currently in the tower, with her colleagues currently seeding the surrounding area with new life, and that she was responsible for monitoring the Wellspring located in the Great Divide just southeast of Mythwell. She brought the party to one of the upper floors and used a complicated communication device to project an image of a Letheni man that the party would later learn was Archmage Kyran, the leader of the entire Sorcerer's Cabal. He was unsettled by the news and even more unsettled to hear Aubron's name, apparently familiar with the man. He also seemed to be familiar with Adamar. He told the party of his illicit history with the Cabal and after some thought, suspected perhaps he was searching for the Ruins of Keogan, an unexplored ruin in the northern region of the Blasted Lands which is believed to have been a place inhabited by both Dwarves and Goliaths, based on the décor found there. Due to the imminent danger presented, he offered to teleport the party to the ruins, and Lia led them to the portal room where she showed them on a magical map where they were going so they would know how to find their way back to Odracanath after they were finished, and said that she would send her skeletal servants to deliver their cart and horses to Odracanath's stables. With that, the party stepped through the portal and reappeared in a sandy, rocky area with a large statue partially buried in the sand, and a large structure partially built into the mountainside ahead.

As the party moved forward to begin exploring the ruins, they were almost immediately attacked by a massive Bone Wurm, which nearly killed Eskall and did severe damage to the rest of the party before being felled by a lucky arrow from Summer.