Session 64

After defeating the Pale Rider and identifying the strange artifact they found behind the barrier he destroyed, the party realized they were exhausted and settled down in the artifact room to take a rest. Summer took watch in the doorway, and after a couple hours, noticed a dark form moving down the hallway, easily dodging the untriggered trap and speeding toward her. She woke the party and a battle began with a Void Wraith, a type of undead they had not encountered since they were last in Eldham. They managed to destroy the creature and finally settled down to rest. Grim attuned to his new Fists of Meteoric Impact and Eskall attuned to the Enervating Blade found on the Pale Rider's body.

The party deliberated about what to do next. Being in such a remote location, they realized they did not have enough rations or water to make it back to Odracanath, and with the Blasted Lands being completely desolate, they had no way of foraging for food. Scouring the ruins looking for resources, they spent some time trying to find materials to build a cart so they could fill the cauldron found in the alchemy lab with conjured water, but instead, they decided to use Dain's sending stone to contact Chandira and ask for assistance. Dain requested that she get in contact with Archmage Kyran and request a teleportation spell, to which Chandira obliged. Several hours later, she told Dain that they would need to wait outside so Archmage Kyran could locate them. However, upon going outside to wait, they noticed Orick staring up at them from the bottom of the large staircase…

Orick greeted the party and asked what happened, as he felt echoes of powerful necromancy magic from hundreds of miles away and thought perhaps they had encountered Aubron, but Dain told him of their battle with the Pale Rider and their discovery of the Chronicle of the Dead. Seeing the artifact, Orick recoiled in revulsion and questioned the party, saying the artifact is an abomination and must be destroyed. Dain explained what they learned of the ruins and described the bass relief carvings depicting the ancient Dwarves and Goliaths and the events that took place there. Orick seemed interested and told the group he wished to investigate the ruins himself and moved toward them. He told the party that they should seek Ettrian Levanadel in Mythwell to learn how they might destroy the Chronicle. He then said that he would allow Archmage Kyran's spell to take hold and waved his hand, and with that, they were pulled through a wormhole dropping them just outside of Odracanath, startling a sleepy Enforcer on the outside wall.

The party spent some time stocking up on supplies in Odracanath and selling off some of their unneeded gear before heading over to the stables to find their horses and cart that the Cabal promised to send over to the city. However, the stable-hands there had no idea what they were talking about. They realized that it had only been about a day since they were at Viviflora and they must have sent the cart and horses the old-fashioned way. So they set about finding work to do around the city while they waited the 33 days it took for the horses and cart to finally find their way to Odracanath. After the party recovered their cart and horses, they set out for Mythwell, arriving just about 60 days later.

As the party was approaching Mythwell, Eskall began to hear a voice in his head compelling him to take the Chronicle of the Dead from the rest of the party and to feed it. It suggested he feed it the souls of the homeless and infirm to build its power so it would go unnoticed. Hearing this, Eskall ran over and grabbed Summer, whom he believed was carrying the book in her bag, and flew her up into the air and attempted to take it, but realized she was not carrying it. He dropped her and zoomed over to her bag to take the book, and the party began to attack, not knowing his intentions. Dain fired off several Fireballs and the rogues fired shot after shot as he attempted to fly away with the book. In the air, Eskall attempted to destroy the book using the Enervating Blade, but was unsuccessful, with it merely giving off small puffs of smoke as he struck it. With one final shot from Icarus' bow, Eskall began to fall. As he fell, his body slowly began to disintegrate as the Chronicle absorbed his soul. The book landed unceremoniously on the road as the party was left to wonder what the hell just happened, as their former comrade was now seemingly dead.