The Cavern of Whispers

The party accepted a request from an old, wizened wizard called Elion of Rivermeet in the Laughing Axe who tells the party of a cavern hidden in a tree in a forest outside of Oakminster . Not only does he have a map to the tree, but the magic word needed to open the entrance. Only if the players agree to retrieve a gem from within the cavern.   Elion is old, decrepit. Tells a tale of how he and his warrior partner went to explore the cavern and retrieve the Heart of Eternity. A gem that can bring that can restore his youth, something that was taken from him when he and his partner last investigated the cavern.   The route takes them through a forest, where they were ambushed by Wolves.   With the wolves defeated (and one respectfully buried by Veylin the Untamed ) the group moves on until they find the tree and rest.   The next morning they speak the word and the tree opens, revealing an eerie, spooky passageway. As they walk through the corridors, dimly lit by Dravin Rassmir candle and Corbyn Chuzzle 's thurible, they see a ghostly figure appear and disappear in front of, and behind them.   Eventually they find the ghost, who Matrim Harperly detects is filled with hope... and fear.   That same ghost leads them to the gem, the Heart of Eternity, which Veylin picks up and is immediately imbued with a sense of healing and vigour. It happens to the others too, until Matrim tries to break it an undo the ghost's curse. However, the gem does not break and seemingly in reaction sucks the a portion of the life force out of Matrim, visibly aging him for a moment.   Shocked by this, the group decide to take the gem back to Elion, and the ghost follows them.   Distrustful of Elion at first, the party eventually hand him the gem (with some help from the ghost) and it's not long before a spell is cast and his youth is restored, as is the corporeal form of the ghost - his companion Elara Windblade.   Elion is thankful to the party and converts a gold coin into a Coin of Communication, which Matrim keeps. Elion explains they can call a favour from him at any time, but it can only be used once.     Then, as they are celebrating a job well done, the goblin who ran from them during the fight at The Temple of Tyrak returned with his mates!   A huge bar fight ensued in which the goblins were easily defeated but the bar was wrecked.   ...so Drakk Ivarsson charged them all 5GP for repairs.