Memories of Rivalry

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky as you approached the guild hall that morning. The town of Palmata has beautiful cobblestone streets, beautiful crafted streetlamps, and gorgeous shops and homes. By those who visit it’s considered a little slice of paradise blessed by the gods. The locals on the other hand know well that their prosperity was thanks to the business that was brought by the guild. The shops here in Palmata either bring in or make some of the best equipment and magical items on or near Nowch.   On this morning the streets were a buzz, but not in the usual way. It wasn’t locals murmuring at the site of you or the murmur of sales being made at the stalls you passed on your way to the guild hall. It was the murmuring of guild members you recognized, walking down into town from the guild hall. While you couldn’t quite catch what it was they were saying, you could tell one thing, they were excited. The guild hall is a three-story large building. The first two stories are made of large white stone blocks. The third story is made of ebony wood. The wood is full of carvings of dragons and other large monsters.   Inside the guild hall the walls have ornate hand carved designs. Always behind the bar is a Warforged, Jezera, always dressed in a vest and dress shirt, he was cleaning glasses as you entered. He nodded to each of you. As each of you arrived and moved to the table you all met at each morning, you passed the small loft which had five portraits hanging from it.   The first portrait is of a tabaxi in a hood with a sneer on his face holding up a gold statuette. On a gold plate at the bottom is a name, Breaking Branches. The second portrait is of red and grey scaled female dragon born. Her eyes are white with blindness. She dresses in flowing red robes and has her right hand raised, a magical aura surrounding it. She has no left arm. In the background is a small mountain. Though on closer inspection the perspective is wrong, and it was, not a mountain, but a massive boulder or rock being levitated. On the gold plate at the bottom is the name Tia Safur. The third portrait is of a half orc. His skin is a deep purple with red circles around his eyes and on the edges of his ears. A white an almost translucent long sword rests on his shoulder. His armor is ornate but not gaudy. The brass plate beneath bears the name Izret. The fourth portrait is of a petit red kobold holding a staff covered in thorns and a belt with a strange array of treasures and nick-knacks hanging from it. At the back of her head behind her ears like a lion’s main was bright yellow hair. At the bottom on a gold plate is the name Oka, with a second smaller plate underneath that says Guild Master.   The fifth and final portrait is one often asked about by new members of the guild and is one that most guild members have a different explanation of. While the other four are at least somewhat traditional in pose and composition this last one was… different. Standing atop a rock as if standing on some sort of cliff or high outcropping was a proud looking gnome holding out a great sword with one hand as if challenging the heavens themselves. The gnome face was clean shaven and the sides of his head as well down the middle of his head and blowing in some strong win behind him was thick braid of hair, a golden blonde. For armor he wore none. All he had was a pristine white towel around his waist held on by a clasp bearing the symbol of Bahamut. On the gold plaque at the bottom of the portrait was the name, Ohpa Gumnan, Champion of Bahamut.   Sitting at the center of your table was a snail. Its antennae twitched excitedly as you all approached. Once all of you had seated the snail slowly worked its way to the edge of the table before transforming into a tall skinny green skinned tiefling. His beard was full of flowers and vines grew out and wrapped around his two large horns. He took s a seat with the rest of you, a large closed mouth smile on his face.   A few minutes later Oka, the tiny kobold Guild Master, barely 3 feet tall with her hunch walked up, her main wiry and grey, instead of full and golden. “You might want to look at this, new job just came in.” she said as she reached her small bony hand up and placed a sheet of paper on the table.   She placed a job contract down before you all. The contract read:   Job- Retrieve the lost treasures of Kynta from his destroyed fortress. Reward- 20% of the value of the treasure or any all non-artifact magical items found within the treasure. While the treasure has till now been believed to of been lost, I have come into possession of a letter describing a secret location within the fortress. Upon acceptance of this contract I will deliver to the accepting team this letter. Risks- as this location is secret any number of traps or monsters could be present. There are also rumors that the fortress has been occupied recently by some highway men.   The name Kynta caught all your attention. Kynta was Izret’s most notable enemy and rival. Their last fight was at the fortress noted in the contract. Kynta was a warlord for hire who took what he wanted when he wanted. He had had a small army under his command. Izret and his party finally decided to put a permanent end to him after he had raided a small village and stole a relic associated with Bahamut.   After slaying most of his generals, as the story goes, Izret and Kynta faced off one on one. Izret delivered a mortal wound before Kynta’s last general took hold of him and disappeared. Some would argue that Kynta survived and still lives but Izret felt Kynta’s death. While the story is low on detail after this point, despite searching for hours and casting multiple spells to aid in their search, not a single copper could be found. Why this is was most important to you was, the guild takes a particular interest in any contract related to the history of the original party, especially things where the original party failed.   “I’m sure you could already guess but there’s going to be a fight for this one.” Oka smiled and let out a snicker.   A battle royal took place, several of the guilds most powerful parties were already out on missions or long contracts. You and your party won al your fights and were at that point awarded the contract. Earning the contract, you received the letter, the new evidence as to the location of the treasure.   In the armory look for my old name. There you will find the way beneath. Look for the guidance of the blue hand where my god resides. If you stray from that path beware the natives. One also worships my god cowers in fear without his presence. The other only watches with curiosity unless you touch her children, in that case no prayer will save you old friend. When you see the great gate, you’ll understand the rest old friend. Regards, Kynta   Throughout the quest using the letter you were able to recall the following: Kynta worshiped Tharzidun, God of Eternal Darkness, Kynta once had the title “The White Horns”, Kynta’s oldest Friend Mathias Glass Eyes, was a researcher of Moonfolk culture.   You made way to the keep where you discovered the aforementioned highway men, you dealt with them swiftly , met two goblins, one who was terrified and one with a lot of attitude, both seemed forced into labour and you let them go. From the leader of the highway men you found a magic sword.   Blade of Blue Dragon Breath +1 short sword. Deals lighting damage rather than piercing. Once per short rest on hit roll 1D8 bonus lightning damage. Requires attunement.   Searching the rest of the keep you also found one potion of invisibility and 3 attunement stones.   You found a secret entrance when you found a pair of horned carved int a brick in the white stone wall. You descended into a natural cave full of glowing mushrooms and humanoid bones moving forwards you sensed a near by demon and avoided it and when at a crossroads looked up into the dark to see a strange blue glowing statue pointing the way. Following that you moved towards a strange light.   As you enter this chamber you all realized why it was Izret’s party was unable to find where Kynta had all his treasures. Before you were a massive ornate archway made by the Moonfolk. Most all guild members know the story. Izret had a falling out with the Moonfolk about 120 years ago and had had a cursed placed upon him. He and any who called him friend would never be able to see a Moonfolk or anything related to the Moonfolk ever again. When his party had arrived here, they presumably would have just seen an empty chamber. Carved into the rock, the archway depicted two robed Moonfolk. The Robed Moonfolk were each leaning down with their arms outstretched wrapping around the huge stone doors as if to coddle or protect them. The stone doors resting inside the arch depicted Moonfolk to scale praying to an incredibly detailed moon floating above them. When you touched the door, you were enveloped in white light and teleported inside the Moonfolk temple.   There were three massive statues in the first chamber. The statues were of three Moonfolk. the one on the right was feminine, the one in the middle was androgynous, and the one on the left was masculine. Each had their eyes closed and was smiling. Each statue has a name carved into the bottom. From right to left they were Asana, Kisa, and Bunu. Lee knew and told the party that most Moonfolk temples place statues of their founders in their entry hall. Having studied under Moonfolk in Great Bird Lee also knew most Moonfolk major leaders and none of these names stood out which told him these were either relatively rogue members or they were very, very old, before records you had read cover. You explored the temple many paths of which had caved in. You fought a gelatinous cube and inside discovered a silver orb and a silver scroll case.   You also found a library and study. The study was a small cramped room. It looked as if it was once comfortably spaced and designed to be a reading room for the library but the room now had a bed, a small table with four chairs and a tea set, and two book shelves that were of an entirely different style than those in the library. The only thing that looked original was a writing desk that matched the style of the bookcases in the library. On the desk were three books, each still open. The first was open to a page about resurrection. The second text was open to a page about summoning demons. The third was open to a page describing another plane, Valnar, which was apparently populated by large wingless dragons and is ruled by a powerful master of all kind of arcane powers. There was also a silver scroll tube. The scroll tube in the study contained the following:   Day 3, It’s still unclear which temple I’m in, the stone is very erratic. But I’ve managed to find a good room to use as my home away from home to study in peace.   Day 5, I have successfully moved enough of my belongings to be comfortable to the temple, my home away from home.   Day 16, I’ve explored the temple some. I still can’t get out the main doors. Not sure why. One of the corridors has collapsed. I was not built for manual labour, so it’ll have to wait till I share this place with someone else.   Day 31, I finally discovered the mechanism of the door. It only opens at the halfway point of the moon cycle.   Day 45, Explored outside again. The caves are old. There is a young Remorhaz in the cave. She’s quite friendly once you coax her down from the ceiling. I suspect she’ll start laying eggs soon. It’s a rather strange place for her but she’ll adapt, I hope. I am intrigued to know how she came to be down there.   Day 48, I’ve been hearing a strange slapping noise in some of the halls. I am definitely not alone in the temple but whatever it is seems to be paying me no mind.   The scroll tube in the slime contained the following:   Day 60, I heard voices in the temple today. Whoever they were they knew what they were doing. They dumped a lot of treasures, chests and crates in the largest, deepest chamber. I’ve made what changes I need to hide the entrance to my room. They left relatively quickly so I suspect whoever they are knows how the gate works and didn’t feel like being trapped in here. This does mean the caves must open up somewhere. I won’t risk exploring the caves in future.   Day 75, Whoever is using this temple like a vault, returned today. There are even more chests and treasures now. I wonder if they intend to fill the room completely.   Day 138, I just returned from Great Bird; my sister is dead. Master Minta says Izret killed her. They seemed so close and sister spoke so highly of him.   Day 140, I still can’t believe Chalaina is dead. I had a breakthrough this morning and the first thing I thought was how I wanted to show her my findings. It’s all starting to feel rather meaningless. I keep asking myself what I missed. I should have been watching Izret more, the way he looked at her or maybe looked into his so-called acts of heroism. How could I have missed his dark intent toward my sister, our Queen?   Day 143, I continue to wonder about Izret. Why would he visit us, and my sister specifically, so often without our request for his party’s aid? He’s been allowed to be alone with my sister for months. If he wanted to kill her why now? Why wait at all?   Day 145, My work continues to bring me no joy. I have not returned to Great Bird since her murder, I have no reason to go back if she’s not there. I think I might go see if I can discover the other occupant of this temple today. Maybe they might return some sort of spark to my life.   After exploring you entered the sanctum, the largest room of a Moonfolk temple made for worshiping either Spearadear or the moon. This was clearly used as Kynta’s vault. There was a huge pile of gold, treasures, jewels and small chest at the center of the room around a statue of Spearadear. In front of the statue in the pile was a large ornate throne with a skeleton sitting in it. At the base of the throne is a second skeleton. On each side of the room there were three large chests. At the back of the room was an ornate gate with a flashing light filling its area. Rhy could hear a woman’s voice calling her towards the gate that no one else could hear. A red shadow dragon emerged for the treasure and you fought it but Rhy eventually gave in mid fight and touched the light inside the archway. The party and the dragon were teleported to a strange rocky platform. Rhy heard a familiar voice, the voice of Sasnia speak “It’s nice to see you with my own eye’s.” Three celestials stood by prepared to attack the dragon, Sasnia stopped them and allowed the party to finish it off. The fight over you took a moment to get your bearings.   You found yourselves now on a large flat platform like rock. There were many paths that lead to many other large rocks like the one you were on. The winding paths were narrow with edges that drop off sharply into shining golden liquid. In the sky above there are two massive Silver and blue moons. The moons moved across the heavens abnormally fast and as one crossed the horizon another moon rose from a different point on the horizon. There were also small islands throughout the golden liquid with grey leafless trees. To the south you could see shapes that looked like cities. To the north at the end of a path, perfectly silhouetted by a single non-moving moon was a woman facing away with flowing black hair and a long flowing white dress, at her side she held a blue staff.   Rhylee heard a woman’s voice in her head “Come to me my blessed one I have waited so long to meet you.” When the party approached, the figure turned to look at you. Her presence was undisputable. A feeling flowed over each of you and almost like you’d been holding a breath, you each let out the word “Spearadear”.   Her face was smooth and pure white. there were no signs of features like a mouth, eyes, or nose. Her long black hair waved around her as if she was under water. Despite that lack of facial features, you all felt as if she was smiling at you.   She spoke, “I am so glad you finally came. I’ve been waiting for so long. One of my dearest children needs your help.” You all heard a light cough from behind you. Behind you was a beautiful young Moonfolk woman.   The woman was Chalaina, former Queen of the Moonfolk on Ithica.   Chalaina walked up to Rhylee and Riley with a smile on her face and reached out her hands towards their faces before stopping and asking, “May I?” the twins said yes, and she touched both their cheeks. “I see so much of my love in you.”   She spoke to the party about Izret and what really happened with her death and the curse on Izret and his party and the curse that still resides on Izret to this day. She explained that her position as a religious Queen had begun to cause a disturbance amongst the religious leaders. Master Minta, the official leader of the church of change wanted her dead as more and more Moonfolk turned to her for religious guidance. Chalaina married Izret in secret, something that would be looked down upon by many who were distrustful of the hero and his party. Minta used her secret marriage to Izret to help gain protection from other zealots who would have seen through the ploy when he killed her. He made it out as a benefit to all of them that now they could regain control faith and secure the future of the Moonfolk. The zealots came together and after convincing the public that Izret was the on who killed their queen they performed a ritual to curse Izret. With the curse in place, he could not defend himself or attempt to revive her. In death the curse persisted preventing him from coming to the Moonfolk after life despite his worship Spearadear. Chalaina asked the party to allow her to transfer the curse onto them so that the force holding Izret back from coming to this plane and allow him to escape his limbo like state. The curse having clearly named Izret as its target would have no effect on them but could be transferred to them with the aid of Spearadear power and using the twin bloodline connection as a link between them and Izret.   Once the curse was moved to the twin and further spread from them to Ralocan and Yvonne, Izret appeared…   And this is where we will pick back up.