Session023

Session Twenty Three - 12th July 2024

SHORT VERSION

After battling with what turned out to be a Valok, the group were celebrated as heroes. The warned the council that anyone who got close enough to the Valok to make eye contact with it had a high chance of being infected by the Demon Plague - and would themselves, after only a few days, get feverish, grow stronger, lose their marbles and then die, before rising as a Velok! The party managed to persuade the council to round up those people who they knew had fought the Valok/admitted making eye contact and allow the party to take them back to the Storm Elf Barrows so the "wizard" Ralekai Gravemore could make and adminsiter the cure/vaccine. One of the possible infected included Cormir's old friend and fighting companion - Orich Stronghammer.

The party spoke with Paumine Sandlewood, giving her the Zombie Rat they had retrieved from Fort Frostfell, and she gave them one of her scrolls, also allowing them to copy the ritual for some others including a Detect Disease ('Gross violation of game rules!') - which seemed to be able to detect the early stages of the Demon Plague in some of the people the council had rounded up.

The party spoke with Malaga Taerwain, owner of the Weary Traveller Inn, giving her the tents she said had been stolen. As a token of gratitude, she offered the party some riding horses that the could collect later.

That night, the party received a visit from Feriae the Wise - the druid ghost - who told them that when the Demon Xancrown first came to the Valley, the Storm Elves battled him, but were losing. A powerful circle of elven druids created a ritual that created a prison for the demon, deep under the earth, but not before Xancrown unleashed his demonplague. The elves soon died out - and the plague with it. And then dwarves came to the valley. They found the demon's dungeon, and although they thankfully didn't open it - they got close enough to unlease the demonplague again. And so the dwarves eventually died out and again the plague disappeared. Then the greenskins came down out of the mountains, delved into the dwarven and elven ruins, also eventually getting too close to the demon's prison, and releasing the plague again. They too died out, and luckily, the plague died with them before it could spread beyond the valley. Then the humans came - Feriae's people - fleeing the vampires of the Dark Ages. Settling in this peaceful valley, after only a few generations, the ruins were again explored too deeply, and the plague was unleashed. Her fellow druids, having already learnt the history, created a new version of the original Storm Elf ritual - and dropped the galcier on the valley to prevent the spread of the demonplague.

Over the intervening centuries, Feriae and some of her fellow druids who, having sacrified themselves to perform the ritual that dropped the glacier on the valley, have come up with am amended version of the ritual - one that has a chance to kill the demon Xancrown once and for all. However, lacking corporeal bodies, they need help to perform it. It would require some specific material components, and they asked if the heroes could be the ones to find these components for them... Besides Feriae there are four other druid ghosts still around - and each of them knows some of the marterial components - one for each of the 8 schools of magic. (Compartmentalised for security!)

The other druid ghosts are:

• Targonoth the Brave - Knows the Enchantmenty and Transmutation parts of the ritual and can be found at Il'Shara's Retreat.
• Melgar the Quick - Knows the Abjuration and Evocation parts of the ritual and can be found at the House of Chaos.
• Elial the Learned - Knows the Divination and Necromantic parts of the ritual and can be found at the Emperor's Tower.
• Nalla the Gifted - Knows the Conjuration and Illusion parts of the ritual and can be found in Gal'Nara's Tomb.

Il'Shara's Retreat seemed like the closest - at least the closest to the Storm Elf Barrows, where the party had already agreed to escort the possible DemonPlague infected.

The following morning, the group left with Orich Stronghammer and the four people infected with the demonplague to head to the Storm Elf Barrows. Two days later, they had dropped them off with a somewhat frustrated Ralekai who promissed to make them cures/vaccines and continued on towards where they believed they would find Il'Shara's Retreat - an ancient temple to Gaeda Earth Mother.

The night before they arrived, Morthos was on watch when a figure approached the camp - which turned out to be a demon, demanding to know where Xancrown's prison was! A hard fought battle ended with the Glabrezu demon being sucked into Drex's Iron Flask. In the morning, the group continued on and arrived as night was falling at what they assumed was Il'Shara's Retreat. Drex sent Spank up onto the roof, where he peered down through the glass dome and spotted what looked like the half-ogre Bazig lazing around in a veritable garden - along with some other ogres and some of the other Black Skull Bandits the group had met at Gardong Marhold.

Looking around, the group found a small stream exiting the building, and decided that it might be possible to crawl into the building that way, rather than by the impossing brass doors at the front.

LONG VERSION

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