#### Prior Sessions > `Session 1:` Arrived in Oakhurst. Burning people. Goblins acting weird & more aggressive than usual. Goblins attack town; one is knocked out. Explosion! > > `Session 2:` Turns out, the explosion destroyed some type of secret cache that Jaren was hush-hush about. Met Gormir, Graham, and Tye. Interrogated goblin (Zikzik), who revealed Drow sent them. Felix found missing lute. Jaren killed Rufus with flaming sword, and sent party on mission to find Drow. Graham, Tye, and Cedric tagged along. Killed Hemogryf. Lore found ruby-colored crystal inside Hemogryf body. Felix used lute to draw out memories. Rivers of mana waves spring to life, innervating each person in party, causing their vision to falter. > > `Session 3:` Party sees visions. Dwarves of the great dwarven city in the north, Gauntlgrym, harnessed the power of rubyshards to give life to their golems; granting them far more autonomy than magic-infused golems. While the various EK's harvested the rubyshard mine, however, an explosion occurred, tearing a rift between the our world and the Elemental Plane of Fire. The last EK-3 vision involved the EK's rushing the dwarves out of Gauntlgrym through a massive round door, as Fire Plane monstrosities descended upon them. The next vision involved the hemogryf flying over a massive Kossuthian Temple fortress, besieged by thousands of Drow and their slaves. Suddenly, a beam of energy erupts from the Temple's primary tower, as the adjacent volcano erupts; sending waves of lava cascading over the Citadel. The hemogryf abruptly plummets out of the sky and the visions end. The party is then captured by bugbears and goblins, who take them to their camp. They meet Reglikk, the leader of the Blackfoot Clan, who forces them into a tournament-style battle to prove their worth. Just as the tournament is about to begin, Tyeclair reveals that he is an Oni, Ogre Mage, and kills Zikzik; claiming that he is a spy for the rebel portion of the Blackfoot Clan working with the drow. > > `Session 4:` The party emerges victorious from their battle! Upon winning, Reglikk demands that they kill a captured Kossuthian templar to demonstrate their dedication to the Clan. In a moment of sheer brilliance, Felix Charms Reglikk, allowing the party to slip past this conundrum with their consciences intact. Two-Stepp, Reglikk's major-domo, brings the party to another tent, informing them they'd been invited to a feast that evening. Realizing that the charm spell will resolve within an hour, the party agrees to split up to achieve their goals faster. In the midst of their discussions, they also note that the air is abnormally hot. Looking about, they observe that the patches of snow that had littered the landscape their entire journey were nowhere to be found within the valley they currently occupied. Looking to the west where the forest ends, patches of snow abruptly stop at a specific area coming into the valley. Felix transforms himself into Two-Stepp and is off to talk to Reglikk. Within Reglikk's tent, he discovers [[Reglikk journal]], which he pockets. Reglikk also reveals that within the mine is a large, metal, circular door; behind which lies some being of fantastical power, who has been talking to Reglikk in his mind. The voice calls him to the region behind the door but the ability to get past it has evaded him thus far. Meanwhile, Greq and Gronk investigate the mine, verifying that the unnatural heat in the area seems to be emanating from it. Lastly, Lore inspects the massive, broken tower at the southernmost edge of the valley. He deftly climbs rock face to the tower entrance unscathed. Within, Lore finds a 5-foot circular hole penetrating down through the floor and into the rock below (he's unable to see the bottom), as well as through the ascending floors and out through the top of the tower. The party then meets up at the center of the camp and decides to descend into the mine. The real Two-Stepp returns (Felix hides on Greq's back under clothing), and assists the group. He explains that they won't survive in the mine without fire resistance potions, which he provides to them (3 per member, with each providing 1 hour of resistance). The group then descends on the pulleyed platform down into the mine. Near the bottom, they hear the wrathful voice of Reglikk echo down into the mine, "THOSE BASTARDS!" > > `Session 5:` The party promptly enters the mine, following the winding rock-hewn corridor. After an hour or so, they agree to take a short rest, during which Felix decides to pour over Reglikk's journal. With the help of Graham, they decipher the dwarven script. They discover a rough sketch of an amulet, a flaming sword, a pair of rings, and a question-marked fourth item. Additionally, the dwarven mining party seems to have been hearing a voice call to them from behind the vault door, similar to what Reglikk had mentioned. The journal also mentions Fandor sacrificing his life at the bridge, and some monster chasing them and damaging Hadin's eyes. After another hour of desperately quick travel, as they hear the Blackfoot clan give chase; they arrive at a large cavern with a 100-foot chasm stretching between them and an opposing ledge. A network of floating tiles spans the chasm, forming a floating bridge of sorts. To North/South and East/West edges are carved stone statues of large dwarves holding 6-foot, circular mirrors. Some of these statues appear to be floating over the chasm, while the others are solidly planted into the earth. The party also notices a massive gold, circular door on the opposing rock wall. The surface reflects light in a way that suggests it is moving slightly. Upon approaching the chasm, the movement of the door's surface seems to increase, like a pot of water as it begins to boil. Suddenly, a face erupts from the door's surface, made of the same material, welcoming the party. He introduces himself as George and asks that the party drink a bottle of liquid that has magically appeared at their end of the chasm. After some deliberation, another head named Thrain appears from the door, pleading with the party to drink it so he can "stop listening to George's yammering." Upon drinking the liquid, the party notices that the tiled bridge has now taken on various hues. After a song, they learn the nature of the tiles. We end with the party entirely overthinking the puzzle, leaving the end for another session. Alas, we begin again with the party in the throes of the...BUM BUM BUM! BRIDGE OF TILES AND SHIT! > > `Session 6:` With great gusto and pizzazz--and a lot of high rolls--the party successfully crossed the bridge in a Michael Bay series of log-riding. Upon approaching the other side, they received loot from the carcass of the dead dwarf and George, the magical dwarven door head. Felix attempted to talk to George, who promptly receded into the door, causing it to become inert. Once the party split their loot, they decided to take a long rest, but not before inspecting each item. Once the excitement wore off, they each laid down to sleep, leaving Lore and then Gronk to stand guard. During Gronk's shift, an ethereal, disembodied voice spoke to him, telling him to lay down to sleep and that the party was not to be trusted. While distracted, a dog-sized spider leaped next to Gronk, spitting webbing across his face, covering one eye and his mouth. Unable to speak, Gronk attempted to awaken members of his party in various ways. Due to poor rolls and bad luck, he was unsuccessful in not only awakening the party but fighting off the waves of oncoming spiders. They eventually overpower him, forcing him down and wrapping him in a silken cocoon. Zikzik, awakening at the last second, bleary-eyed and confused; thought he saw Gronk's massive, cocooned form pulled over the edge of the cliff by a large spider. Clearly a dream, however; he grunted, rolled over, and fell back asleep. > > `Session 7:` Gronk awoke, finding himself bound in a twilight casket of strong fibrous strands. He shifted this way and that with short, determined movements, discovering that his weapons were missing. Summoning the rage of his people, Gronk forced his way from his tomb; finding himself standing on a stony, circular platform within a very large cavern that stretched far away into the darkness. Beyond were similar platforms of stone over varying heights, scattered throughout the carven with wooden gangways connecting them. At the far end of the cavern, just before extending into shadow; two colossal dwarven statues stood side-by-side with an immense waterfall flowing between them from somewhere in the ceiling. Gronk also discovered two figures lying to each side of him, bound in similar cocoons. Within one cocoon, he discovered a silver ring within the dead humanoid's storage pouch. From within the other emerged a burly dwarven cleric named Kai'ser. Meanwhile, the rest of the party had awakened to discover that Gronk was missing, and set off to find him. Along the way, they uncovered a roughly-hewn chamber. Cedric revealed that the Kossuthian fleshsmiths may have used similar chambers to torture Drow, breaking their spirits and melding them with the help of rubyshards into monstrous beings to aid them in their war against the Drow. Within the chamber, they also discovered a lightly-glowing rubyshard; as well as a chest full of inert rubyshards, an arachnalisk skull, and a page with a list of three items: arachnalisk, emberhowl, and hemogryf. The party continued along their route before finally stumbling upon another manmade delving, this one cut into through stone with care and precision. Dwarven markings covered the short hallway, ending in stone stairs trailing upwards into darkness. At the top, a door greeted them, etched into the stone at the far end of a new chamber. Upon speaking the correct phrase, violaceous runes glowed in diffuse linear patterns across the door, as it sunk into the floor and disappeared. The party disembarked from the chamber, finding themselves at the top of a massive dwarven statue within the same cavern as Gronk and Kai'ser. They are finally reunited with their friend and are introduced to their new companion. But alas, it is a trap! Suddenly, multiple phase spiders materialize throughout the chamber, and the Arachnilisk makes its grand entrance. A battle ensues! *[Cue FFVII battle music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF94Ong_vyA)* > > `Session 8:` The party continued their epic battle against the Arachnilisk and its phasing minions. Via an unfair Bard mechanic (i.e. hideous laughter) and multiple bad rolls, the boss arachnid was made a fool; doomed to live out its remaining time on this Plane stuck on its back, emitting a guttural laugh in spite of--if not secondary to--all incoming damage. Cut off a leg? Laugh. Embed an axe blade into its thorax? Laugh! It's gravely giggling continued to echo in the minds of its murderers, long after its body was destroyed; a ghostly reminder to the Players of their detestable deeds. Anyway, the party emerged victorious but not before spotting two spiders fleeing with Gronk's and Kai'ser's weapons. Both spiders were eventually caught, but not before ending in a cavern filled with living sacks of loot. After sharing their loot and taking time to become familiar with their newfound equipment, the party made their way back up the gangway to the massive dwarven statue's gaping mouth entrance. Within the room, three Drow, a female flanked by two males (Liriel, Malzz, and Dolz, respectively), met the party to inquire their purpose in these caves. Upon noticing Cedric and his Kossuthian garb, the female drow lunged at him with scimitars in-hand. Before she had a chance to make contact, however, Felix deftly Charmed her. Via the Charm spell, the party learned that there is a Drow camp within these caves and that Liriel has the second of two rings needed to open the door to Gauntlgrym. Utilizing various forms of verbal gymnastics, Felix was able to twist and turn Liriel's resistance into acquiescence, seizing her ring in return for "finding out the value" because he "knows people." In protest, Dolz stabbed Zikzik straight through heart, killing him instantly. Immediately, Liriel's eyes are filled with fury, and she turned and slit Dolz's throat. With that, the two parties bade farewell and were on their way. It's also important to note that before he died, Zikzik did mention that he knew these Drow and was working for them. Along the way back, Kai'ser became filled with lost memories upon seeing the rubyshard amulet around Felix's neck. He explained to the party that he is an ancient Deurgar dwarf, which inhabited Gauntlgrym 12,000+ years ago (for more info, go look at the [[Story - Sunfire Citadel|Story]]). Once the party returned to the Gauntlgrym door, the liquid golden dwarven face of George emerged from the door, welcoming Kai'ser back to Gauntlgrym. George revealed that the party was missing the flaming sword, which they realized was held by Jaren, leader of the Kossuthians at Oakhurst. George also revealed that the 4th missing item was also present, but its form had been changed into Felix's lute; and that there was a teleportation circle back at Oakhurst, which used to serve as an outpost for the dwarves of Gauntlgrym. Intent on collecting the last item, the party used Graham's teleportation scroll to teleport unscathed back to Oakhurst. Join us next time, as the party attempts to steal the sword from Jaren and his troop. Will they be successful? Will they die trying? Tune in next time to find out! > > `Session 9:` The party found themselves within a runic teleportation circle atop a weathered hill, overlooking the quaint town of Oakhurst. Knowing they had to acquire the sword, the party got ready to head out towards the town hall, which served as Jaren's personal office. However, they were immediately stopped by Cedric, who seemed to be struggling with working against fellow Kossuthians. Within a private team huddle, Graham revealed that Jaren was Cedric's son's, Lyndris's, godfather and that he feared for his son's safety lest he speak out against Jaren. He also revealed that Cedric's wife, an elf, was dead and their half-elf son was in the care of an elven wizard named Thranduil. Upon hearing that name, Greqiroth's memory was sparked. After losing his parents at a young age, Greq had been under the care and tutelage of priest. While assisting his caretaker with his priestly duties in the church, Greq had seen and even met a wizard named Thrandruil often, who seemed to be close friends with his caretaker. Greq kept this recognition to himself. Per the party's request, Graham pleaded with Cedric to do the right thing: help the party take the sword from Jaren, whom he himself dislikes and knows is dangerous; and assist the party in ridding the world of whatever evil lurks within the depths of Gauntlgrym. Additionally, Graham noted that he would relay a message to Thranduil via magical means, advising him of their danger if Jaren seeks retribution for Cedric's betrayal. Cedric agreed. Upon relaying this message, however, Graham revealed that a being of shadow intercepted the message towards the end. It was unknown to him whether this was possible. The party then set off towards town, Cedric and Graham heading to the town hall to scope out Jaren, and the players heading to the inn to scope out the alcoholic situation. Within the inn, the party shared some drinks, and Felix swindled a group of 3 miners out of their hard-earned cash. Soon after, Graham returned, beckoning the party to come to the town hall as soon as possible. Upon entering the town hall, they found Cedric with his sword drawn and trained on Tyeclair, seated at a desk upon a dais (dāəs for those who no speak good). Fuming, the party pumped Tyeclair for answers, who revealed that he was here to steal the sword, as well. However, his intent was to keep the sword from Reglikk, which happened to align with the party's goals. His ultimate goal was to lead his Blackfoot Clan west to find a ship and an island to call their own. Thus far, Reglikk's fruitless venture has only served to delayed Tyeclair's clan from achieving their goals. After several minutes of back and forth, the party eventually determined that Tyeclair's intent seemed genuine and he agreed to accompany them for now. He also revealed that Jaren had left with a company of 54 Kossuthian soldiers, resolved to find and rid this area of the Drow, who were one of few remaining small groups after an almost systematic extinction during the Kossuthian-Drow war. He also noted that there was a dwarf, working at the general store who was part of the dwarven mining expedition that unearthed Gauntlgrym several years ago. Oakhurst's general store served as combo library/general store, with book and book-shelves lining three sides of the rectangular building. On one book shelf in particular, Greq noticed a large but thin black, leather-bound tome. On the front were silver embossed lettering, which read The Shadow Man. Without a second thought, Greq opened the book and started reading (see [[The Shadow Man book]]). Upon reaching the final page and with Kai'ser reading over his shoulder, two black hands emerge from the pages, gripping and necks of both Greq and Kai'ser. Gronk and Lore both witness this, as both victims' veins in their neck and faces bulge and turn black very briefly. Just as quickly as it had come, the hands receded back into the pages and Greq dropped the book. However, it seemed both Greq and Kai'ser were unaware of what had just happened. Upon being told what happened, they proceeded to check themselves out; but aside from mild fatigue, they both seemed unscathed. Meanwhile, Felix inquired as to what the book was to the owner, who mentioned that he didn't know and that the pages were blank, which they had indeed been wiped of their imagery. In moment of haste, Felix used his lute to extract memories from the book. Black, ominous smoke came billowing quickly out, filling the room and darting towards the players. Some were unable to do so, suffering mild necrotic damage after having the heat from their body momentarily removed, and receiving flashes of a dark figure seared across their minds. After a brief moment of confusion, the party then turned towards Barris, the dwarf that worked within this establishment. The party discovered that he was part of a group of dwarves that built the mining shaft the party had traversed down, and that the dwarves had discovered the door the party had found. The mining party's last expedition included Fandor, the dead dwarf the party had found by the door near a broken rope bridge some days earlier. Kai'ser intuited that this was Barris's husband, and upon revealing the fate of Fandor, Barris burst into tears. Gronk, having had enough of all the preceding bullshit, marched right up to Barris and cried, "For the sake of the greater good, snap out of it, man;" punctuating his request with a "light" slap (as far as Orcs can be light). Surprisingly, this had the intended effect, and immediately calmed Barris. With that, the party continued their mission outside, holding onto the [[The Shadow Man book]] for safe keeping. Lore decided to seek out the Kossuthian company under Jaren, while the rest of the party headed towards the inn for a long night's rest. > > `Session 10:` While in a dream, Felix was greeted by his dead grandfather, Gilly. After a touching reunion, Gilly revealed that he is not only a bard but a chronomancer, one that manipulates time. While alive, he used his skillset as part of a secret society that fought against various evils that sought to destabilize the balance between planes and their ancillary structures. During [[Story - Sunfire Citadel#Kossuthian vs Drow War (The War of Flame and Shadow)|The War of Flame and Shadow]] (about 350 years ago), Gilly led a team comprised of two Drow warriors, [[Nalva]] and [[Ysira]]; one Kossuthian defector named [[Wren]], a paladin with a flaming sword; and Gilly himself. Together, they infiltrated Gauntlgrym, deep underneath the Sunfire Citadel. It appears the battle above between the Drow and the Kossuthians was but a ruse, to allow the team to infiltrate the throne room, which housed the [[Dreggith]], the dwarven forge the Kossuthians were using to create their monstrosities. Additionally, a planar clash of some kind seemed to be occurring in this location, causing a disruption in the planar balance with the potential to end all life on the [Material Plane](https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Prime_Material_plane). Although they were unsuccessful in destroying the Dreggith, they were able to cause a massive cave-in; thus shutting the forge off from the rubyshards, causing the Sunfire Citadel to fall, and disrupting the planar clash. He also mentions that Felix's and his planes seem to be melding, similar to what he had prevented the last time he was there. This is why he's able to visit Felix in this dream. Lastly, he reveals that he left the lute there for Felix to find, knowing that a planar clash would be attempted again. The lute has a secret "oh shit" button built in: upon destroying it, the magic within will fuse, creating a temporal bubble and allowing those inside to travel back 30 minutes. At this, he bids Felix a farewell, and then Gilly is gone. We then shift to Lore, who after 7 hours of travel and sleep, has managed to find the Kossuthian camp. While skulking unseen through the camp, he comes upon Liriel in a cage, who informs him that because they stole the ring form her, her House (clan) is dead. They were killed by the Reglikk while guarding a secret tunnel to the throne room within Gauntlgrym. She also vows to "kill that fucking halfling if I ever see him again." Lore convinces her to help him get back at the Kossuthians. Upon releasing her, Liriel notes that Jaren is meeting someone at a spot near the back of the camp. Skirting the camp, they wait, concealed in a bush nearby. Jaren indeed is meeting with an orc, who seems to be an emissary for Regglik. He informs Jaren that the plan is going well, and that Regglik should be entering the throne room at any moment. They then follow Jaren back to his tent, which he seems to enter from the back, avoiding the guards in the front. While attempting to peek inside, Lore is grabbed roughly and thrown to the ground by Jaren, who proceeds to snap Liriel's neck as she attacks him in response. Before Jaren can turn on Lore, a quake violently shakes the ground, throwing Jaren face-forward. Grabbing the sword, Lore heads outside and is met with a horrific scene: black, inky tendrils pierce the sky from within the mountains of Gauntlgrym, causing the sky to lose its color; violent earthquakes tear deep cracks in the earth, as rivers of ghosts pour out of them, sucking the life force from every living creature they come in contact with. The rest of the party awakens to the same scene as Lore. They all agree to meet back at the southern-most part of the town. In the process Kai'ser, Greq, and Lore perish to the onslaught of ghosts. As Gronk makes his last stand, Felix breaks the lute, summoning the temporal bubble, which seems to inadvertently drawn in the surrounding ghosts. As it does so, the portal enlarges rapidly, eventually consuming the black tendrils. After covering horizon-to-horizon, the temporal bubble collapses and the party awaken, all alive, to find themselves in...emptiness. Everything around them is black. They are unsure if they are floating in a void, or standing in a room. The ground beneath them feels solid. Additionally, they are able to see each other as if a light is being cast but there is no identifiable source. From within the void appears a 12-foot humanoid being with exceedingly long arms and legs, in a tight-fitting robe and a cowl that hides the features of his bleach-white face. He introduces himself as [[The Elder]], and mentions that it appears someone is attempting to meld their planes together to break free from their prison. The Elder gazes intently at both Kai'ser and Greq, smirking as he says, "or maybe they already have," chuckling to himself. It appears The Elder cannot allow this melding of his realm and the Material Plane, and has been given permission from [Mystra](https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Mystra) to rotate the [[Time Weave]] back up to 2 days at any location of their choosing. The further back they go, the more risk for paradoxes, which the flow of time will eventually correct. The party chooses to return to just before they met Liriel. With a wave of his hand, the party finds themselves back in the caves, ascending the gangway to massive dwarven statue, Zikzik alive next to them. Interestingly, Zikzik no longer has his bag of holding, which Lore still has, having taken it previously. Additionally, it seems that upon meeting Liriel again, she has retained knowledge of their first meeting and the ensuing events. She takes them to her Drow camp, retrieves her rings from them, and agrees to guard the entrance with her House while the party deals with whatever evil lurks in the throne room. After passing through the secret tunnel, the party finally enters the throne room, which is awe-inspiring: monolithic columns, ceilings so high they are invisible in darkness, and massive braziers that are somehow still lit. At the end of the throne room is a vat of magma with an ebony forge atop it, a large crack splitting the structure nearly in two. Aside this forge is a dark, smoky creature, floating just above the floor. It introduces itself as a shadow demon named [[Panpox]], who had been trapped within the forge until its usage by the dwarves awoken him. He slowly discovered he was able to manipulate the rubyshard the dwarves refined with the forge and used in their EKs. Panpox was responsible for opening the portal to the Fire Plane, as well as the previous and most recent planar clash. After a bit of discussion, the party attacks Panpox. During the battle, EK3, a hemogryf, and multiple emberhowls enter the fray. The party downs EK3, who thanks them (#cry). Although not mentioned, EK3 grabs its hand and pulls himself into the vat of magma with its last strength, extending its hand with a thumbs up high into the air as it descends beneath the lava. #### Last Session: