Session 12

ERALION'S END

12th Longrass, 4433
You aren't sure how long you spent in the forest.

Characters:

Gorr, ranger 3

Suba-Jin, cleric 3

Robert the Swift, fighter 2

Meep, dwarf 2

*****

In the Keep

The party had just defeated a red fire-spirit when the doors of the chapel beneath them opened. They saw a satyr emerge that looked just like the revellers they met long ago, or the ones they had gambled with in the Sage's temple. They hoisted him up with a rope and pumped him for information before letting him down. They learned that the shadow-mage Eralion himself was below in the chapel!

They made a plan, and climbed down the tower stairs. Wielding their magic weapons, the group swarmed the wizard shade. Despite his protective aura of darkness, their attacks hit home and Eralion fled at top speed. A chase throughout the ruins ensued and Eralion seemed about to escape into the woods when he was brought low with a trick shot by Robert the Swift [a lucky hit at a penalty, with a vial of holy water tied to his arrow]. The shade vanished, leaving only his two-crescent pendant and engraved copper bracers behind.

One of the four demons of the realm mentioned by the Sage of Lune had been destroyed. Where were the other three to be found? It was unclear at this time. The group was now free to loot Eralion's ancient tomb, finding some loose papers they couldn't read, a broken flask, and a pile of loot in his sarcophagus.

Gorr planted an acorn from Grandfather Tree in the courtyard of the ruined keep.

Exploring the Moonlit Zone

A path beckoned from the ruined fort, leading deeper into the dark & crowded forest. The group decided to press further and see what could be found. At a T-intersection, they found a signpost pointing to Fesgate in one direction and Fesgate Tower in the other. They opted for the tower, along the way sneaking past another fire spirit which was chasing around some forest wildlife.

The tower itself was a simple affair, circular and about six or seven stories. Against the starless sky, outlines of strange structures could just be seen around the peak. The group climbed the inside of the tower, sealing another fire spirit inside a vault on the way, and passing by rooms guarded with carved runes, some still glowing with magic.

In a room of hanging cages they found a dead knight with a broken sword, his plate mail pierced through the heart. He carried a journal, but nobody could read the language.

At the tower's peak, narrow bridges stretched outside, connecting to smaller towers floating out in the open air with no support structure. A few shrivelled bundles wrapped in silk hung from the ceiling, and the corpse of a dog-sized spider rested in the dust. Gorr wanted to try and harvest poison from it, but changed his mind.

The group avoided two of the bridges: one covered in spiderwebs, and another leading to a room of glowing green crystals and sleeping giant moths. In the third tower they found a few prison cells full of bizarre creatures, and rescued a man. Wearing rusted full plate and a closed helmet, he identified himself as Lord Fesgate. He seemed not to know how much time had passed since his imprisonment. He had no knowledge of the state of the kingdom or its curse. The group reasoned that the tower cells froze their occupants in time, so to the prisoner only moments would elapse between incarceration and freedom, even though it might have been centuries.

Fesgate told them a few facts:

 - The tower prisons were built in the moonlit zones in ancient times to contain monsters & enemies of the realm. They were commissioned centuries ago by First Lord Raeldus, with the help of the Immortal Sage. (Is that the same as the Sage of Lune? It is unclear.)

 - This tower once imprisoned great numbers of needlemen, gryphs, giant spiders and monstrous hounds, among other monsters.

 - He was thrown into his cell by First Lord Raeldus on some trumped-up charge.

by Chris

Fesgate joined them for now. On their way back down the tower they met an even stranger being. Surrounded by a swarm of moths (and trailed by six of huge size), a giant with a head like the moon confronted them at the top of the tower. He introduced himself as Howroch, the Full-Headed. He said Fesgate was a traitor and it was foolish to let him out (the Lord denied this). He seemed sad, and didn't feel inclined to fight about it after all these years. 

The group learned more interesting facts:

 - The moonlit zone prisons are weakening after all these years, and many dangerous monsters have escaped already. Some "much more dangerous than these common spiders."

 - Each prison was guarded by a Moon Giant. Not all Moon Giants are strict and Lawful like him: there are also Half-Headed (Neutral) and Eclipsed (Chaotic and dangerous).

 - He would help in the fight against Uthummaos if he could. He told the group about two mighty weapons of legend lost in other moonlit zones: Sun-Eater, a flail that absorbs light once held by a fallen paladin. The Moonlight Sword, rumoured to be a powerful wizard's weapon.

Howroch accompanied the party back down the tower and let them out. They proceeded away from the tower in the opposite direction from whence they came. Howroch parted ways with them and they found what was left of Fesgate Village, long since deserted. After fighting a pack of huge, six-legged black birds in the main meeting hall, Lord Fesgate finally seemed to accept that things had changed in his homeland, and might never be the same again...

*****

Enemies Defeated:

Eralion the shade - 1260 xp

black six-legged bird - 121 xp

345 xp each

Treasure:

Eralion's treasure hoard:

  27 gold

  200 silver

  156 copper

  eight gems

  six pieces of jewelry

  1 scroll

  1 potion

  ceremonial dagger

  Eralion's copper bracers

broken sword

8 gp

knight's journal (foreign language)

sack of 100 silver