25 Eleint 1385

Session 29

After returning to the cyclops’ den, the party took a rest in which they asked questions directed to Wilber about some of his past and what his goal here was. After some rest and downtime, the party got up and asked Wilber to assist. After nearly killing the party with his trap, he agreed quite quickly. The group packed up their belongings, and began the journey once again towards the entrance of The Cairn of Cymrych Hugh. Upon exiting the mountain pass and laying eyes once more on the Cairn, most of the party saw mostly darkness; the moon appeared to be mostly full, however many clouds blocked its light, covering the valley in darkness. Those who could see aided those who could not, slowly making their way to the entrance of the keep, yet keeping an eye out for any movements and ambushes.

Following the path down, they made their way to the fort, stealthing their way through until, after a few backtracks, came across some light within the keep. After hiding and sending Lucius ahead, the party ended up finding a human packing belongings in a room. He ended up leaving the room and walked up some nearby stairs, prompting the party to follow. As they did, they came across a corridor leading to a large room on the left where it was significantly brighter, and with the shattered mosaic glass window shattered and broken to their right. the party now knew they were in the uppermost floor of the keep. Deciding to once again hide and sending Lucius to investigate, the party waited as they watched this room begin to fill with dozens of people, men and women alike. As time went on, slowly they began to chant a name, over and over, softly, then growing to a roar; “Omaric. . . Omaric . . . OMARIC!”

Soon, through Lucius’ eyes and Axi’nthys’ description, the party recognised that Omaric, the man they had been searching for and the one who had hurt Anthol Spyley, Penelope Rock, Sterly Trigg, and murdered Hildo (the one looking after Hamwise’s shop), now stood before them in front of a small battalion of armed troops. Omaric then, began to address his troops, calling them heroes, stating they would bring glory to their families, and that their mission is not for the faint of heart. He appeared to give his soldiers the chance to change their mind and leave, yet no one left. With this, he congratulated them all, stating that Dethmol as well as himself would be proud and that they march to battle soon. With that, he appeared to activate a teleportation circle at his feet, with the soldiers slowly pouring into it and being teleported somewhere unknown. As the party was deciding what to do, whether to attack now or wait, Omaric himself took a step into the portal and disappeared. Some individuals stuck around, appearing to be the rear guard, and went to collect their things.

Leaving the party little choice, after those who remained left, the party left their hiding spot and investigated the hall, finding it to be significantly larger than expected, and discovering several doors and exits from the room. They also discovered near the now inactive teleportation circle, and some desks and bookshelves, namely with some information appearing to relate to some troop movement plans outside the city and come correspondence with someone named Dethmol. There also appeared to be a mirror next to the portal, similar in material to a regular mirror, yet the mirror itself almost appeared to have a darker undertone, and almost appeared to move like water and mist, every so slightly distorting the reflection. Now, the group must decide what they wish to do with all this new information.

Session 30
After searching through Blackstone and the Cairn and coming across a potential ally, the party found and followed Omaric through a teleportation circle within the fortress. Upon arriving, the party found themselves in a frozen mountaintop, with tracks leading past deposits of True Ice, into a valley and a dwarven keep built into an opposite mountainside. There, the party saw Omaric approaching what appeared to be his army, and later a White Dragon landing nearby as well.

After a brief discussion, the party decided it was best to explore the complex for any clues about what awaits them beyond the teleportation circle. Upon searching, the group discovered some soldiers who appeared to be coming behind Omaric for whatever reason, and upon further discussion, the group managed to surprise and promptly scare the shit out of these people for information. They found that these soldiers knew fairly little, but that Omaric was taking them to another location surrounded by snow somewhere, and that they would control the continent soon. The party then locked them in their room through intimidation and trickery, and left them to return to the portal.

Looking into it, those who were magically talented discovered how to reactivate it and teleport to the last known opened location. With some magic, the portal activated and the party entered through, appearing suddenly on a snowy peak surrounded by large shards of ice that stood many feet above them. Talyn quickly realised this was the same substance as the ice claw he pried from the cyclops mage earlier, known as True Ice. Taking note of this, the party saw tracks leading down the slope and began to follow.

As they did, some snow began to pick up around them, not causing too much of a distraction but hiding them enough from anyone from Omaric’s troop if they looked back. However, as the group curved the side of this mountain, the slow dissipated, revealing a large expanse between themselves and an opposing mountain, with a large fortress carved into the side of this mountain peak. In addition, they saw expanding from the fortress, an army. From this distance, it was hard to tell what this army was comprised of with its military, but the fact there was an army in the first place caused the party to feel uneasy. In addition, they saw Omaric’s troop walking along a bridge between themselves and the army, with the troop already almost at the fortress. With this information, the group looked around and found a small cave where they could hide out and discuss their next move. Upon entering and discussing possible avenues to take, the temperature suddenly dropped a bit, and a strange thumbing sound could be heard ever so faintly. Then their cave began to hum ever so slightly, then a loud roar pierced the parties eardrums. As quietly as possible, some of the group took a peak outside, only to see a White Dragon pass overhead and make its way towards the keep. As they watched, the dragon landed in front of the keep itself, and within seconds, the dragon appeared to shrink and be replaced by a smaller form, similar to those around it. It then disappeared inside.

Now, the party looked at each other, and seemed unsure of what their next move was…

Session 31

During their discussion on what to do next, Talyn had the brilliant idea of causing an avalanche, hoping to wipe out the army and give themselves enough time in the chaos to infiltrate the fortress, which thanks to Wilber the party realised they were looking at the fortress of Greystaad, located on the island of Graygruun in the north of the Moonshae Isles.

After thinking amongst themselves, the party figured out a way of possibly detonating the mountainside and causing an avalanche through use of magic and luck. With this the party set out to infiltrate the army’s camp and set themselves up. Through the use of magic, wild shape, and stealth, the party got into position on the eastern side of the camp along the mountain and set off multiple explosions with magic. After several moments, the avalanche began, forcing the party to yeet it back to the entrance of the fortress, flying past soldiers and draconians alike. Just as the avalanche reached the entrance, the group raced in, trapping themselves with many enemies, all seemingly disorientated and ignoring the groups arrival. With that, the party began to make their way through the fortress, seemingly fitting in with those around and acting as inconspicuous as possible in the search for Omaric.

Session 32

As the party made their way through the fortress of Greystaad, they came across many sights within, such as dorms for Omaric’s army, what appeared to be a sleeping section for the draconians, and a large fortified section that appeared to be a fallback spot if the fortress ever got invaded. In addition to this, they came across a section where a greenish liquid was being cleaned up with care, forcing the party to walk around it and realise this was a substance known as Greek Fire, an incredibly destructive flammable liquid that could raise structures in an instant.

As the group past this Greek Fire spill, they entered a long corridor where two sets of guards guarded a circular stone door with etchings in the centre. One of the guards demanded they introduce themselves, where they mentioned they had important news for the boss considering the avalanche. This appeared to be enough and the party was given passage, where one of the draconians pulled out a bronze dragon claw and placed it where the grooves in the circular stone door were located. Once the door was open, the group entered, with the stone door closing behind them. Looking into this room, there appeared to be a large stone wall with markings along it on a raised stone platform, with a small waterfall flowing on the far left side. Atop the raised platform stood a slender elegant woman, with dark-blue skin, elognated pointed ears, and white hair, with piercing blue eyes staring coldly at the party. From behind her behind the stone came the deep voice of Omaric “Come forward with your report then”. The lady smiled without any warmth and turned around, walking out of sight. With that, the party had to make a decision; approach and come face to face with Omaric, or attempted a surprise attack and hope for the best…or another option if one appeared.

Session 33

After a brief telepathic discussion, the party decided to hear Omaric out and hear what he had to say. The party pretended to be lackeys and gave a brief report on what had occurred, also noticing what appeared to be battle plans layed out across the table that Omaric was studying. He appeared to move pieces to and from the board as the party spoke, and finally straightened up to address the party. As he began to speak and mention his thoughts, the party decided to attack. Unknown to them, Omaric recognised some of the party members due to his scrying and also from when he went to murder them initially back in Caer Callidyrr during the festival 5. Participate in the Autumn Equinox Festival in Caer Callidyrr. His draconic companion, the White Adult Dragon Adranga, was taken by surprise however and was slowed and stunned in the earlier rounds.

Chaos ensued as Omaric, Adranga, and the party fought. Spells were flown, arrows were released, swords clashed and breath weapons were sprayed, however in the end, the party managed to barely survive, Omaric escaped after underestimating the dragon Adranga was slain. With this victory, Wilber took his leave and mentioning he had his own errands now to run and some people to discuss with due to this new development. With that, the party then took what they could, and used the teleport scroll to return to Svetlana Trigg‘s office.