Zoom 2022-03-15 21:00

Two down, three to go - and then we'll have to start again from the beginning...
==Combat Phase 2:==
Twoo sticks an invisibility spell on himself while the party heals him, then he flies up to try to find Nawar.  He does spot a faerie-fired shape, and so Dougal and Hamish are given a goblet and a Resist Fire spell each, and they dash off to attack Nawar - hoping that their 'support' is following as quickly as they can.
Unfortunately as they get closer, they realise that they have been fooled by a Dancing Lights spell, and Hamish gets a load of magic missiles up the jacksie. Reorientating themselves on the real Nawar (who has managed to have shed the Faerie Fire), Dougal charges whilst Hamish performs a very rapid retreat. Nawar counter-charges Dougal - and as they close the goblet heats up, damaging Dougal despite the Resist Fire (which has no effect), but damaging Nawar more. There isn't much of a fight - Nawar strikes and paralyses Dougal, and then grabs the goblet off him - and as Umar reaches the pair and charges in, Nawar Dim Doors away again.
Quercuis summons some bats to go look for Nawar, and he is spotted about a quarter of a mile to the south, moving away from us. The party as a whole can't catch up with him, but a speeded up Umar can (carrying Caradoc on his shoulders) along with a freshly healed Hamish and Twoo. So they charge off towards Nawar whilst the rest of the party follow as best they can. As they reach Nawar, Umar practices his Hobbit-throwing technique, but misjudges and throws Caradoc a bit too far. Caradoc lands somewhat beyond Nawar, and then Umar, Hamish and Caradoc engage Nawar - whose left hand is burnt and shrivelled from taking Dougal's goblet. He casts a haste spell on himself, but a mighty blow from Umar and a bit more damage from Hamish's goblet takes him down to zero hit points. He's hardly hit the ground before we take his head off to stop him from getting back up again. Nawar's head loses its characteristics and reverts to a blank, greyish vaguely humanoid form - much like a mannequin's head.
There are no items on Nawar's body, other than the Pathfinder cloak, and definitely no goblet. The cloak itself is better than Joshua's one - it has runes inside and has some gold trim - it appears to be an officer's cloak. Garaf identifies it, and determines that in addition to the standard benefits, it confers +1 AC and +2 save vs Elemental attacks (and these extra benefits do work in non-wilderness areas.) The cloak is restricted to Druids and Rangers.
==Next Day:==
We camp for the remainder of the night, and the next day when Joshua is able to manifest Kirsten, we trace down the missing goblet - and find the trail leads to a large boulder. A 'Locate Objects' spell indicates that the goblet is indeed inside this boulder. So the party decided to wait a day to learn Stone Shape, and uses the time to learn spells and dispose properly of Nawar's body. We do this by placing the goblets on top of the remaining parts of his body - which burns the body parts leaving just some soil and an oily residue (whilst producing loads of smoke and heat.) We further reduce down the residue by putting it into a goblet where it bubbles away some more. Wun mentions that Nawar was definitely not undead, and neither really were the ecto-stooges - despite being able to 'turn' them (well, 'hold' really), Wun felt none of the revulsion normally associated with the undead.
The next day we use Stone Shape to extract the goblet from the stone - and replace it with all that remains of Nawar (ie 'soil' and residue) so that whatever is left of Nawar is now secured within the rock.
==The state of the nation:==
The party then continue on their merry way towards Wingsport, and reach Cedarin. This is a town of three to four hundred humans and ariels with a river fort containing a garrison of roughly the same size - it is considered an elite posting. The flags of both Alvarez and Duke Adamas are flying. The party finds a tavern for lodgings and to pick up the local news - and to tell theirs. We learn that:
* The two flying cities did collide about 15 miles from Torgan, destroying themselves and the army of about 700,000 undead.
* There is now a 5 mile wide mana storm in the area - people fear it will create a new 'Cracks of Doom'
* People did escape from Starport - Alvera sent the Royal Guard away before the collision, and most will have gone to HighTower (the administrative hub of the kingdom)
* It is claimed that Alvera is still alive, but his whereabouts are unknown. This is reinforced by Duke Adamas who has assumed the role of regent during Alvera's 'absence', but is not making any claim to kingship.
* Solara is making the most of it, claiming succession and that all should unite under him as king. Most Alveran cities remain loyal to Alvera, though there is concern about Pearlstone - and Northlake needs reinforcing. The morale in Cedarin itself is 'variable'.
* The Elves appear to have kept to the treaty with Alvera. They have sent mages to help deal with/contain the mana storm near Torgan. They have stepped up their campaign in the West.
* Tor'Quat had been conquered by Alvera
* There are rumours that something/someone in the control room on Startport was not what it seemed - and that it took control of Starport and caused it to crash into StarStorm. Alvera realised that something was wrong, which is why he evacuated his Sky Knights and Royal Guard. The rumours suggest that this 'something/someone' was the commander of the PathFinders (not Baron Duprez who is their sponsor, but the commander whose name we do not know.)