Runelords 30.0 - Horrors in the Shimmerglen

As Virgil and Khyrralien began to wander down the path towards the Shimmerglen, Romeo caught up with them. After a quick chat where the iron raven mercilessly mocked them both, he flew back and fetched Shadliss. The girl arrived on the ferry shortly later and stubbornly joined them on an expedition into the Shimmerglen.
They walked down the boardwalk that wove through the swamp, passing by an oil extractor that had nearly entirely sunk into the mud. Concerned that heavy invasion into the area for material extraction might be the cause of the problems here, the two men discussed how they might rectify the problem. As they spoke, they hopped off the boardwalk and began to wander through the mud, hoping to bump into the feywild they sought. Serendipity found them at the barrier-like edge of the dryad's glade and, using Khyr's token of favour, they were permitted entry.
Since they had last been there, the grove had changed: now it was a square island, surrounded by a square pond, covered in grass that all grew perfectly straight. Myrenra and Lamar were both motionless trees, the last vestiges of their wooden faces looking into each others' empty eyes. A Judge was there, who told them that the dryad was lost to her dreams, and that effectively the Shimmerglen was now under new management, preparing to be reordered. The Judge quickly evicted the three Materians.
As the three unsettled adventurers made their way down the boardwalk, they found another extractor. Knocking on its door, they caught the attention of the kobolds inside: members of the tribe of the Shivering Ones. They seemed to have little grasp of human language but escorted them to their main warren, built into a very large hillock. Once there, they were greeted by Melinda, or Meli, the same kobold who they had met on market day. Meli explained to them that they had been mining and living there for a long while; however, when Virgil explained that there might be angry spirits in the area, she quickly admitted that there was a boogeyman killing them in the night, eating kobolds in one bite. No kobold had seen this creature and survived, so they all cowered in their homes after dusk. However, it had only appeared about two weeks ago, not long after Meli had met them. The adventurers all agreed try and stop the Boogeyman that night, to Meli's great relief.
While there, they asked about the army that the Shivering Ones had recently supplied that had attacked Sandpoint. Though Meli was hesitant to reveal client data, she was cajoled into admitting that the army was indeed stationed in Jorgenfist, where a couple Shivering One representatives were making some repairs for them. 
When asked about their whole business model and their leader, Meli took them inside and showed them a large throne room that had been decorated with symbols and relics of numerous international world leaders. She explained their clan's beliefs and traditions, and Virgil surmised that their leader was in fact the Firehawk reborn once more, spreading their destructive flame in the form of a global weapons dealing business.
Thanking Meli for her time and hospitality, the three left, crafting a plan to lure out the mysterious boogeyman. Khyr disguised himself magically as an unflattering caricature of Eamon and wandered out into the darkening night, acting particularly hapless. An invisible Virgil and Shadliss followed behind. It did not take long for the creature to strike, leaping out of the trees and sinking its fangs into Khyr's neck. Khyr went rigid as the aggressor's toxic magic spread into him, freezing him on the spot. The boogeyman appeared to be Aldern: lacking disguise or restraint, the ravenous ghast ripped into Khyr.
Dashing up, Shadliss showed a reasonable skill with a sword before Virgil caught up and used Dimension Door, whisking them all away from their aggressor. Without their more resilient comrades, they feared that they were a poor match-up against the imposing ghast. As Khyr regained his faculties, Shadliss screamed for them to run: she could hear Aldern coming.
The group ran as fast as they could down the winding boardwalk, using Dimension Door to put a bit of distance between them and Aldern, who was relentless. Just as it looked like they might not make it out before Virgil collapsed, the open air surrounded them and they escaped the swamp, with Aldern hissing threats after them. As they fled, a voice spoke to Khyr's mind: it was the dryad, who implored him to find her sister. Her power was fading and she was using the last of it to seal the monster inside the glen, but she wouldn't last much longer before she slipped into dreams forever. Khyrralien had to find her sister Nylia and tell her what had happened. The exhausted and unsettled group called the ferry and returned to Turtleback.
Meanwhile, Eamon and Aldern had spent the day with the Black Arrows at Fort Rannick, helping with the restoration. Aldern had begun suggesting that they return at around sunset, but it wasn't until near midnight that the sullen and passive-aggressive Eamon consented to leave.
Virgil, Shadliss and Khyr, upon their return, dropped in on Luna to explain what had happened. She still possessed the overwhelming stench that obviously off-put everyone, and her frustration was clear and evident. The news of the psychotic Aldern in the swamps surprised her, and she was at a loss until she remembered the mermaids and their twisted wishes, after which Aldern mentioned that he had, for a moment, felt like three people. She cursed and fumed about her powerlessness against this foe, who could still likely control her mind, and the group let her be.
Not long after, Aldern and Eamon returned. They convened in one of their rooms and discussed what they had seen. Aldern's hesitant and generally vague replies frustrated Virgil, but he did say that his wish was "to not be afraid anymore", and agreed that he had indeed felt like three people at the moment Luna had mentioned. The group couldn't quite figure out why this had been the outcome, and what significance three copies had. As they discussed how they would deal with this psychotic version of Aldern, ignoring for a moment what the third version might entail, the nobleman let slip what Luna had so recently done, effectively weakening him and possibly opening him up to control at the hands of the technically stronger version of himself. The group groused, unsure of what to do and only assured of one thing: they had to stop this flesh-eating menace that they had unequivocally unleashed on the area.Category:Rise of the Runelords