Expedition 114: A Live One in the Dead City

### Summary

We sneak our way into Liefsend to find a Nexus Key. After an unexpected fight we find the key, and the arch-mage Dravandre in magical stasis.

### Detailed Account

The party secures the Services of Captain Temerec and his ship, the Driven Dirk, for a modest fee. The ship is able to take us just south of the Emerald Reef near the coast, and drops us off just north of the Silent Forest. We are able to remain unnoticed and begin traveling north through the farmlands between the forest and the city of Liefsend.

The farmland stretches on for a few miles to the wall of the city, with few structures in between and scarce small copses of trees. We move quickly and quietly through the region. We spot dozens of the linen wrapped undead that Liefsend uses for manual labor, many of them beginning planting for the spring. Nexrin also spots a large stony creature flying overhead, likely a gargoyle. We thankfully avoid his notice and make it to the southern wall without issue.

The wall is dilapidated, barely still standing after years of disrepair. Nexrin is able o use his Faerie's Fancy to get over the wall in one of the more erroded patches and lowers a rope for Ark, and I. As we reach the top of the rubble we look out into Liefsend. This is the Old City, many of these buildings are thousands of years old and haven't seen use since possibly before the last age, too infested with undead and other dangers even for the citizens of Liefsend. We begin to look for the building Clarity's dream showed the Nexus Key at, but from this height all the ruined building look the same. We do spot a nearby tower and decide to uses it for a better vantage point. On our way we travel through what at one point must have been an open air market. Ark notices a large Iron rod driven into the ground. At one point is was likely attached to a chain and securing something, A quick survey of the area reveals it was likely a roc, as we find 5 of it's feathers scattered on the ground and collect them.

When we reach the tower we see it hasn't fared much better tan the other structures in the Old City. It's once crown like crenelations collapsing inward and exposing the upper interiors of the tower. There is however an intact door at the entrance, above the door frame is an inscription in common, "What walks in threes, without any knees." Ark and I immediately assume it's a riddle door and begin racking our brains for the answer. Nexrin instead climbs the exterior wall and finds a way to slip inside. Unfortunately he's immediately greeted by three large green eyes starring at him from the shadows, seemingly unimpeded by the invisibility spell that is active on the party. Nexrin slowly backs away and returns to inform us that we are not alone. On of the creatures peers out of the tower at us, targeting Nexrin with a ray emanating from it's large solitary eye. With a battle unavoidable at this point our party engaged the creatures, their gaze attacks proved devastating and while we emerged victorious, Ark and I were far from unscathed. In the heat of the battle the door, we had assumed to be magically trapped was thrown open by a creature to no effect, the riddle seeming to be just a ruse. We went about searching the tower for useful items, in addition to the large emerald-like eye left behind by the creatures we found a set of antique spellcraft tools, even including a true Evernewt Eye, along with three gold worth of ephemera. After the search we finally made it to the top of the tower and were able to spot the building we hoped housed the Nexus Key.

Getting to it would not be easy, the rundown warehouse was guarded by two of the linen wrapped undead of Liefsend. However these figures were massive, nearly 12 feet tall and with horns. Hoping to sneak past, a combination of Fly and Invisibility got us to the roof of the building. Unfortunately the flight spell ended as we landed and Nexrin nearly tripped off the roof, putting the guards on alert. Quick thinking from Ark and the sacrifice of their familiar allowed us to fool the guards. After that we made our way into the structure without detection and began investigating. The area was covered in debris from the roof collapsing, shingles and shards were scattered everywhere, but there seemed to be evidence of a ritual circle. Nexrin looking through some nearby tables found some papers and notes, although exposure to the elements rendered them incomprehensible, he also managed to find a scrap of linen, similar to the ones that wrap the undead servants of the city, although this piece was marked with runes on one side. Whether this can be said of all the linen wraps is uncertain but we collected the scrap and I plan to devote some time to researching it. Meanwhile near the outside of the circle I stumbled (almost literally) across a suit of strange armor. It seemed to be almost folded in on itself. Significant portions of the suit were made from scourgestone and trueglass. My interest piqued I decided to identify it discovering it to be Stormdeep Maille, a set of plate armor that can be activated to seal the wearer off from their environment, protecting them from weather or used as a diving suit. It may prove very useful in underwater expeditions, particularly to the ruins of Refuge or Barragor.

However the most significant find was thanks to Ark. They carefully dug through the rubble within the circle looking for our quarry of the Nexus Key, however they also found the key's owner, arch-mage Dravandre. It took me a few moments to recognize him but it was him. Surprisingly he was perfectly preserved, no sign of decay at all. He even had a small cut from some of the fallen shingles that beaded up with fresh blood. However when Ark checked he was not breathing nor did he have a pulse. A quick once over with Detect Magic revealed a transmutation aura over him (unsurprising given his specialty). After a brief discussion of arcane theory Ark and I decided attempting a casting of Speak with Dead to contact the archmage may work given no necromancy was involved in his suspended animation. Our intuition was proven correct, and I was able to converse with Dravandre. Asking what had occurred here, he answered vaguely, implying his endeavor proved successful. Given the context I believe he meant the effect that preserved him, likely allowing him to survive the helioscension of Nerulla. Asking if he could be revived, he responded with yes, all that is required is removing the cloth clutched in his hands. I took me a minute or so to fully absorb this information. A living Dravandre is an invaluable primary source for the fall of the Empire of Stone, but being as familiar with the arch-mages of the Mageline as I am I can't be sure of his intentions upon revival or if he'll even be friendly. Pulling back to the conversation at hand my final question to him is what he knows of Ozymandias. Unfortunately the answer is not much, he recognizes the vampire as a criminal, but nothing of his rise to power in Liefsend. Then something strange occurred, just as I expected the spell to end it endured, but the roles reversed with Dravandre asking questions of me. He asked when it was, deciding it was for the best to keep my answeres somewhat vague I responded with "a few centuries into the Ago of Pain." He seemed pleased by this, as if I had confirmed the information for him rather than him being totally out of the loop. His next question was asking who I was, I responded "A historian from the West seeking to learn what happened here," which is true but vague, after that business with the fey of Fer'Roc and the reminder at the Frostblaze Festival I know better than to give out my name to those I do not trust. His final utterance was less a question and more of an enticement, offering rewards and favor for reviving him. With that the spell ended and I consulted with the others for our next actions.

We decided that we should be open to reviving the arch-mage, but not without more information about him. We decided to bring him back with us to Vrall, and keep him under his spell until we are better prepared to deal with him. I am hoping that Salaked has some experience with the man due to his proximity to Otiluke, I'd rather not rely entirely on journals from his colleagues in the Mageline. With our course decided and the location relatively safe we decided to teleport home directly from there rather than attempting to move Dravandre's body or risk an encounter with the undead behemoths outside. After arriving in the Fungal Caverns our trip back to Vrall was uneventful. Now I must begin looking into Dravandre's past, hopefully I can determine whether he's friend or foe *before* we revive him.

From the personal Journal of Uzmir ag'Ghanim