ARC 2: Cormanthor

## General Summary

\**The following summary is as described by Coriander Lovelle, a loremonger and witness to the events in question. Due to the sensitivity of the information in this debriefing, viewing/editing of the document by Watchguard staff is restricted.*

[BEGIN]

### Arrival

In the late spring of 496 H.F., the freshly appointed Strike Team would be summoned by Angelica Fairchild and given their maiden mission: they were to locate and claim an item of great importance to Fairchild. This item, its nature and its whereabouts, was top-secret to all non-Strike-Team staff – and acquiring it came before all other Watchguard directives/priorities. The team was informed that the item they’d be hunting was in Cormanthor, wherein a roiling civil war was underway. A war which the team was not to engage in under any circumstances.

With this information, the Strike Team made their preparations for the mission ahead – and chief among these preparations was Skralgt’t’s. Using the holy **Commune** spell, he was able to identify who currently controlled the item, and where: it lay with Vanachi, an agent of dubious allegiance but great importance in the Cormanthan Civil War, and Skralgt’t’s estranged son.

Their preparations complete, the team departed Watchguard for Yhaunn, the nearest accessible site to Cormanthor via **Teleportation Circle**. There, the party met with townsfolk to purchase supplies they might need and investigate the Cormanthan Civil War from a distance. They found that the war was a complicated and sensitive situation, that it was all-pervasive, and that it would be difficult to avoid it entirely. Further, the team was advised that the road to Cormanthor was blocked by Ordulin – and that, for their own safety, the party should skirt this “cursed” city if at all possible.

The Strike Team rented a carriage from Yhaunn's mining companies to trek to Cormanthor as quickly as possible. And though their party made good time on the road, they would need to rest overnight before they could complete their journey. They settled in for the night a short distance from Ordulin, over which floated an array of massive, colonized earthmotes.

During the night, the party was awoken by the sounds of shuffling and pained moaning, and they found themselves amidst a horde of “zombies” – many of whom seemed to have noticed the party and began to approach. In their already-heightened nerves, the Strike Team lashed out at these “zombies” to drive them away; the party slew a small number from the horde, which gave them enough of an opening to flee the crowd and rest elsewhere for the night. But the damage was done: paranoia had set in for the team. For them, enemies abound.

### Ordulin

The next morning, the strike team skirted their way around the city of Ordulin. Coriander, unsure of what plagued the townsfolk the team had encountered the previous night, found an individual lying, near-dead, on the plains outside the city; he placed the citizen in the team's carriage to study the individual's condition. Before the party could successfully skirt Ordulin entirely, they were come upon by a priestess who had been traveling the city outskirts to find survivors. The team was led to a camp outside the city, where Ordulin's religious order of Llira had set up a relief zone to help heal those affected by the strange goings-on in the city. In returning the ailing citizen they found and speaking with the order's leader, Vicar Volibear (during which Kroa'Goa would be chosen and blessed by Llira), the Strike Team would be informed of the true cause of this affliction which hung over Ordulin.

An earthmote over the city had begun to leak Blacktide down into the city. These townsfolk were not undead: they were fatally poisoned by the Blacktide runoff, made insensate with pain and sickness. And this toxic runoff seemed only to be worsening with time.

The Strike Team chose to delve into Ordulin to stop this Blacktide catastrophe. Upon entering the city, they found entire city blocks flooded with Blacktide - all cascading down from the "waterfalls" of the earthmote, Erebus. The deeper into Ordulin the party journeyed, the stranger their surroundings became: ankle-high puddles of Blacktide turned to seas of toxin deep enough to drown in; barren cityscapes turned to ghost-ridden ruins, rife with the lingering souls of the Blacktide's victims. Until at last the party found a gondola in the city which could carry them up to Erebus.

During the team's ride up to the earthmote, they encountered a lost soul piloting the gondola. The encounter turned dire when the spirit, in its confusion and rage, possessed Kroa'Goa and tried to force the gondola to crash down into the city below - intent on killing the strike team in the collision. Ultimately, the spirit was overpowered and forced from Kroa'Goa's body, and the gondola was steered from its imminent crash. The Strike Team continued upward to Erebus.

Upon arriving in the Vital Cents Headquarters on Erebus, the Strike Team found a mass grave of the factory's employees - either killed by Blacktide in the area or slain by Vital Cents security; to the team, the latter indicated sabotage of some sort at the facility. The party navigated the station to find the engineering bay, where they suspected the root cause of the Blacktide leak may have been based. But during their exploration of Vital Cents, the team was come upon by a creature from the Shadowfell: a creature which had, before encountering the Strike Team, hunted down the Vital Cents security and staff in droves. At the crux of an encounter which spanned an entire office on the facility, the creature subdued Skralgt't and Kroa'Goa - intent on slaying them. But Coriander, using a super-powered **Scorching Ray**, disintegrated the creature before it could succeed.

As Kroa'Goa had taken the worst of the creature's assault, Skralgt't and Coriander performed an impromptu field surgery to resuscitate their teammate. Then, the team continued onward to one of the station's engineering rooms. When they arrived, the team pieced together what had occurred at the facility: "sabotage", indeed. Under Evereskan machinations, the facility's on-site portals to the Shadowfell and the Elemental Plane of Water were widened and destabilized to allow for a greater production/outflow of Blacktide for the war effort; a large supply of Blacktide was recorded being shipped out into the Cormanthan Wood, to the direct site of combat. These destabilized portals could not be returned to their original states, and the overloaded system was at risk of catastrophic failure - and so Kroa'Goa opted to shrink the portals down to a more controllable, if greatly diminished, state.

The Ordulin Catastrophe was contained. When the Strike Team returned from Erebus, from Ordulin, to the relief zone outside the city, they were met with Ordulin's mayor. For the mayor, prevention of the catastrophe was important - but moreso was secrecy on what had caused the catastrophe. He paid the Strike Team a hefty sum of money for them to deny, on-television, the notion that Vital Cents' lax security policies (and thus, Ordulin's lackluster business constraints) had caused this tragedy. Following their dealings, the mayor urged the party to depart Ordulin post-haste. Still, for saving the city of Ordulin, the Strike Team achieved a kind of local celebrity.

The next morning, the party was gifted a jeep by the mayor of Ordulin - which they would use to complete their journey to the Rimwood of Cormanthor.

### Starwood

Arriving at the border to the Rimwood, the Strike Team was met with an Evereskan Military depot station. They passed the border guard with lies of researching flora/fauna in the Rimwood, and then the party pressed into the outer forest. It wasn't long into their journey before effects of the war met the team head-on: landmines and traps in the ground made short work of the team's jeep. The Strike Team continued through the woods on-foot - where they came upon the wreckage of an Evereskan military cadre. One soldier's corpse, splayed upon the hood of a destroyed jeep, behaved peculiarly as the party approached: it seemed to continue breathing, well after death. And when the Strike Team came close enough, the cadaver exploded. The splatter of blood left in its wake formed into a sinister sigil which seemed to incite madness in all who saw it (in particular, Kroa'Goa was most strongly affected by the sigil). After recovering from the experience, the party continued on their journey - though with more caution than before.

The party opted to rest for the night once they'd made extensive progress through the wood - hidden away in a hollow tree trunk. Well into the night, the party found themselves awoken by a bulezau, which stalked the forest around the party in search of them; it never found the team despite reaching out to them telepathically, but the party was shaken from the encounter nonetheless. In the morning, the Strike Team pressed further into the Midwood. They scrounged what supplies they could from the wreckage of former battle sites, until they came upon a gnoll hunting party - seemingly led by an individual named Arno. The two parties were initially rather tense with each other until a band of demons collided with the group. Fending the demons off together solidified the parties' trust in each other, only strengthened by Skralgt't healing a wounded gnoll and the hunting party offering shelter to the Strike Team at the gnolls' village.

Upon arriving at the camp, the Strike Team was herded to the gnolls' resting den to speak with the village's leader: a shaman, named Medicine. Medicine was intrigued by the party's goals to delve deeply into the Starwood, and so she offered them a boon of gnoll obsidian - for a favor. Some of the village's hunters had, over the months, fallen to the basilisks which resided naturally in the forest. Not dead, but instead petrified. A cure could be fashioned alchemically from basilisk eyes; luckily for these victims, a chime oak grove lay a short distance from the village, and chime oak leaves were a natural lure for basilisks. Thus, the Strike Team was to hunt with Arno and his band to collect as many basilisk eyes as possible.

The combined squad set out. It didn't take long for them to find the chime oak grove, and once they arrived all they needed was living bait to draw any nearby basilisks to wherever the party needed them for an ambush. Coriander opted to offer himself as the bait, and successfully drew in three basilisks (at the cost of nearly being eaten alive by the creatures). During the harrowing encounter which followed, the party was able to slay two of the three creatures; from these two basilisks, the party was able to obtain the alchemical ingredients they needed. But the Strike Team aimed to complete the hunt. While Kroa'Goa dismantled the basilisks the party had successfully hunted, Skralgt't and Coriander pursued the fleeing basilisk deeper into the woods. The pair's journey led them to another camp in the forest: a fort, held by the Cormanthan resistance. Skralgt't and Coriander made contact with personnel at the fort, trading information to gain a better understanding of the Cormanthan Civil War (in particular, its history and its current standing), and then the two departed to return to their hunting party. Shortly after, the fort would be firebombed to rubble by an Evereskan fighter-jet squadron.

After collecting their basilisk haul, the hunting squad returned to the gnoll village and received a host of obsidian tools from the village's armorer. The party spoke with Medicine, who informed them that their mission was leading them down the path to a direct confrontation with the Demogorgon - greatest of all the demon princes, and who was currently forcing its way into the Prime Material Plane. Its intrusion into the realm was the cause of the increasing demonic presence in Cormanthor, according to Medicine, and the Strike Team's journey to Myth Drannor would serve as a critical point for this catastrophe.

That night, while he wandered the outskirts of the village, Kroa'Goa would fall under the attention of a shadow demon. One which sought to break him down, mentally and emotionally, and ensure that any who he told of his connection to the demon wouldn't believe him. No means explored by Kroa'Goa seemed to remove this demon's attachment to him. Troubled, Kroa'Goa wouldn't find rest easily that night.

The next morning, the party departed for Myth Drannor. To get to it, they would need to cross into the Starwood. And to do that, they would need to find one of the bridges which connected the Midwood to the Starwood over chasms of crags and tunnels. En route to a bridge, the Strike Team came under fire by an Evereskan attack helicopter, which they dispatched quickly (though word of their ingress to the warzone had been passed along to the Evereskan military). In the wake of this encounter, the party made their way to one of the bridges and, after dismantling the bombs and traps adorning it, made their way into the Starwood.

When they arrived in the Starwood, the Strike Team set up camp to rest - during which, they would be stumbled upon by a wood-elf man who had been fleeing from nearby Evereskan forces. The party had little time to question this individual before they were set upon by the pursuing Evereskan unit - led by a Colonel Alter "Whiteout" Ancel. Though the Strike Team (and Henrikki, who they'd chosen to defend) maintained an advantage over the colonel's subordinates, Ancel's arcane prowess was more than a match for the team. He forced them to flee, heavily wounded, with Henrikki in tow.

The Strike Team relocated to recover from their encounter, where they questioned Henrikki. Colonel "Whiteout" had made a name for himself in this civil war as a force of nature: many had faced him, but few (if any) had survived the Evereskan's greatest weapon. And now that the team had caught his interest, he would be ready for them in their next encounter. Bearing this in mind, the Strike Team was adamant to avoid him at all costs, as he was currently the greatest obstacle to claiming Angelica Fairchild's desired item. Instead, the party pushed ahead. The forest was rife with dangerous flora and fauna, and more than one dire encounter with the strange life here ensued. Eventually, the team used Henrikki's knowledge as a native of Myth Drannor to locate a portal (concealed with traps, riddles, and illusions) and gain entry to the hidden, ancient metropolis.

### Myth Drannor

When they arrived in Myth Drannor, the Strike Team and Henrikki were quickly apprehended by the city's military guard and taken to be interrogated after Skralgt't revealed his relationship with the war-hero, Vanachi. The party was taken to meet with See-Wu Hak: one of the leading generals of the Cormanthan military, and a direct supervisor to Vanachi. See-Wu separated Henrikki to arrange his trial for desertion, then questioned the Strike Team on its allegiances and how it gleaned its information on the Cormanthan military's operations. Specifically, the information on one of its closest-held secrets in Vanachi's allegiances and operations. When given the source on their information (Skralgt't's divination magics), See-Wu, in realizing how easy it may be for Evereskan forces to similarly track the Cormanthan military's actions, instead sought to earn the Strike Team's trust by sharing sensitive information with them on Vanachi - by having the party meet with him directly and immediately.

The relationship between Skralgt't and Vanachi was strained and complicated, made much moreso by Skralgt't's attempts to reconnect with his son and question his choice to join the war effort. For Vanachi, this interaction was business; dreaded business, but business nonetheless. He shared his mission as a triple-agent with the Strike Team: he was in close contact with powerful Evereskan agents, with whom he'd traded secrets and services in order to ultimately benefit Cormanthor's cause. With this information shared, and with the Strike Team's promise of inaction in the war effort for either side, the party was dismissed and given free roam of the city by See-Wu. The Strike Team saw only one way to claim the item Angelica Fairchild sought - and that lay in keeping a close eye on Vanachi. But whether Skralgt't's relationship with his son was a boon or hindrance toward that remained to be seen.

The party wandered through Myth Drannor in search of supplies and a place to rest. They found the former in the market "Hammer" districts of the city, and the latter in the largely-abandoned residential districts' apartment complexes. And after resting for the night and recovering from their woodland encounters, the team took to the city once more. In their travels, they found a gnoll religious fighting pit, called a "Wild Chamber". The party opted to participate in this cleansing ritual combat - and in doing so, two anomalies occurred: the shadow demon which clung to Kroa'Goa was pulled into the Wild Chamber's purifying obelisk (ostensibly to be sealed away forever), and an Avatar of Madness manifested in the fighting pit - intent on slaughtering everyone it could get its hands on. Though the Strike Team was ultimately able to dismantle the entity (though not without civilian losses), its manifestation forced the team to notify Watchguard Proper of the Demogorgon's imminent return to the Prime Material. They were instructed that Watchguard had measures in the works to deal with the Demogorgon, and that the Strike Team would likely be needed to see those measures through, but that in the meantime the team's mission had not changed.

Shortly after this, the Strike Team was contacted by an agent of the Cormanthan military: they had been called to an emergency assembly held by the military's highest generals. The party was led to this meeting, where they (and other agents of the Cormanthan military) were informed that General Udi Adam, the paranoid and brilliant leader of the Evereskan military force in Cormanthor, had been located. But in General Adam's paranoia, he was due to depart this temporary base in short order; if Cormanthor had any hope of winning their civil war, they would need to strike quickly and assassinate General Adam while they still had the chance. The Cormanthan military would send Vanachi, their best and brightest asset, on this mission - accompanied by the Strike Team. At this revelation, tensions between Skralgt't and his son boiled over into direct combat. Vanachi overpowered his father and expressed his resentment of Skralgt't openly before departing to prepare for the squad's mission. So, too, did the Strike Team make their own preparations for the task ahead.

Coriander used his **Scrying** magics to identify the item Vanachi held, which Angelica Fairchild so greatly desired. Kroa'Goa and Skralgt't purchased the magical equipment the party would need on their mission. And that night, when the party was ready, they would meet Vanachi at Myth Drannor's edge to begin their work together.

The squad traveled through the Cormanthan woods on-foot for a time, but when they came within range of Udi Adam's camp the squad split up. Vanachi would travel on-foot to another nearby Evereskan outpost to cause a distraction and aid the Strike Team's ingress to Udi Adam's camp. Coriander took to the skies with Skralgt't and Kroa'Goa using the **Fly** spell; the goal was to practice stealth by hiding high amongst the clouds, while maintaining a bird's-eye surveillance of the woods for any sign of the Evereskan military camp. As the team approached the camp, they found that a stockpile of Blacktide in the area had flooded the surrounding soil and killed off all flora around the outpost. However, a crash-landing midway through the Strike Team's flight (triggered by Coriander breathing in the airborne Blacktide fumes) forced the party to adapt or face death. Coriander was able to regain his flight just in time to recover from his fall; Skralgt't sacrificed his armor in a magical "Hail Mary" to absorb his impact; Kroa'Goa took the brunt of his fall, however, nearly dying in the process. Still, the party had survived. They continued on to Udi Adam's camp, and with Vanachi's explosive diversions in the nearby outpost the Strike Team was able to more easily enter the complex.

What they found inside, past the legion of Evereskan soldiers, hidden in one of the outpost's tents, was a large, adamantine coffin. It was bound and protected with a web of powerful enchantments to guard its inhabitant - General Udi Adam. While the party worked to pry open the general's coffin (to no avail), Udi Adam contacted Colonel Alter Ancel. The colonel had been dealing with Vanachi's diversion at the neighboring outpost, and upon hearing of the current attempt on General Udi Adam's life Ancel chose to return to his superior. Vanachi, however, arrived before Ancel would. And with Vanachi's aid, the enchantments on Udi Adam's coffin were disabled long enough for the Strike Team to assassinate the general. The team's egress from the outpost was blocked, however, with Colonel Ancel's arrival.

A dire encounter erupted in the Blacktide fields around the camp, with the Strike Team largely on the backfoot and Colonel Ancel pressing his advantage. The tables turned: Ancel found himself, bound and beaten, at the mercy of Skralgt't. Skralgt't, however, chose to spare the colonel and instead ensure the party's escape. With General Udi Adam's death, the Cormanthan Civil War's end was now in sight (and in fact, Evereskan forces would officially move to withdraw from Cormanthor the next day).

The morning after the Strike Team and Vanachi returned to Myth Drannor, they were all rewarded handsomely for their services. Skralgt't was given new armor and instructed on obsidian-craft by the city's best and brightest, Kroa'Goa was magically inducted into the Orc Pillar of Myth Drannor via a blood ritual, and Coriander was chosen as a new champion/incarnation of one of Myth Drannor's Martyrs, Ioseph. Further, the party met with See-Wu Hak and expressed their need of the item Vanachi held, now that the war would begin to diminish; they were assured that a deal could be worked out. And after the party was presented with honors for their contribution to the war effort, they settled in for the night in the same apartment complex as Vanachi.

The next day, the party would purchase more supplies to aid them in their ventures. Eventually, however, they would return to their apartment and find Vanachi with an unexpected guest: Colonel Alter Ancel. Though the war had functionally ended, Ancel had opted to remain in Cormanthor with his associate. In Vanachi's mission as a triple-agent, he had found a contact and eventual confidante in Colonel Ancel. The two had traded information in their work, and at some point had begun to theorize on the infernal anomalies that had been influencing Cormanthor more strongly with each passing day. And Ancel, like the Strike Team, had come to realize that the Demogorgon was returning to the Prime Material - and he claimed that his goal was to stop that infernal intrusion from occurring. And with the notes and bones of the Archwizard, Ori, Ancel believed he and the party would have what it takes to stop the Demogorgon.

### The Demons' Grave

Thousands of years ago, the Demogorgon attempted to break free from the Abyss into the Prime Material Plane - much as it was doing again, today. In those days, Preceptor Ori was a brilliant Cormanthan wizard and architect; he worked with a team to create the Demons' Grave, as a research complex and prison intended to seal Demogorgon away. Now, Alter Ancel theorized that only Ori would know how to reseal the Demogorgon in its cage, or otherwise identify what had gone wrong with its seal. But first the ancient wizard would need to be reanimated. For that, Alter Ancel would need to collaborate with Coriander and use the spell, **Simulacrum**, to recreate Ori. This ritual would take the rest of the night to perform, so while Coriander and Ancel cast their spell, Kroa'Goa and Skralgt't would finalize the supplies the team would need.

The next morning, the party (now composed of the Strike Team, Vanachi, Alter Ancel, and Ori) made their way to the Demons' Grave - which had, in the modern day, been converted into a temple to orcish deities. Skralgt't evacuated the temple so that the party would not be hindered in their mission, then Ori opened a secret passage in the temple which would lead down into the Demons' Grave.

The party fought their way through the upper layers of the facility - facing all manner of infernals and underdwellers, the latter of which helped to clue Ori into what had gone wrong with the Demons' Grave's protective seals. This facility had been built hundreds of feet below the surface of Myth Drannor, and some of its lowest points were just shy of some of the Underdark's highest; millennia of close proximity and burrowing fauna meant that the Demons' grave had become a battleground between its "native" demons (which slipped free of the Abyss through Demogorgon's presence) and the "intruding" underdwellers, and the facility's protective seals and wards were damaged as collateral losses in this new biome. These seals were the primary means of containing Demogorgon, and so as they were broken down over time the Demogorgon's power and presence in the plane could resurge. The deeper the party delved into the facility, the more disrepair they would find and the more openings into the Underdark.

As the party settled in for the night inside the Demons' Grave, Alter Ancel met with Coriander Lovelle and Vanachi to discuss the possibility of the group falling under the Demogorgon's maddening influence: this party was the most immediate threat to the demon prince, and the closer it came to preventing the Demogorgon's return, the more the Demogorgon would attempt to beguile, charm, or otherwise tempt the party. Ancel offered Coriander protection under the "**Mind Blank**" spell - but Coriander, in his suspicion of Ancel, identified the true spell Ancel was preparing.

**Alter Memory**.

The spell did not take effect over Coriander, but the die was cast. Ancel knew that his duplicity was caught. And so he fled the team - commanding his simulacrum, Ori, to **Teleport** with him to the depths of the Demons' Grave. And shortly after, Ancel would direct Ori to use the **Wish** spell to remotely steal Vanachi's item from him. This mission became a pursuit: locate Alter Ancel with all haste and slay him before he had the chance to use/destroy Vanachi's item, or else risk the Demogorgon's release into the realm.

The party raced through the multitude chambers of the Demons' Grave, avoiding or dismantling scores of foes along the way, until they entered a large chamber. A slow-burning siege was underway here: a small clan of myconids on the upper floor of the chamber were waging war with the pair of barlgura in the chamber's pit below. But because the conflict was all-pervasive in this room, it would prove difficult for the team to avoid the encounter entirely. Instead, they would need to choose an ally (be it demon or underdweller) and fight the other. Kroa'Goa was unfamiliar with myconids and their society, and was thus tricked by the barlgura into attacking these underdwellers. He set several of the myconids ablaze as the battle between the demons and the underdwellers erupted - and ultimately, Kroa'Goa was caught in the crossfire.

He was thrown from the upper levels of the chamber, shaken from his perch by the aftershocks of a large boulder the barlgura had hurled at their myconid foes. The party descended to the chamber's lower level to aid their teammate, but by then it was too late: the barlgura had taken advantage of his fall and isolation, and they beat Kroa'Goa to death. He would succumb to his injuries shortly after the party eradicated the barlgura. The party chose to sequester Kroa'Goa's body into an alcove in the Demons' Grave, blessing the site to honor their teammate, and then they found a nearby cavern to scavenge for resources and rest for the night. During his rest, Skralgt't was magically contacted by Alter Ancel via **Dream**, to discuss Vanachi and his agency, and Ancel advised Skralgt't to let his son make his own choices on where he should align his loyalties.

After their rest, the party would awaken to find that Kroa'Goa had returned - albeit in a new, more infernal form. He detailed his return. Kroa'Goa's soul had been cast into the Abyss, into the Hunting Grounds, where he would spend years of relative time fighting for his life. After years of working his way up to the highest peaks of the demiplane, Kroa'Goa would meet with Baphomet. He was offered a deal: Kroa'Goa would be released from the Abyss with a new lease on life, and all he would need to do in exchange was steal the Demogorgon's heart for Baphomet. Kroa'Goa accepted the deal and found himself shunted from the Abyss back to the Prime Material, now under Baphomet's authority.

Reunited, the party continued to fight through the Demons' Grave (where they came upon an arcanoforge deeply interred in the facility) until at last they found themselves at the vault which held the Demogorgon. Upon entering this vault, the party came upon a waiting Alter Ancel, an "unconscious" Ori, and an imprisoned the Demogorgon. Ancel discussed his plan with the party. A demon prince could be beaten, but never truly destroyed by any means mortals could imagine; they would instead always reform through their "heart", a powerful artifact which served as the demon prince's true essence given form. But this artifact could also be used as more than a tether for a demon prince: it could be harnessed to grant impossible abilities to whosoever wielded it. And Ancel would wield it, no matter the cost.

Alter Ancel made an appeal to Vanachi. Though the item Vanachi used had been taken from him via Ori's **Wish**, the item still saw only Vanachi as its master - and this item was the only thing (thanks to its nullifying effects on magic) which could slip past the protective wards that sealed the Demogorgon's heart away. Ancel needed Vanachi's allegience, and in return he offered Vanachi a portion of the Demogorgon's power. The two could become omnipotent gods.

But Skralgt't made his own appeal to Vanachi. No more running; no more commands. Skralgt't would stay in Myth Drannor with his son, spending the rest of his days repairing the relationship he'd once left behind. They would not have the power Ancel promised, but they would be together.

This was enough to sway Vanachi. He would, ultimately, reject Alter Ancel's offer and would side with the Strike Team. A conflict erupted. Ori was used to great effect by Alter Ancel to level the playing field and overwhelm the party, but Ancel had not accounted for a reborn Kroa'Goa. By the time Kroa'Goa had taken the killing shot against Ancel, however, the wizard had charmed Vanachi just long enough to collect the heart for Ancel. And with his dying breath, Ancel returned the Demogorgon's Heart to its owner.

The Demogorgon had awakened, and in short order it shattered all the bounds which shackled it. The party and a freed Ori faced off against this demon prince to prevent its escape, though they were quickly overwhelmed. Preceptor Ori was slain in the conflict as he attempted to create an opening for the party to strike. As the team's fates (and the fate of the Prime Material) seemed most dire, Watchguard's "Demon Prince Contingency" was enacted: Angelica Fairchild was teleported from Watchguard Headquarters directly to Kroa'Goa's broadband in the Demons' Grave. She arranged the encounter to have herself be struck by the Demogorgon - where she could invoke ancient abyssal law. Demon princes are forbidden from personally combatting each other, and the Demogorgon had just struck the demon prince, Baphomet.

To protect herself from the Demogorgon and dole out retribution on her behalf, Baphomet (now Angelica Fairchild) was permitted by this law to elect a cadre of champions. She chose the Strike Team and Vanachi, and the party was summarily empowered to match their new stations. The encounter began anew, with the party using their newfound abilities to protect Fairchild and overpower the Demogorgon. But once they began to gain ground, the Demogorgon flew into a frenzy. It laser-focused on killing Fairchild, and anyone who got in its way was cast aside. Vanachi, in particular, was made insensate with the **Feeblemind** spell; this curse would be lifted by Skralgt't after the conclusion of this battle. After a conflict hard-fought, the body of the Demogorgon was subdued. All that remained now was subduing the heart - a task only Skralgt't could complete. Through force of will, and at great personal risk, Skralgt't commanded the Demogorgon's Heart to slumber forever more. The demon prince obeyed, and found itself diminished, unconscious, and sealed away in Kroa'Goa's bag.

The Prime Material had been saved. But the Demogorgon's escape from its cage triggered an automatic self-destruct sequence in the Demons' Grave. The party had little more than 5 minutes to escape the entire facility before it would fill with all the soil its construction had displaced a millennium before. Faced with imminent death, the party became desperate. But with Fairchild overloading Coriander with infernal, arcane insight and potential, Coriander was able to **Teleport** the party out of the Demons' Grave and into Myth Drannor Proper.

With the Demogorgon's hold on Cormanthor shattered, all victims of its maddening aura would need time to recover - and the Strike Team and Vanachi would need time to rest from their harrowing encounters. For some, however, these experiences had been particularly harrowing. Skralgt't had chosen to depart the Strike Team to remain with his son in Myth Drannor, and Kroa'Goa would likewise choose to retire from active duty after all he had seen and done in this mission. And after working with Fairchild to set up a Watchguard outpost in this city to study the local anomalies, so that Skralgt't could remain in the city under official Watchguard capacity, the party prepared for their imminent farewells and settled in for the night. The next day, the party met with the Cormanthan military heads and received a host of honors. They spoke with See-Wu Hak in order to make good on their agreed-upon bargain and claim Vanachi's item for Watchguard. With See-Wu's blessing, the party returned to Watchguard using a **Teleportation Circle** Coriander prepared.

And in the depths of Watchguard, far below its daily operations, the party (now consisting of Fairchild, Kroa'Goa, Coriander, and Vanachi) placed the Demogorgon's Heart in storage. But that wasn't the only reason this team was in the facility's basements. The group was led to a room, hidden away, which held the Orrery of the Wanderer (an artifact which displayed and controlled the function of the entire planar system) within. The item Fairchild sought, that Vanachi had wielded in his escapades, was a small component of the Orrery - and at Vanachi's approach his item was stripped from him and pulled immediately into the Orrery's workings. The artifact began to function at a higher capacity than it had before, but Fairchild revealed it was still missing a small number of components. Which is where the Strike Team came in. Their task was given: they would assist Fairchild in collecting all remaining pieces to the Orrery of the Wanderer, and in doing so aid Watchguard's mission greatly.

The party would leave Watchguard's depths, picking up a new teammate along the way, and complete their mission with an extensive (if limited) debriefing session with Watchguard's higher-ups.