The Thirty-Eighth Session

Leaving Mulmaster, the group began heading toward Calrunt, where Xochic sensed another Bloodstone. Along the way, they saw a large company of soldiers coming down the path opposite them, and while hiding, Aoth overheard some soldiers talking about having received intel that the Sentinels were in Lyria, and that they knew of weak points in the wall of No Man's Land. When the company passed, Shag sent word to Melarra about what they heard, prompting Melarra to respond that there may be a mole in the resistance, and she would proceed with discretion.

They continued into the Earthspur mountain range, up a pathway carved into the mountainside. After passing the peak, they came to the small village of Rae'e. Shag used Clairvoyance to look ahead, and discovered the village was ransacked and abandoned. He and Halrek snuck in, with Yief attempting to sneak behind them, but being largely in plain sight. Aoth and Xochic stayed behind, waiting to enter the village until something went wrong or they confirmed it was clear. Shag and Halrek checked some buildings, and found things knocked over or broken, but no dried blood or signs of massacre. Yief went up the stone steps to a watchtower, and discovered dead Lyrian soldiers, that he deduced had been killed 3 weeks ago. They confirmed the village was clear, and Aoth and Xochic met them in the middle of the town. Aoth then noticed some movement in a nearby building, and went in to check it out.

Discovering a small high elf girl, he attempted to persuade her to come out, but to little avail, though Shag had better luck. Yief offered her food, which seemed to help her trust them. She explained that a group of soldiers and a man she called "the reaper" had taken most of the village as prisoners 3 weeks prior, but her father was able to hide them. The soldiers then came back 10 days ago and her father only had time to hide her, and was taken with everyone else, leaving her alone ever since, with the exception of a mouse with sparrow wings named Targon that she referred to as her friend as she fed it. She introduced herself as Herba, and asked if the group could find her father. She knew the soldiers said some prisoners were being taken to Calrunt, which caused the group to be uneasy knowing there was a Bloodstone there. Aoth left his pseudodragon, Raijin, with her to keep her company, and promised they would return whether they found her father or not. Yief gave her a knife, and learned she knew some basic magic when she used Prestidigitation on the knife.

They then set back off for Calrunt, encountering small troupes here and there but being able to avoid any serious encounters so as not to draw attention to the path to Rae'e. Arriving at the outskirts of Calrunt, they found the city in ruins, with only a few buildings having sustained minimal damage. They made a plan to split up, having Aoth, Yief, and Xochic go to scout out the area near the Bloodstone, while Shag and Halrek search for the prisoners and, hopefully, Herba's father. Shag cast invisibility on everyone, while Xochic cast Pass Without A Trace.

Shag and Halrek entered the Mage's Hall, a large building that seemed to be the central area of what would be the political and academic bodies of the city, and one of the few buildings still standing. After exploring the inside for a bit, Shag cast Detect Creature to locate the prisoners so as not to waste more time. Discovering their presence in the building underneath them, he and Halrek descended. Nearly bumping into 2 soldiers on the staircase, Halrek shapeshifted while invisible to avoid being touched by one, while Shag jumped up on the banister and slid down to avoid being touched by the other. Reaching the basement, Shag used Hypnotic Pattern to hypnotize the four guards in front of a closed door, and inside they found six high elves in shackles, gagged and blindfolded. Halrek blinked them to the other side of the bars, and picked the locks on all of the shackles, freeing them. When they asked if one of them was Herba's father, a man named Hanolin responded that he was, and asked who the group was and what they were doing there. When it was established that they needed to destroy the stone, Hanolin agreed and said the group of elves would help. They used Dimension Door to leave in pairs, while Halrek blinked Shag and himself outside.

Meanwhile, Aoth, Yief, and Xochic found the still-usable ruins of a bridge before getting a layout of the defenses around the stone at the beach. They then went inside a tower that was still standing, discovering it was likely an inn and check-in area for traders at the port, but was being used as barracks for the Ebonyborn. After making sure the rooms were all clear, they ended up in a chapel on the top floor, where there was an Ebony Commander sharpening a sword. Aoth used Hold Person to paralyze him, and Yief restrained him. Aoth gagged and blindfolded him, and they used the chapel as a vantage viewpoint of the Bloodstone.

Shag and Halrek's group eventually ended up at the foot of the tower, at which point Aoth dropped the commander from the window, causing him to fall to his death with an echo of the cracking of his armor. Running downstairs to meet the rest of the group, they realized the sound of the body hitting the ground attracted attention, and troops were closing in. They went to hide in the nearby ruins of a church, but some members of the now larger party weren't light footed enough, and the church was soon surrounded. Hanolin told Aoth that they were all powerful mages and could fight off the forces around them and draw the attention all to the church, and the Sentinels needed to destroy the stone. He and one of the other mages used Dimension Door to send the Sentinels through, teleporting them to the bridge. They then took advantage of the noise from the battle that began to break out at the church and sprinted to the crystal, where now only 3 guards remained: 2 berserkers and a general, who wore a hooded cloak with his armor and wielded a scythe. A fight broke out, during which the Sentinels both engaged the soldiers, and landed blows on the crystal, shattering it bit by bit.

Through a bloody fight, Shag eventually succeeded in banishing the general, giving them a chance to kill the 2 berserkers and destroy what was left of the Bloodstone, and giving them a few seconds to regroup before the general returned.