Age of the Dragon: Chapter 4

### Feywild - Domain of Olnia

The party awoke to find themselves in a foreign land, recognizing it to be a clearing in the centre of a forest. Taking a moment to acclimate themselves to their surroundings, they began to realize just how strange their surroundings were, from massively overgrown trees to islands floating in the sky above, their surroundings were rather fantastical to say the least. Taking a bit of time to investigate, Elise and Veyleth (who had also been caught in the incident) recognized the place to be the Feywild, although neither one could truly recognize where exactly they were. They also recognized that Okeanos had not accompanied them here, however, with the situation as is, they could do nothing but hope that he had been clear of the blast that had brought them here.

The party got to trying to find their bearings, with Elise trying to contact her patron. In the meantime, Chulz scanned the tree line catching sight of various squirrels watching the party intently. Using his helm of comprehending languages, he realized that they were actually discussing between themselves with the squirrels believing that the party had stolen an acorn. Upon realizing that he was listening in on their discussion, the squirrels scattered into the brush, clearly still watching the party. Elise realized that her connection to her patron was far stronger here, and successfully contacted her, much to her patron’s surprise. Trishalia informed Elise that she was in the domain of Olnia beyond the control of the Faerie Courts, and whilst she would try to find a way to help her, there was not much she could do at the moment. Before she could speak further however, their link was forcefully severed much to Elise’ annoyance. Following a short encounter with a squirrel that attempted to rob them, the party decided to make their way through the forest avoiding any contact with the denizens of this domain.

They began navigating the strange forest, the terrain proving to be extremely difficult to traverse, until they came across a centaur named Osylas who claimed to have been looking for them. He warned them of a dangerous group of brigands known as the Everbright Crusaders that were stalking this land. He had been tasked with protecting them and would lead them to the safety of Pinehall. The party still suspicious of the centaur’s intentions, reluctantly agreed to accompany him and were taken to Pinehall where they found a festival taking place. The Winterlight Festival was a strange affair, an event filled to the brim with drunken revelry and yet also possessing darker undertones. Here the party learned that they may receive clues as to how they could escape the domain by participating in the events and winning. With this in mind, the party participated and succeeded in winning various tokens as well as receiving a few hints. Whilst here, Thomas also met a dwarven engineer named Durvan who had been stranded in the Feywild, the dwarf begged Tommy for his help with delivering a few schematics to his mentor, Joseph Cindermore in the Midden, to which Tommy agreed although unsure as to who Joseph was.

There was also a short scuffle with a squirrel knight that ended when said knight was brutally trampled by Osylas, seemingly ending the squirrels’ vendetta against the party. The festival continued for hours before the mayor of Pinehall finally announced that they would be crowning the Winterlight Monarch. Pooling together their tokens, the party managed to crown Elise as the Monarch at which point, they heard a wicked voice echo from the sky above followed by a rain of fire that engulfed the town. Panic ensued and the party began rushing through the burning streets and alleyways. As they did so, they once more heard the wicked voice boom in the sky above and reality seemed to shift around them as the edge of town was suddenly pulled closer. Here they were met by a group of harengon fighters and a burning owlbear. A fight ensued, after which the party escaped into the forest, taking a moment to compose themselves, Osylas decided it would be safest to lead them to his baron, the elder treant Giltharen.

There the party was greeted by the treant who gave them a bit more insight into the archfey ruler of the domain, the Lantern King as well as their part in his play. Deciding that they would have no part in this play, the party began discussing ways of possibly escaping, and had so far found three ways of possibly doing this, however for now they settled on possibly using the tunnels of the Feydark, learning of a fey creature residing in the mountains that could possibly help the party find a way out. After communing with her patron, Elise came to the conclusion that the creature might be a fey dragon, and that the party might have to give it something valuable in return for the creature’s help. While this was happening, Chulz began to feel his inner beast influence his thoughts and slowly take control. Overcome with a craving to hunt, Chulz chose to indulge the beast, killing a bear that he found close by. However, on his way back to the others, he was approached by a strange figure who resembled an elf with exaggerated features.

The figure introduced himself as the Lantern King, and proceeded to taunt Chulz, finally hitting a nerve after telling him that his absence was the cause of his family’s death. And berating him further for always running away. Barely managing to contain his anger, Chulz stormed back to the rest of the party where Giltharen revealed that four years had passed since their departure from Penastria. He also informed the party that a lot had happened in those four years, chief among them being that the draconic empire had collapsed. This was a worrying revelation for our heroes, with them frantically looking for a way to return home. Sienna turned to her last resort, crushing the amulet that Agarron had given her to call upon the Pit Fiend’s aid. She summoned an infernal cambion who revealed that Agarron was preoccupied on the front, and he would serve her in his place. Sienna asked for his help to return to the hells, where the party could more easily find a way home, and most of the party agreed. The cambion would try to oblige, however he noted that there was a barrier that was hindering his link to the hells. The party combined a variety of spells and abilities in order to aid his plane shift, however the spell culminated in a failure with the cambion disappearing in a puff of green smoke, leaving the party stranded in the feywild.

Now finding themselves stranded in the feywild, the members of the party were forced to search for a way to escape the domain they had found themselves in. Having learned of a possible passage out through the feydark they decided to make their way through Dawnspire where they were told an entrance could be found. During their journey, Sienna’s Mistblade suddenly appeared and much to her frustration, Sienna realized that she could not dismiss it. Taking the time to examine it, she concluded that an aspect of the weapon seemed to be missing.

Making their way through a colourful forest, the party found themselves assaulted by the flora within, strange aromas wafting through the air and addling their senses and leading to some hallucinating as they were drawn towards the predatory branches and roots. However, working together the party managed to successfully follow the path through the forest, eventually leaving it behind to find themselves traversing desolate, craggy hills. Luckily they were not assaulted by anything else as they hiked past the unnaturally barren vista before finally entering a thick swathe of wetlands, through which the path precariously passed. Settling in for the night, Sienna took the time to examine her weapon further, and realized much to her horror, that her connection to the hells had been severed completely, or more accurately, there was no longer a hell for her weapon to connect to. Now at her wit’s end, a troubled Sienna felt something tugging at her subconscious, reaching out to her, and in her desperation she reached back. A connection between her and this entity failed to materialize, however, she was now certain that she had caught the entity’s attention.

In the meantime, Elise’s dreams were visited by the Lantern King, who now, contrary to his previous hostility and initial motivation, made her an offer. He needed the party to kill an automaton guardian beneath Dawnspire in exchange for their escape, claiming that he had in fact been cursed and that the automaton was part of this curse. Elise, rightfully so was hesitant to accept, asking that he let her speak to her patron first, to which the king acquiesced. The following morning, Thomas, offered to help Sienna with her weapon, believing that it could be possible to anchor the weapon to something else, either one of them or possibly the feywild. Sienna begrudgingly accepted, although she was not really keen on having the weapon be bound to this strange plane, working together, the two of them spent an hour, with Sienna using her psionic abilities to aid Thomas who worked on fixing the item’s enchantment, something that was beyond his normal abilities. Strangely though, he noticed that he was not alone in this endeavour, something seemed to be subtly influencing his work, guiding his hand as he did so. The hour culminated with Sienna once more feeling the entity reach out to her, drawn to her anger and hatred for the abyss, latching onto her and binding itself to the Mistblade. Both Sienna and the weapon changed, with one of Sienna’s eyes taking on a reddish colour, and her mist changing to a more scarlet appearance. Sienna found herself drawn towards Dawnspire, the entity guiding her towards it in order to free it, her resolve strengthened Sienna obliged, beginning her trek. It was at this point that the Lantern King once more communed with Elise asking her what Thomas had just done, explaining that Sienna was now glowing. At the same time, she was also contacted by her patron, Trishalia, who asked her what had happened. She explained that the aftershock of what had transpired had been felt in the court of the Lunar Queen. Elise explained what little she could from what she had seen, however, the Lantern King growing bored decided to contact Thomas directly, communing with him. The two had a short back and forth, which left an impression on the archfey who seemed to grow rather fond of the goblin. He explained his desire to the goblin, who after a bit more of a back and forth, accepted the archfey’s help in reaching Dawnspire, especially when the archfey revealed that another two years had passed. Elated by what was transpiring the Lantern King appeared to them in person, the party still somewhat bewildered by everything that was happening. After a bit more of a discussion between themselves, the Lantern King teleported the party to the entrance of Dawnspire, immolating the guardian he had stationed there and offering the party the warrior’s sword as a gesture of good faith. He informed Thomas that he would most likely make use of his services in the future before promptly disappearing again.

After the archfey’s disappearance Sienna wasted no time in entering Dawnspire, feeling the pull of the entity, and ignoring the rest of the party’s warnings. Rushing after her, the party entered a small office, which Tommy surmised to have once belonged to a wizard on account of a collection of spellbooks which he saw and immediately took. Chulz and Elise took to investigating the rest of the room while Sienna was drawn towards a display case on the side of the room. Feeling the presence beckoning from beyond she pushed the case aside and found a small compartment in the wall, within which was a glass jar containing a small clump of red crystals. She reached for the crystals, which immediately dug into her flesh and knocked her back. Still reeling she managed to remain conscious but realized that there was now a sixth figure in the room, as an elven figure with a red outline reached out to her and helped her onto her feet. He proclaimed that they had an abyss to destroy and when asked, introduced himself as Fenlaros.

The individual promised Sienna that together they would destroy the abyss but revealed very little about himself apart from that. Following this, the party continued searching through the wizard’s office, finding an assortment of spellbooks, a brass key, a magical stone, and three lockboxes, one of which was desecrated and protected by glyphs of warding. Pocketing all of it, the party descended into the depths beneath the tower, here they heard a booming voice that ordered them to leave before suddenly triggering a trap as a massive boulder suddenly appeared and began rushing down the stairs towards them.

In a panic, the party ran down the stairs with Thomas trying unsuccessfully to slow the boulder down. Eventually, the boulder caught up to Elise who had fallen a bit behind before finally disappearing inside the boulder. As this happened, the boulder disappeared along with the other traps throughout the stairwell. Continuing forward, and past a magical doorway the party found themselves inside a large chamber its walls covered in murals depicting various extraplanar beings. One mural caught the party’s full attention as it depicted seven differently coloured eyes. Recognizing a link between what they had faced beneath the necromancer’s temple, Tommy turned to Veyleth and finally asked him about his elves’ involvement with the rebellion in Parascent and the eldritch monstrosities there.

Through a serious of questions and threats, Tommy and Elise reached the conclusion that Veyleth had in fact been charmed into protecting the city, when in fact his band had been sent to investigate it. Using the scroll of greater restoration that Lydia gave him, Thomas successfully dispelled the charm, which led to a drastic shift in Veyleth’s demeanour. His faculties now completely restored the elf recalled what had happened when he’d gone to meet the archbishop, Philippe, and that he had in fact been magically charmed by a devil. Realizing the devil’s involvement, the party now turned their attention towards Sienna who revealed all, which led to a now enraged Veyleth threatening to kill her. The party successfully managed to calm him down, citing that they shared a common enemy. Turning their attention back towards the murals, they once more heard the voice now urging them to solve this room’s puzzle as the room quickly began to fill with mud. Working together the party managed to solve the puzzle before being entombed in the mud and in the process found a platform that descended into the feydark. Here they finally came face to face with the being behind the voice, which revealed itself to be a bronze faerie dragon named Rathair. The dragon claimed to be waiting for its master, the illusionist, Percival, and upon recognizing Veyleth burst out into laughter and mocked the poor elf, revealing that he was in fact Beranabus’ son, who had failed to earn a place by his father’s side.

The party spoke to the dragon, with Tommy and Elise standing up for Veyleth, and then successfully convinced the dragon to let them enter the chamber where the axiomite dwelt. Here they came across a golden chamber, with a massive clock in the centre atop which was contained a raging celestial storm. Noticing the planar gate further ahead, Chulz and Sienna went on to investigate, whilst the rest of the party, at Rathair’s behest, convened by the figure of Percival, half of whom had been encased in golden metal. Meanwhile, Sienna managed to identify that the inscriptions along the gate were in celestial, and using his helm, Chulz recognized that the inscriptions were more akin to a sign or label along the gate. The party then decided to interact with the celestial storm, with Chulz approaching it.

Upon interacting with it, the storm came to life, merging to form a massive automaton, before they could have a chance to communicate with it, the creature attacked the party recognizing various forms of extraplanar anomalies stuck to them. A deadly battle ensued with the creature seemingly possessing the ability to alter time, significantly aging members of the party. However, the battle came to an end with Chulz dealing the final blow and damaging the octahedron in the centre of the creature. In the aftermath of this, the party managed to speak to Percival who after realizing that it was too late for him begged them to go to Beranabus and inform him of what had happened, to which the party agreed. Activating and stepping through the planar gate, the party found themselves back in their world, but upon climbing to a small precipice, they saw that it was no longer the world they remembered. It was a world in ruins, floating above which was a massive rift that was drawing everything into it.

### Penastria - Unknown

Resting beside the planar gate, the party took turns keeping watch, and while nothing approached the camp, during the night, Sienna found herself in an out-of-body experience, noticing various psionic threads tethering her to the rest of the party and a connection forming with a humanoid entity beside her. She attempted to halt the forming connection but inadvertently lowered her barriers allowing it to grow stronger. The strengthening connection granted her further insight into the entity that she had bonded too, and granted her a new ability, although Fenlaros cautioned against her strengthening the bond too quickly.

The following morning, Chulz also realized that his holy symbol had changed, the golden fang now warped to resemble the golden head of a jackal with three eyes, leading to Sienna concluding that the being referred to as the Life Mother had been successful in its conquest. Setting off, the party contacted Beranabus who informed Veyleth that the forest of Atheluin had successfully kept the demonic forces at bay. The party decided to head south towards the forest to meet with the archmage, with Thomas noting the formal tone that Veyleth used when addressing him and subsequently began preparing himself for future arguments with the elven mage. Heading south, the party noticed that many graves had also seemingly been desecrated, and the corruptive influence of this archdemon had also effected religious symbols throughout the land with various statues now taking on the appearance of a grossly pregnant humanoid with the head of a jackal, black feathered wings, and lizard-like claws.

Following the trail south, the party soon came across a scuffle and saw a group of survivors fending off a small crowd of demons and cultists. Charging into battle, the party caught the demons by surprise and made short work of them, rescuing the survivors, one of whom they recognized to be Gunther, a lawkeeper who had been with Theobald when he’d followed Thomas to the Three Points Inn. Gunther revealed that they had a small refuge along the coast but would need the party’s help in ambushing a caravan filled with supplies heading towards Freyen. The party agreed and successfully carried out the ambush, saving a few prisoners and gathering some much-needed supplies. It was here that Gunther revealed to Thomas that Theobald was still alive as were two of Thomas’ children. This revelation left Thomas deep in thought as the party made their way towards the coast, upon their arrival the group split up with Chulz, Sienna and Elise meeting the leader of this little resistance a goliath woman from the easterlands known as Vadis.

She revealed herself to be a member of the Seekers in Guldahrim and had been sent to the westerlands when the demonic rift opened in order to secure as many magical artefacts as possible. She revealed that dragons had taken over the empire after a coup led to Julius’ ascension to the imperial throne. Their reign was short lived however, as demonic forces invaded shortly after, Hand Julius had supposedly perished when the rift opened above the Midden. After this, they decided to split up and help as best they can for the duration of their stay. In the meantime, Thomas, followed by Veyleth spent some wandering the shanty town, before finally casting invisibility to escape the elf. Losing him amidst the buildings he made his way towards Theobald’s shack where he saw the elderly man sitting in a rocking chair, having lost one eye and both of his legs. In the back of the hovel, he heard shouting and recognized the voices to be an older Alan and Rea.

Thomas snuck inside and past the oblivious Theobald, in order to see his children, realizing that they had now grown up. He spent some time pensively watching them before following Alan outside, wherein his son revealed that he was aware of his presence, threatening to kill him if he did not reveal himself. The sight of his father caught Alan by surprise, but that surprise quickly gave way to resentment as he refused to give his father the time of day and rushed back into the shack. A few moments later, Thomas heard shouting from inside, and was surprised to see Rea rush out to hug him, happy to see him again. Leading him inside he passed by Alan taking a look his gang tattoos and noticing the same Rusty Nails symbols that he had with the addition of a dragon’s head at the top. Speaking to Theobald, the two of them had a heart to heart, the man revealing that he had been led astray and his search for vengeance had led to him losing everything. In the end Theobald had been seeking some sort of atonement and upon realizing what Caius had been doing to children in the Midden, killed the dragonborn at the cost of his leg. He managed to save Alan and Rea but expressed regret at his inability to save the others. The broken Theo unknowingly fell asleep all the while still begging for Thomas’ forgiveness, while Tommy held his young daughter close.

Finding a bit of closure, Thomas later reconvened with the rest of the party, and all of them proceeded to settle in for the night, however they realized that Elise had disappeared, with Fenlaros noting that fey magic was at work. Realizing that there was little they could do about this, they began taking their long rest, however, Thomas was unable to fall asleep, kept away by the sound of dripping water. Growing restless, Thomas sat up in his bedroll and noticed a puddle of murky water forming at the base of his bedroll, the smell of decay and saltwater filling his nostrils. Noticing a shadow rush past outside, Tommy woke up and followed the figure, recognizing him to be Okeanos but his old comrade was different now, turned into the thrall of the seafather.

The spectre blamed Thomas for his current predicament and claimed that Tommy’s place was beside him. He threatened the goblin and his family, but offered an accord, the Seafather would give Tommy his soul back in exchange for the heart of Dunam. Tommy angered by the threat, rejected the offer outright after which the shade disappeared, with Thomas noting that the drops of water echoed for thirteen times before stopping. Waking the rest of the party, Thomas expressed his worry, to which Chulz decided to patrol the area and make sure that everything was clear. During his patrol, Chulz noticed a figure off in the distance, a figure who he recognized to be Artemis. The ever-enigmatic figure was visibly troubled and lacked the cordial tone that he usually took when speaking to Chulz. He chided the dragonborn for his choices and blamed him for his sword seemingly falling dormant. This frustrated Chulz to no end, and he finally erupted, shouting at Artemis about all that had transpired and how it was not his fault. This struck a cord with Artemis who apologized to Chulz for his previous reaction and took a calmer tone during their discussion. However, partway through their conversation, they were interrupted by Sienna who had been awakened by a panicked Fenlaros. Rushing out, Artemis seemed to recognize the indignant Fenlaros.

Chulz stood up for Artemis, telling her that he was on their side, and Sienna chose to stay her hand much to Fenlaros’ protests. Artemis took the time to finish his conversation with Chulz, informing him that he was but a servant of greater gods, and those gods demanded Chulz’ atonement for his actions. He took the dragon slayer and told Chulz that he could reclaim it by going on a pilgrimage to the Temple of Draconic Communion in Azeir. Following this Artemis headed off into the water, taking on the form of a Crystal Dragon before flying off into the distance. This revelation, led to a lot of panic, both from the refugees who witnessed it and the members of the party, especially Sienna who was uncertain as to what she would do now, beginning to doubt Fenlaros’ motives. Arguing with the elf, Sienna began to dig deeper into her psionic connection, and came to the realization that she was linked to another entity, digging deeper into this link, Sienna ignored Fenlaros’ warnings, and strengthened it. This overwhelmed her senses as she was suddenly shunted out of her body and her mind melded with the closest individual, in this case Chulz. It was a horrifying experience as their memories momentarily melded together before Sienna was finally pulled into her body.

Fenlaros and Sienna, continued to argue about their current predicament, with the party now able to hear the elf who spoke through Sienna. Discussing this third entity, Fenlaros was certain that they could use it to destroy the abyss, although Sienna was sceptical as to its motives. Eventually they decided to research the entity further before committing to a decision. Following this, the night passed without further incident, although Seeker Vadis, Gunther and Veyleth were worried that the commotion would draw any nearby demonic forces. The next morning Veyleth informed the party that he had come to an agreement with his father, who had sent a wolf ship to take the refugees to the safety of Atheluin. Deciding to cover the refugees’ evacuation, the party aided in the defence of the settlement, as it soon came under attack by beastmen and demons.

Chulz and Veyleth led the defence at the mouth of the cave, taking the brunt of the damage, whilst Thomas and a few of the militia offered ranged support. Meanwhile Sienna darted throughout the cove as needed, trying her best to seal away the demonic rifts that were forming. The melee at the mouth of the cave was a bloody affair, with one of the minotaurs leading the charge being a familiar one, that same champion that they’d killed in the Hag’s lair, now reborn and wielding that same greataxe that had escaped Chulz. The minotaur gave Chulz and Veyleth a beating, however with Sienna’s help they managed to slay the beast. During this time however, a portal successfully formed and began releasing aquatic demons within the cave, one of which was a familiar glabrezu that had come for Thomas, the goblin now once more hearing the sound of dripping water. The demonic attack from the rear led to the death of many of the militia, however another demon took advantage of the chaos, as a shadow demon used this as a distraction to attempt to kidnap a preoccupied Veyleth.

Now in a panic the party did their best to deal with the glabrezu that relentlessly hounded Thomas, swatting away the members of the party who dared try to hinder it, knocking Chulz down multiple times, seemingly annoyed by the dragonborn’s persistence. Desperately fighting for their lives and their friend’s soul the party could do little to help Veyleth who fought the shadow demon alone. After a deadly struggle, the party managed to kill the glabrezu with Chulz landing the final blow with a javelin as the demon knocked Sienna away and towered above Thomas. Meanwhile, Veyleth had been knocked unconscious by the shadow demon that used the opportunity to take his magical gauntlets. Having dealt with the demonic force, and still very injured the party cornered the shadow demon before it could escape and defeated it, securing the gauntlets. And all fell silent.

### Feywild - Lunar Court

The members of the party having fended off an assault by demonic forces on the coastal refuge, prepared to cast off towards Atheluin. Prior to this however, Elise had an encounter of her own, having been summoned by her patron to the Lunar Court, Trishalia informed Elise of the precarious situation they now found themselves in. With the demonic incursion into Penastria in full swing, there was a great deal of paranoia within the elven courts, and due to the party’s actions in Olnia, many were uncertain as to their allegiances. Because of this, Trishalia stressed to Elise that they would have to carefully navigate the politics of the elven courts in order to avoid drawing any further suspicion. She explained that to combat the demonic invasion, Sarastra had called for the other elven gods as well as many of the archfey to meet and discuss a potential alliance.

This meeting would be held during the Summer Solstice, she explained all of the Lunar Court’s agents were expected to be present, including Elise of course. Leading her through the court’s central garden, Elise was given a taste of what to expect during the event, as she was greeted by one of the Winter Court’s representatives, the royal eladrin, Lyandra. The eladrin was fascinated by Elise and after a short conversation learned quite a bit about the party’s adventure in Olnia and managed to get Elise to agree to a tour of Joetenheim in the near future. Trishalia then led Elise out of the garden, telling her that it would be best if she kept a close eye on her companions before finally sending her back to Penastria. Elise was reunited with the rest of the party, just as they were preparing to leave for the ship. The voyage to Atheluin took up the rest of the day, and for the most part was a pleasant experience, except for Sienna who found herself hating the voyage. During their short time at sea, Thomas identified Chulz’ greataxe, and while he did not detect any curses, Chulz decided it would be best not to attune to it, just in case.

### Penastria - Atheluin

The ship reached the elven port of Tor Athel late into the evening, here our group of adventurers split up with Thomas accompanying his family to ensure that they could settle in, while the rest followed Veyleth out of Tor Athel toward the Crescent Tower in order to meet Beranabus. They were led by Veyleth through the Deepwoods as it would hasten their journey, they were however warned by a few guards that recently the path had grown far more dangerous, a fact that they all came to understand as their minds were assailed by the spirits within, with Chulz suffering the brunt of their assaults. Thankfully they managed to navigate the supernatural labyrinth, exiting just outside a walled tower made of silvery white stone, with the symbol of a crescent moon at its top. Floating there was a massive orb that radiated with a bright green arcane energy. The party were led inside by Veyleth, however, due to a lack of communication they were separated, with Sienna coming into contact with a devil from her past.

The devil, Alkaraz, revealed to her that he had escaped the hells before it was assaulted by the full brunt of the demonic invasion. For now Alkaraz was a guest of Beranabus as the wizard sought the devil’s information on Infernus. Information that Alkaraz, ever the miser, was loathe to part with for free. Refusing to give in to his taunts, Sienna managed to reach Beranabus, and the party finally met the wizard. Beranabus provided a great deal of insight into what had transpired, revealing that he had spent a great deal of time exploring dunamancy and believed that it would be essential in defeating the forces of the Abyss, and requested the party’s help in doing so. He also revealed that he possessed a Heart of Dunam, and while he was aware that the party had one themselves, he believed that they might require more in order to end the incursion. To this end he revealed that most of the dragonborn within the empire had been taken by an unknown force when the rift had been opened, revealing that they were now in Azeir. He also revealed that one of the Silver Tyrant’s servants had survived, the copper dragonborn, Flavius, the only person who knew where to find the Hearts of Dunam that Julius had acquired. Delving deeper into the current global situation, the party also learned that another rift had almost opened within Norvosh but had somehow been sealed.

Of more interest towards Chulz especially however, was the last bit of information and the lead that the party agreed to follow up on. During his scrying, Beranabus had also noticed a large concentration of Dunamancy within the Spine of Chultan, leading him to believe that an expert practitioner was present. An expert practitioner whose aid could prove to be invaluable in deciphering the secrets of Dunamis. The party agreed to help Beranabus, but Sienna asked that the elven army help the soldiers of the Eastern Alliance who were under siege in Athelburg. Beranabus offered them a letter of introduction to Vannion who is currently in charge of marshalling the elven forces. Their meeting with the archmage now at end, the members of the party were assigned rooms for the night where they could take their long rests.

Resting for the night, Fenlaros asked Sienna for a favour, and the two left for the forest, where they once more used the Deepwoods, and travelled to the ruins of an elven city. Once thriving with life but now abandoned, its bustling streets now filled with the petrified remains of its inhabitants, and its demonic invaders. Sienna followed Fenlaros deeper into the city until they reached its centre, where the largest concentration of the petrified individuals stood, all of them caught in their final moments around the cracked remains of a black orb. Fenlaros told Sienna that this had once been his home, and as more of his memories returned to him, he spoke of how his father had summoned a demonic host, and how the city had paid the price. Here, in this monument to the abyss’ corruption, he promised that he’d help her destroy the abyss and that he’d never lie to her. A promise that Sienna would hold him to.

Meanwhile, Thomas who had previously decided to remain with his family in Tor Athel, had other things on his mind as he peered into the Heart of Dunam, and found himself drawn by the knowledge it held within. Knowing that delving too deeply would risk his health. Taking a walk to clear his head, he managed to sneak out of the cordoned section of the port that the refugees had found themselves in, and into the city proper. Here he once more felt the uneasiness that had persisted for the past two days, as looking around he found a strange fish circling the edges of a shallow pond. The fish held Thomas’ gaze as the haunting light of its lure drew him closer. Recognizing the danger this might pose, Thomas resisted the creature’s lure and retreated back towards the cordon, deciding to turn in for the night, still on edge after everything that had happened.

The following morning, he was greeted by Veyleth who had come to escort Thomas to his father who had expressed an interest in meeting him. Along the way, Veyleth took the opportunity to thank Thomas for freeing him from the charm, promising that he would come to his aid should he ever need his help. Meeting with Beranabus, Thomas and the archmage had a lengthy discussion on the current state of the world, although the conversation quickly shifted to the duo’s joint interest in Dunamis, especially on the Hearts of Dunam that they both possessed. After a bit of back and forth, the two reached an accord where Beranabus offered Thomas and his family lodgings within the grounds of the crescent tower, as well as any assistance that the goblin would require in the hopes that they could research the hearts together.

Thomas accepted the proposition and then proceeded to explain the situation to the rest of the party, explaining that for now they would be parting ways, although he would still be helping them from the Tower. They then went their separate ways with Chulz, Elise, and Sienna heading towards the elven capital of Athel Loren to meet with the elven military leader, Vannion. The elven capital was strange to say the least, it felt almost abandoned, and what few elves they saw looked upon the party with clear distrust. Heading towards the upper city, they met with Vannion who explained the current situation within the elven court, and why he could not reinforce the eastern garrison in Athelburg. However, knowing that the party had Beranabus’ backing led to Vannion offering an alternative. He would be able to muster two thousand wild riders, but he’d need the defenders to hold out for two additional days, which was where our heroes would come in. They agreed to this and returned to Beranabus, who after some last-minute preparations teleported them and Seeker Vadis into the middle of Athelburg which was in the middle of an intense battle.

### Penastria - Athelburg

The party found themselves caught in the middle of this assault standing beside the eastern defenders as they pushed back the demonic host. In the middle of this assault Chulz and Sienna found themselves beneath the gaze of a horned face that peered on from amidst the clouds, a face which Sienna recognized to be similar to common depictions of the demon lord: Baphomet. His gaze lingered on the duo, especially Chulz who found himself empowered by the Horned Lord. The battle culminated when a massive demon crashed through the city’s gate. The party held their ground beside a group of Hellknights and managed to successfully slay the beast, as explosions rocked the attacker’s lines, momentarily punctuating the battle’s end.

In the aftermath of the assault, Chulz and Sienna were contacted by the demon lord, Baphomet who praised the two on their murderous prowess and bestowed upon them titles to honour their achievements. The demon then issued them a challenge, promising them a boon if they slew his champion. The two maintained their resolve and revealed all to the defenders after the fact. Faced with a conundrum as to how they could thwart the demon’s efforts, they went their separate ways, and it was here that Sienna noticed a figure shadowing her, with Fenlaros mentioning that the figure was attempting to read her mind.

Cornered by Sienna, the individual revealed himself to be Fion who had blindly wandered into the town in the midst of battle drawn to the light that Sienna radiated, he also revealed that he could perceive Fenlaros, a fact which drew Sienna’s attention. The two met up with Chulz and after a brief discussion, the present party decided to hear Fion out. Heading off towards a small garden, Fion used his basic grasp of celestial in order to form a spiritual connection with Sienna and Fenlaros, delving into the duo’s mind and projecting a variety of images in order to understand what they were. This spiralled into disaster when he delved too deeply and found something grappling with his control over the connection, guiding it astray and forcibly drawing Chulz into the connection as well. Battling for control, Fion managed to steer Fenlaros into delving deeper into his fears, at which point, the vision drew them into the depths of a lake, towards a distant red light at the bottom. Before they could reach it however, another figure intruded upon Fion’s connection, an angelic being radiating a golden light that warned Chulz not to descend any deeper, as his mistress wished to speak to him. Accepting the angel’s invitation, Chulz was taken away, his connection severed.

Meanwhile, Fenlaros was also ripped away from the vision as Fion and Sienna were now forcefully steered towards the red light, which was revealed to be a fissure at the bottom of the lake, peering through they found themselves lost within a labyrinth, its walls seemingly made of a strange flesh-like corruption. Here they saw Fenlaros, his emaciated body bound within the flesh as the duo were caught in the gaze of a red eye, it was at this point that the connection was finally severed.

While this was happening, Chulz had his own encounter, taken away by the angel to meet with his mistress. His mistress, a large female humanoid with a golden headdress in the shape of a golden jackal’s head. The figure revealed that she had been watching the party for a while, and had once been Khetakar’s protector, for whom she still grieved. Chulz and her had a bit of a discussion where, she revealed that she longed to protect those around her but could not bear the constant failures. She sought to never fail again but required a champion to do so, a champion whom she hoped could be Chulz. She offered him her aid, and in exchange tasked Chulz with protecting those around him, an offer that Chulz accepted. Returning to the garden, the trio were left to ponder what had transpired, with Sienna storming off, noting that she could no longer see Fenlaros. As all this was going off, Elise had taken the time to gather some supplies and while doing so received a gift from her patron, a special vial of poison that Trishalia believed would be of great use to her. The party reconvened in the evening and discussed a plan with the hellknight commander, Harum.

They came up with a plan to play on the champion’s ego and draw him into single combat by using Chulz as bait, in order to circumvent Baphomet’s challenge they would banish the champion instead of slaying him, humiliating and drawing out his demonic patron. Having decided on a plan, they all went their separate ways and rested for the night, with Chulz opening up to Fion about a few of his doubts when it came to his new relationship with the golden jackal. The following morning, the party initiated the plan, but as Chulz stepped out of the gates to face the enemy forces, he was contacted by his new divine patron and once more accepted her help as she engulfed him in a golden light that granted him protection from the champion. Issuing their challenge, the party managed to draw the champion out, and faced him and his favoured guards in battle. It was a vicious battle that ultimately ended with the champion’s death at Chulz’ hands. In response to this, Sienna revealed her contingency and banished Chulz before he could receive the horned lord’s boon much to the demon lord’s frustration and the anger of his followers. One of whom climbed onto the palanquin and riled his servants into a frenzy and directing their fury towards Sienna.

In response to this, the defenders triggered the explosives beneath the bridges. Leaderless and with their path cut off, many of the mortal warriors fell upon each other and a bloodbath ensued. The party’s troubles were far from over however, as sensing its opportunity, the champion’s demonic patron materialized, a horrifying nalfeshnee that sought to devour the party. Another battle ensued which claimed Fion’s life, however the party successfully killed the demon, with Elise striking the final blow. Wasting no time, Sienna took Fion’s body and teleported into the keep, headed towards the Hellknight Signifiers and begged for their help in revivifying him, providing them with a diamond that she had taken from Thomas. With the materials present, they successfully resurrected Fion.

During the ritual, Fion was contacted by what he assumed to be the origin of the red star, an entity which introduced itself as the Scarlet Hunger. A foreboding title to be sure, but at the time it conducted itself in a civilized manner, expressing an interest in Fion’s connection to Dunam. It questioned Fion’s understanding of Dunam and urged him to question those beings that can view the tapestry in order to uncover their deception. As the resurrection came to an end and their connection came to its end, the entity granted Fion with a vision of Penastria where amidst a sea of stars he caught sight of two large ones, one a bright red, the other a bright blue.

After the resurrection, Fion revealed all that had transpired to the other members of the party, and they managed to discern that the red and blue stars were located within the Kraken Coast and Permopolis. After this they were left to ponder much of what had happened and prepare for any demonic retaliation. Our heroes spent the rest of the day in anticipation of what would happen, and as the day passed the extent of the demon lord’s wrath became clearer as the river turned red and began to boil, and as the day pressed on stranger events began to unfold as chanting could be heard across the river and swirling tornadoes of blood began to form. This continued well into the night before finally culminating in a tidal wave of blood that crashed into the walls, this was followed by waves of demons that charged up the walls and through the broken gate. Portals opened throughout the defences, allowing more demons to manifest, in order to stem the demonic tide, Chulz led the defence at the gate alongside Sienna, as Elise and Fion provided support from a distance. The demonic tide proved too much for Chulz however, as he was finally felled by a minotaur. In his final moments, he caught sight of the demon lord, who in one final gambit sought to claim Chulz’ soul. The demon whispered vile secrets into the knight’s ears, and lured by the promise power, Chulz accepted the demon’s patronage as Baphomet appeared before the defenders and claimed Chulz for himself.

At the sight of this, the defenders redoubled their efforts and managed to push back the demonic host, earning them a brief moment of respite. This respite came to an end when a bright light erupted outwards from the enemy camp and charged towards the defenders and brought down the unfettered fury of a demonkin on Sienna. In her fury, the demonkin maimed Sienna, cutting off her hand as a message to all those who would challenge Baphomet. Toruhn and Harum charged through the breach to support Sienna, only narrowly avoiding the fireball aimed towards the defenders. The ensuing melee claimed Toruhn’s life and as the demonkin turned to finish off Sienna, her attention was drawn to the sound of horns in the distance, as the stag knights charged into the fray led by Vannion. Her assault in the jeopardy, she cursed the still defiant Sienna before charging into the air to face the elven host. Hit by a wave of exhaustion, Sienna finally gave in and fell unconscious leaving her comrades to finish off the demonic host.

In the final hours of the battle, many of the remaining defenders sallied out behind the Hellknight Commander, to aid Vannion’s elven reinforcements in beating back the last of the demonic forces. The last conscious members carried Sienna back into the keep, and managed to recover Chulz’ sword, the only thing left behind after the battle. Sienna seemed to be in the grip of a fever, a black growth spreading up along the stump of her arm. Fion did his best to tend to her wounds and used some magic to help her. However, as they were doing this, the two of them were approached by an orc who mentioned that the orc shaman wished to speak to the two of them, which the party agreed to do after a short rest. After this they headed off towards the ruined cathedral where the orcs had set up camp, here they were greeted by an elderly orc who introduced himself as the shaman, Asarak and Seeker Vadis. The two wished to speak to them regarding the Sienna’s power revealing that it may be tied to an alien being with whom their people have had a sordid history. They revealed that years ago one such alien being manifested within the city of Ankararam, now known as Guldahrim and in the aftermath they began investigating these creatures. During their investigations they noticed that individuals were being born with strange powers, that seemed to be connected to these alien beings. To that end, Asarak cautioned that they keep an eye on Sienna, as they were uncertain as to how deep her connection to these beings extends.

Perturbed by what they had heard, and still exhausted by all that happened, the duo made their way towards the keep but halfway through their journey, Fion was suddenly whisked away and found himself in a large hall, a somber melody echoing around him. Here he was greeted by one of his patients, the Lantern King who desperately required a session, claiming that the musicians refused to stop playing, and the man on the moon was stealing his subjects. Fion comforted the Lantern King and explained that perhaps he could make the best of the situation and work with the man on the moon to turn the musicians into part of the performance, which the Lantern King readily agreed to. Although he admitted that he could not speak to the man on the moon, an issue that Fion agreed to help with much to the archfey’s delight. With that the Lantern King pushed him out a window and then levitated him up towards the moon, which Fion perceived a massive green glow that grew larger and larger, the higher he went. Until finally he broke through an invisible barrier and was greeted by the person on the moon, alongside dozens of spectral fey that circled him. The person on the moon took on a somewhat feminine appearance, holding out a hand towards Fion and giving him an amorphous green rock, before sending him back towards the Lantern King. The king found the green moonstone to be a delightful gift, and Fion revealed what he’d seen within the moon, recommending that perhaps the king might use those with psionic talents to speak to the woman on the moon. Grateful for Fion’s help, the Lantern King gave him a deck of cards as a gift before sending him back to Athelburg.

Here Elise and Fion settled in for a long rest, during the night Fion attempted to attune to the moonstone but found that the item rejected the attunement and when he awoke he found that it had a visible effect, having caused all of his hair to fall out. The two of them were approached by Harum and Vannion, the two of them congratulating the party for their efforts and providing a few magic items as payment. They then revealed that they had discovered something troubling within the enemy’s camp, they led Elise and Fion toward’s champion’s camp where they saw a large wound in the ground, spewing out heat and molten rock. Harum revealed that this was an anchored rift, a more permanent demonic portal that would explain how the demonic were able to summon so many powerful demons so quickly. He explained that this portal would have to be sealed from the inside by destroying the anchor that tethered it to Penastria, however, whoever did this would be stranded on the other side.

This conundrum also provided an opportunity, Harum explained that this portal most likely led to Baphomet’s domain, which was the closest layer of the abyss to Infernus. This provided an opportunity for them to re-establish communication with Infernus, and much more importantly for Elise and Fion, it could provide them with the opportunity to save Chulz. Harum explained that this for all intents and purposes would be a suicide mission, but they would need the help of the infernal legions in order to push towards the rift in the Midden. The duo hesitantly accepted although they explained that they would have to discuss it with Sienna. Harum agreed and headed back towards the keep, leaving them to investigate the area. Here Elise found a hidden compartment within the champion’s tent, inside which she found a dagger, a set of plate mail and a map of the peninsula with various areas marked, investigating it she discovered that it detailed the location of various other encampments as well as dragon burial mounds. She decided to take the map to Vannion, who worriedly contacted Beranabus. Deeming this important, the archmage teleported to Atheluin in order to personally see what they’d found. Looking over the map, he tasked Vannion to look into the matter further, claiming that he would speak to the queen on his behalf. He also gave the duo a set of four earrings that would allow them to cast message, hoping that they would be of help to them.