Chapter 3

**Iniquity in Skyreach**

*Part 1*

The party travelled from Silverdale on the main road to Sky Reach. They camped at the last location along the road they spent a night at before discovering they were caught in a time loop. Lyall drank from the magical mug found in the abandoned mine in High Reach.

In the morning, they found that they were not transported back to the Frozen Rose and so continued on their journey. A large tower became visible from the road and the party presumed it to be the tower mentioned in the riddle. As the road seemed to approach and pass by the tower, they were confronted by a dryad and a couple of goons who claimed to speak for the trees. They demanded a tribute. The party declined, and a scuffle ensued until K.K. negotiated a reduced rate and the groups parted ways.

The party departed from the main road and headed in the direction of the tower where they encountered an apparently young man named Trong. Trong warned the group away from the tower and suggested they visit Skyreach first. Trong magically produced a pig and slaughtered it for K.K. Having met magical beings before, the group decided to heed the warnings (for now) and pay a visit to Skyreach. They learned that the tower was previously occupied by a now deceased wizard, Max, who wanted to learn more about the sky.

At the gates of Skyreach, Lyall befriended a city guard who advised the group to visit the Pig’s Eye Tavern and stay at the Silver Quill Inn. Before making their way to either of these locations, they explored a room that clearly said, “Do not enter” but it was only the plumbing from the undercity.

The group headed to the Flametree District where they met Rage and Heartless Blackthorne, of interest to Grief. These two are tieflings, a little older than Grief, who were orphaned during the Highreach Holocaust. They shared that they had been relocated by Whisperwind, a person of interest to Grief who believes that the Holocaust did not take the lives of many of the tieflings. She, however, spent little time with the Blackthornes after relocating them and left to “uncover the truth.” Grief is left with more questions than answers. K.K. however, was gifted the use of their smoker, which he used to preserve the pork Trong had given him.

The three then made for the Tavern where they met Morgrim the bookie and learned about an endurance test where young people climb the Tree to the Sky, mount an eagle, and fly on it for as long as possible. Whenever this occurs, many people line up to place bets on the rider’s success. Lyall expressed a great deal of interest in this. Meanwhile, Grief perused a job board and took a job listing to clear giant rats from a basement. He noted that there was a job for Hippogryph Investigation and Dragon Scales but chose to leave them. The Alchemist was not present.

The group left for the Silver Quill to rest for the evening. They met the apprentice of the Blacksmith, Tony, who only forges weapons. Grief performed for the evening, earning some coin. K.K. and Lyall scouted the patrons. Eventually, they all filtered to bed.

*Part 2*

Lyall awoke early, took cinnamon rolls to his friendly guard, and visited the undercity. He found the people there to be poorer and dirtier, overall, than the people in Skyreach but they did not report being exploited. They have suitable amounts of water and earn good coin selling it to Skyreach.

On return, he found K.K. and Grief on their way to the local archive to investigate potions and spells of featherfall and more on the history of the Highreach Holocaust. Unfortunately, they did not find much of substance. However, Lyall found a fantastic picture book of eagles.

The players then travelled to the address on the rat job. After some unpleasant banter with the owner, they descended into the cellar and fought 3 giant rats, one of which was diseased. Grief unfortunately was spattered in its miasma and was significantly weakened by it. However, he was able to negotiate an increased payment from the resident by threatening to revive it and leave it in the house.

Afterwards, the group returned to the Pig’s Eye to look at the other jobs. They noted that the Dragon Scale job had disappeared but that the Hippogryph posting remained. This led them back to the Silver Quill where they met an Orc named Gayle. Grief met the alchemist, Mo, who suggested that Grief come back the next day for a cure to his ailment if it was still a problem.

Gayle is a middle-aged Orc who lost her son to a Hippogryph attack. She asked the party to look into the sightings and attacks by these flying creatures. The group agreed and went to the woods were Lyall summoned Trong by calling for him. Trong, seemingly still friendly, popped into view and readily agreed to use his familiarity with the creatures of the forest to broker a parlay with the leader of the Hippogryph herd in the area.

Spike, the Hippogryph alpha, insisted that no hippogryphs had killed any residents of Skyreach and only wanted to be left alone. He indicated that there were humanoids that had been impersonating hippogryphs in order to mask their violence. Furthermore, Spike informed the party that the impersonators were residing in the tower. Grief persuaded the party that no one believe them if they returned without evidence and so they attempted to infiltrate the tower and steal some of the hippogryph talons the residents are using to murder passersby.

The tower is a 60 foot square object that rises as much as 400 feet. There is an arch on the front with glowing pink runes. There is no life within 50 feet of the tower. The runes read, in gnomish, “ A shape revealed, yet hidden from view, a door concealed waiting for a clue. Look closely, discern with keen sight, unveil the entrance where shadows alight.” This led the party to a shadowed area where they produced the key from the abandoned mine and a door opened for them. Inside was a main foyer with a door to the left, a door to the right, and a central door at the end of the far hallway. The room on the right was a waiting or sitting room of some sort. The room on the left was a clerk’s office. And the final door was an ossuary throne room. There were statues around the room and a spiral staircase leading to the second floor.

The three mounted the stairs in search of some activity of the residents of the place. When they emerged on the second floor, they entered a ballroom that was lined with suits of armor and a great many cobwebs. Shortly after stepping into the room, the suits of armor animated and attacked and a giant spider descended in an effort at an easy meal. After dispatching one suit of armor, it was clear that others were animate and were preparing to attack. Lyall changed form into a werewolf and, imbued with the power of a potion of flight, extracted a grievously wounded Grief and K.K. from the fracas. They fled the tower and returned to Skyreach to lick their wounds and confront Lyall about keeping his were-form a secret from the group.

*Part 3*

The group rested at the Silver Quill and, in the morning, agreed to discuss their findings with Gayle. To their surprise, she was receptive to the notion that people, not Hippogryphs, had killed her son. She provided a healing potion to Grief that restored his full health and agreed to show the group her son’s effects at the home after a meeting that she needed to take. She told the party that he was killed on one of his journeys to a commune of half-elves living in the woods that he sometimes traded with. They make pottery that he sold in town to businesses like the general store and Dihan.

The group, very interested in the meeting, disguised K.K. as a goblin to eavesdrop on her meeting while Grief and Lyall went to the general store. Grief purchased a magical pot that was claimed to have been from the commune, sold by the Orc Jonathan. Gayle later revealed that once a mundane liquid was imbued in the pot that it would serve as an endless source of that liquid.

K.K. overheard the meeting between Gayle and Mo only to discover that her primary income comes from selling magical components to Mo, Dihan, and others. She is a talented healer.

In Gayle’s home, Lyall made tea and tried to share a moment with her. Meanwhile, K.K. and Grief searched Jonathan’s bedroom. They took a pair of his shoes (promising to return them) to compare to his footprints. Furthermore, they found a dagger that they were able to identify as belonging to the cult of the undying. K.K. took the dagger and strapped it to his belt. Gayle then provided directions to the site of Jonathan’s death (near the tower) and the party set out to investigate the site.

The site of the murder was easy enough to find with a heavy cart’s tracks coming abruptly to a stop. Jonathan’s tracks and Hippogryph tracks were all over the scene. While investigating, the group was approached by 3 white clad, masked men who demanded that the group leave as they are on private property. Grief disputed that the property was private and demanded to see a deed. Meanwhile, two additional men jumped out of the bushes and secretly grappled K.K..

During the confrontation, Grief attempted to strongly suggest that the men help them but was unsuccessful. As tempers flared, Grief managed to negotiate a peace in which the group left. The brutes holding K.K. were non-violently removed and the party made a hasty retreat in the direction of the wagon tracks.  However, not long after their departure, it was clear that they were being followed by a necromantic bird. Grief and K.K. coordinated to capture it and Grief destroyed it with the cult’s own dagger.

A several day journey to the commune was mostly uneventful. However, shortly before arriving, while sleeping a man named David entered their camp. He claimed to know Trong (aware of) and Jonathan (as a friend) and invited the travelers to visit his home when they leave the commune. He also warned them of mentioning the elvishness of the commune dwellers. He did credit them with finding the best deer meat.

The party slept and began the last leg of their journey to the potter’s grove. On the way, they began hearing melancholic music. Grief started jamming out to it and fell into a trance. He marched towards the music, trying to persuade K.K. that it was going to be the best concert they’d ever been to. They entered a clearing to find a woman singing. K.K. attempted to put his hand over her mouth to silence her but she blasted him with a hellish rebuke. Grief broke the charm and everyone decided to clear off.

*Part 4*