Wellspring – Bonsai facere est

Table of Contents

Dramatis Personae

Asharak
Lothori
Tarradin
Aoife
Rinaldo
Jaran
Rockwool
Seredoc
Drogo
Marigold
Navir
Tarq
Crixus
Merza
Lelah
Mika
Banu
Kerbin Dellmon, homestead owner
Emed Stoutblade, knight
Ewigga, Brenton priestess of Joy
Tasnin, Urgadt war leader
Larrakh, Urgadt elder
Iqbal, Urgadt elder
Qasir, Urgadt elder
Svase, monk
Savra, Feathergale knight
Thurl Merosska, leader of the Feathergales
Jolliver
Shoalar
Pixan

Dellwood

Session 1 (15/9/2017 to Session 12 (4/3/2018) : Level 1, 2

In Perath, one of the great Carthian cities of the south, Jaran the merchant recruits four adventurers a week before the annual Founder’s Day festival. Jaran needs a team to investigate bandits threatening his trading partners in the halfling village of Dellwood. Tarradin the halfling druid, Asharak the Urgadt warrior, Lothori the Brenton priest, and Aoife the half-elven minstrel, are chosen. They are introduced to two halflings, Rockwool and Seredoc, who they will escort back to Dellwood.

They are soon approached by a shady character named Rinaldo who has learned of their trip. Rinaldo asks them to acquire a barrel of halfling wine, for which Jaran claims a monopoly.

The group departs the next morning. They find Dellwood village under siege by bandits led by a Genasi called Kir. They quickly despatch the bandits, although a rather wimpy bandit named Navir is awed by Asharak’s prowess, and changes sides. Kir is driven away from the village, but not before unleashing an earth elemental that destroys some of the the menhirs defending Dellwood.

The party stays to support Dellwood while the halflings rebuild the menhirs. Tarradin talks with Marigold, the Dellwood druid and teaches her a little of the ways of communicating with the trees. Asharak has a vision about the Court of the Margraves, and meets his totem, the Coyote spirit.

A Grassy Gnoll

Session 12 (4/3/2018) to Session 15 (22/4/2018): Level 3?

While helping the halflings search for new henge rocks, they find a tree covered in an acidic red moss that Tarradin finds unnatural. The druid communes with the tree, calming it’s panic. The tree provides some direction towards the source of this moss. They burn the moss back to save the tree, and set out to the source. On the way, the group is attacked by a series of bestial humanoid creatures, often accompanied by misshapen crow-like birds. The humanoids lack much in the way of culture or skill, and attack on sight. The team tracks the creatures back to their lair, a dark and tangled network of caves.

Within the caves they find more misshapen bestial humanoids, and worse still. There is a mound of wailing flesh that panics some of the party. There is more of the red moss. Eventually, in the deepest darkest recesses of the cave, they come across a crazed hermit summoning demon spirits into animals trapped by the humanoid creatures. Once possessed, the spirits twist the creature into the humanoid forms. The hermit unleashes one of his greatest creatures, a possessed bear, and attacks the party while wielding a three-headed flail. They kill the warlock, although Navir is badly wounded in the process. Lothori takes his vicious three-headed flail. As Lothori grasps the flail, it offers him power, an offer Lothori ignores.

Having cleared out the cave network, and doing their best to destroy the red moss, the group returns to Dellwood. They seek to buy a barrel of wine for Rinaldo, but it turns out that the treaty with Jaran is an exclusive trade with the village elders. But it turns out there is a loophole for personal sales in the village. This allows Tarradin to do a deal with an unpleasant halfling named Drogo to buy a barrel of wine for Rinaldo, in exchange for distilling equipment.

Chasing Kir

Session 16 to Session 20 (16/6/2018) : Level ?

They return to Perath. Navir has been exiled from Perath, so he must wait in the shanty village outside Perath at an inn called The Dive. The team reports back to Jaran, who issues a bounty to capture Kir or find evidence of what he was up to. They sell the barrel of wine to Rinaldo. Lothori has a dream of a figure carrying the three headed flail, leading an army through the night. Aoife decides to leave Perath, journeying north to try to find her father.

The remaining team members start hunting for Kir. They go back to The Dive to speak with Navir, but find he has been kidnapped. They question some locals, learning Navir was taken to a warehouse. Some of the locals get upset, and a mob forms looking to drive the party from the Shanty. The party makes their way through the chaos and reaches the warehouse, where they find Targ, a local gang leader, interrogating some of Kir’s surviving bandits. The bandits have kidnapped and savagely beaten Navir. Targ listens to the team’s explanations, hands the bandits over, and leaves. Under interrogation the bandits provide the location of Kir’s office.

Navir’s spirit has been broken by multiple near-death experiences. Lothori tries to encourage him, but Navir is no longer willing to fight. He is left with the warehouse manager to find a new life.

At Kir’s office, the team find Crixus, a gladiator hired to delay the party. After being bested in battle, Crixus gives the party a letter from Kir, who offers a parlay at a nearby abandoned fort. On the way to the fort, Lothori notices that the three headed flail has been stolen.

At the fort, Kir makes a deal with the team. In exchange for a one-on-one duel to the death, he will answer their questions. Kir tells them about his home on giant floating trees on the Plane of Air, and of the storm that brought him to this world. He tells them of the Wellspring, the World Tree, and claims that this world is dying. And he tells them of the Elemental cults for whom he worked, and how they want to destroy the world.

After answering the questions, Kir demands his payment, expecting to die. Kir and Asharak fight a mighty duel across the fort. Asharak is the better fighter, but Kir uses his magics to sustain his life. In the end, Kir just barely wins. Kir leaves, uncertain about his future, but giving a final hint that there would be trouble for Perath at the Founder’s Day celebration tomorrow.

Founder’s Day

Session 21 (24/6/2018) to Session 28 (12/8/2018)

The team reports back to Jaran at the Merchant’s Guild. Seeing a threat beyond his concerns, Jaran refers the team to Merza, a Vigiles officer of Perath. Merza believes them but needs actionable intelligence. Jaran withholds the bounty on Kir, claiming the terms are not met, and demands the team search further. Exhausted, the team refuses. An argument follows, with Asharak threatening violence, and Jaran hinting that he knows about the wine the team had smuggled into town.

The next day, the Founder’s Day parade starts. In the parades, Lothori spots a suspicious figure in a golden mask, and chases it to a carpentry shop full of villains. Outnumbered, Lothori fights a desperate battle to escape and reunite with the team. They return to the carpentry shop, finding the whole street on fire and littered with dead bodies. The cultists have summoned small fire creatures and set them loose on the town. An epic battle follows, ending with the party wounded but victorious. They take a moment to recover, before noticing a final figure striding out of the carpenters shop – a priest of the Eternal Flame.

The priest quizzes the party to find out why they intervened. Another fight follows, but the priest catches them all in a fireball, knocking most out of the team out. Tarradin, the last conscious, flees. The priest departs, allowing Tarradin to return and save the others.

The team goes to the Basilica looking for support and healing. A sympathetic sergeant hears their story, is impressed, and brings them to Merza. Merza takes the party and interrupts the parade, presenting them to Perath Itself, the crystal god of the city. Perath Itself grants the team a vision, showing the citizens of the city being taken from Its protection, with the centre of the threat at the hippodrome.

The party go to the hippodrome. On the way, they see cultists dragging people from their home and branding them with crystals, turning the citizens into obedient zombies. The team intervenes, killing the cultists. After some cautious experimentation, they learn that citizens can be saved by ripping the crystal off – this leaves them wounded, often blinded, but free.

The hippodrome itself turns out to be surrounded by hordes of zombie-citizens. The team dresses in cultist robes and bluff their way into the hippodrome, following some monks into a spectator building by the track. In the first room, they find Crixus the gladiator infected with the crystals, standing guard with other cultists. In the ensuing fight, Asharak wrestles Crixus to the ground, rips the crystal off his face, and restores his sight with a magic healing ointment. Crixus joins the team to finish the battle.

Fighting through the rest of the building, the team learns the Fire priest that defeated them earlier was killed by a priest of the Black Earth – apparently the cults do not work well together. They also find another priest tending the crystal that turns citizens to zombies. They kill the priest, but the crystal turns into a giant golem. In the battle that follows, Lothori is killed before the golem can be destroyed.

The party goes to the Basilica, seeking aid. They report back to Merza, who brings them to the High Priest Dilshad. The High Priest agrees to perform a resurrection ceremony for Lothori.

With his soul freed from his body, Lothori finds himself climbing a cliff face, underneath a burning sky, and drenched by rain. Ilmater greets Lothori, and pleads with him stay in the afterlife, bringing an end to Lothori’s suffering. Lothori refuses the afterlife, and returns to the world, given life by Perath Itself. Ilmater’s warning of suffering proves true; Lothori now finds himself with a chronic pain in his chest.

The party returns to the Dapper Inn, despondent. Crixus intervenes, throwing a celebration, trying to teach the team to recognise success. Throughout the celebrations, Lothori remains despondent, worried that he has abandoned Ilmater. He attempts to cast a small spell, a Light. It flickers at first, but then burns bright.

The next day, the party is honoured by the ruling classes of Perath. At a ceremony, the Party receives the blessings of Perath Itself. This blessing grants the party brief flashes of power – strength or protection.

Plain Raiding

Session 29 (19/8/2018) to Session 34 (30/9/2018)

After the blessing ceremony, Merza takes the party for a debrief. He introduces his assistants Laleh (a sage) and Mika (Laleh’s bodyguard). Together, they work through the events, and determine that the attack was an attempt to disrupt Perath Itself’s claim on the city and its people. Powerful figures can spiritually claim a territory and its inhabitants as their demesne by regularly releasing and reclaiming it. If no one challenges the claim, or if they can defend against a challenge, each iteration makes the claim stronger. The Founder’s Day festival is an example of this process. The attack was designed to undermine that claim at a time of maximum vulnerability. The cultists apparently understand this process, indicating backing by learned forces.

Merza gives the team a mission: find the cultist base and put a stop to the threat. As a first lead, Merza asks them to investigate raids by Urgadt on homesteads beyond the cities. The raids occurred at a time that drew Perath’s forces away from the city, leaving it vulnerable on Founder’s Day. Merza suspects this was part of a coordinated scheme. Merza also assigns a young scout named Banu to act as guide across the plains.

As the team travels into the barren wilderness, they find a homestead on fire after a raid. They rescue survivors and take them to one of the largest homesteads in the region, Dellmon Lodge. There they met Kerbin Dellmon and his family, a knight named Emed Stoutblade, a dwarven smith and his daughter, and Ewigga, a Brenton priestess of Joy. They hear of troubles in a village of Womford, but have more pressing issues.

While they rest at the lodge, a large contingent of Urgadt raiders from the Elk tribe appears. The team attempts to parlay with them, but the speaker does not grant them recognition, and the parlay goes badly. Battle breaks out. The team supports the Dellmon guards. Asharak and Banu defend the gates. Lothori and Emed man the north western walls. Tarradin and Ewigga defend the western walls. Together, they strengthen the Dellmon defences enough to fight off the raiders.

In the face of this defence, the war chief orders the raiders to retreat. She steps forward, introducing herself as Tasnin. She says she respects their valour, and re-enters into negotiations with the party. She invites the team to a peace ceremony that night.

At the ceremony, the heroes share a peace pipe with Tasnin. During the ceremony, they all experience visions. Lothori sees the Wellspring, realising it was where he encountered Ilmater. Tarradin sees a crow in a tree. Emed sees temples under hills, and senses a lurking evil. Asharak’s vision is of coyotes stalking elks and tearing a snake away from the herd’s prime buck. Tasnin shares Asharak’s vision, and takes it as an omen. She asks for Asharak’s guidance on its meaning, and claims there is some connection. They decide to go to the Stonehill, home of the Elk Tribe leaders, and work out what the vision means.

Emed leaves immediately, determined to investigate his vision. He gives the team an invitation to join him at Summit Hall.

Lothori prays in the lodge’s shrine to Lliira, the Brenton goddess of Joy. Ewigga encourages Lothori to take joy where he can, but Lothori is unreceptive. The party joins the surviving raiders and set out for Stonehill.

Trouble at Stonehill

Session 34 (30/9/2018) to Session 40 (23/12/2018)

Their reception at Stonehill is a chilly one. Tasnin finds the elders distant and changed. There are secrets, deceptions, and deaths. Eventually the team uncovers clues suggested one of the elders, Larrakh, has been creating trouble, so they investigate his house. They find a large orb, which explodes, transporting the party to a shadow dimension. There, they find the spirits of many of the elders imprisoned, including Iqbal, Tasnin’s mentor. They break free and fight their way past the demons running the prison, killing the leader, and escaping.

Out of the prison and back in Stonehill, the team face Larrakh, who flees. They track him down to a clearing where Larrakh is meeting with three monks riding giant vultures. The team defeat them, capturing a monk named Svase. They find Larrakh has changed when killed, becoming an unknown stranger. They also find a map giving a broad location to the monk’s base in the Sumbar Hills. In Larrakh’s house, they find valuable items, and correspondence between a cult leader named Aresi, and a “Lord Stratus Haayan”.

The freed elders return the Urgadt to a peaceful state. The party receives the Mark of the Urgadt as a sign of their deeds. Tasnin joins the party, seeking vengeance for attacking the elders. Tarradin speaks with one of the elders (Qasir) about the Wellspring, learning that it is a mythical place that can be reached by heroes who journey through the Otherlands. Banu speaks with Asharak about the cultists, who tells her they plan to destroy the world. Banu is moved by this, and also accompanies the team.

The Feathergale Knights

Session 41 (17/2/2019) to Session 44 (11/3/2019)

The party take Svase back to Perath for questioning. On the way, they are attacked by an invisible spirit, which made a symbol of the Howling Air cult, and then harasses them through the night. The team arrives at Perath exhausted. They share the intelligence found with Merza, Laleh, and Mika.

There is clear evidence that there are 4 cults – the Howling Air, the Crushing Wave, the Black Earth, and the Eternal Flame. The cults work together but are also prone to infighting. The cult at Stonehill seems to be the Howling Air. In addition to manipulating the Urgadt, they were trying to make a deal with an unknown giant named Haayan. A magical interrogation of the captured monk shows a cave in a gully under a tower, a winged elfin woman, and chants of ‘Yan-C-Bin’. Looking at a map of Sumbar Hills, the team decide to consult the Feathergale Knights and Summit Hall, to see if they know anything. Merza gives the team gifts: a silvered longsword for Asharak, plate Armor for Lothori, and a potion of Healing for Tarradin.

The next day, the team sets out into the hills. They meet a caravan going to Feathergale Tower, led by Savra, a Feathergale Knight. She invites them to a feast at the tower, where there is lots of toasting to the death of evil. The feast is interrupted by news of a manticore, and everyone rushes off attempting to slay it. The party finds and kills it, winning the respect of the Feathergale leader, Sir Thurl Merosska. Sir Thurl suggests that a monastery in the hills could harbour cultists and points them on the way. As they leave, Savra tells the party that the Feathergale Society will one day master the Air and cleanse the Sumbar Hills, making the hills safe for good folk.

Rivergard Keep

The team goes deeper into the Sumbar hills. They find Rivergard Keep, a fort by a large river. They ask for entrance but are rebuffed. Tarradin turns into a squirrel and scouts the tower, seeing soldiers, ogres, and green men. Finding this suspicious, the team decide to storm the keep. They break into two groups. Four of the team will sneak around the keep, entering by a harbour open to the river. Meanwhile, Asharak takes a potion, turns himself into a giant and storms the keep wall. By himself.

A chaotic battle follows, where the team is quickly split up and engaged in multiple running battles. In addition to the soldiers and the ogres, there are some with powers granted by the magic of elemental water. The team’s skill proves decisive, with surviving troops fleeing. The leader, a dour wereboar named Jolliver, fights Tasnin and Tarradin, wounding them before he also retreats.

The team rescue some people enslaved by the cultists and take some prisoners. One prisoner, a pirate named Shoalar, is an old friend of Lothori’s from his days amongst the pirates. Shoalar pleads this was just a messenger job. Lothori agrees to accept his parole and hires him and his surviving crew to ferry them about the river.

The team searches the keep. They find numerous treasures, and evidence of the water cult, including a letter from a cult spy in Yatar, detailing engagements with the Perath Legion, and unexplained losses at Womford. There is a suspicious river under the keep, but there’s no time to investigate. The team agree to take to captives downriver to their homes in Yatar, Beliard, and Womford.

In the morning, the corpses of fleeing pirates are found in front of the keep, arranged in the shape of the cult of the Crushing Wave.

Yatar

The group boards Shoalar’s boat and begins the trip to Yatar. On the way, they are attacked by 3 large lobster like creatures . During the fight, Pixan, one of Shoalar’s crew, is killed. Lothori uses his magic to restore Pixan’s life. Pixan throws away his medallion from the water cult, and accepts Ilmater’s symbol.

They resume their passage. Pixan comes to Lothori and tells him that Shoalar intends to betray them to Erlik, a Howling Wave leader leading attacks against Yatar. The players confront and interrogate Shoalar who confesses. Lothori promises his safety, and Shoalar gives some information about Erlik’s camp. Tasnin refuses to let Shoalar go, and brutally executes him, while Shoalar calls to Lothori “We had a deal!”

Later, Tarradin senses an unknown but powerful force in a swamp beside the river. Tarradin, Asharak, and Lothori investigate the swamp while the others wait. While exploring, the party sees something in the distance. They move to investigate and are attacked by four will-o-wisps, dead souls that had been bound to service by some evil power. Unable to continue into the swamp, they return to the boat.

Tasnin has been training Pixan rather harshly, with Pixan struggling to follow Lothori’s example and endure the suffering. Impressed, Lothori takes Pixan as an acolyte and teaches him meditation. They resume their journey to Yatar, keen for a night’s rest. Surprisingly, Tasnin interrupts the journey to demand a share of the loot from the keep.

The next day, in Yatar they find a Perath Legion is fortifying the town. They speak with Commander Rahim, who is leading the Perath forces detailed to deal with Erlik. They quickly realise he is an idiot and leave on somewhat bad terms. Instead, they talk to the much more competent Sergeant Lamar at the Legion camp, who confirms that the pirates seem to be a feint.

Pixan gives some hints about the spy in Yatar, which leads to the Copper Helm Inn. They determine that Jurstan, the ale master, is the spy. Jurstan confesses to sending letters to Morbeoth, a spy master in the Crushing Wave temple at the end of the stream underneath Rivergard Keep.

They also connect Omar the inn owner to Eustazio, a friend of Rinaldo’s who has disappeared. They search his house, which has pirated luxury goods, but no sign of Eustazio. They leave a message at Eustazio’s house: “Eustazio: Rinaldo is looking for you.”

The team decides to rest before heading back to the swamp. However, there is an attack by pirates attempting to get past the fortifications during the night. The party joins the legion in fighting back the pirates, although Tasnin is out of town and misses the fight.

After the defenders repel the pirates, Lamar and the team mount a counterattack. They march upriver and find the pirate’s camp. Erlik smashes through the soldiers, but Asharak rallies them and kills Erlik.

When they return to Yatar, they find that Tasnin had spent the night hunting boar. Rahim is persuaded to recognise the party and awards them with the Medal of Perath.

Coven of the Swamp

The team returns to the swamp and fights past barriers erected by three witches; awakened trees, ettercaps guarding a thorn wall, and a wooden guardian which nearly kills Banu. During these battles, Tasnin is shown to be surprisingly durable. They make their way into the ruins of a city in the centre of the swamp and descend into a ravine at the heart of the ruins.

In the ravine they find a tribe of Myconids. They are told about the witches, and how to challenge them. Tarradin senses the power, now clearly coming from a protected barrier in the Myconid’s cave. They learn the witches are attempting to build a Demesne. The Myconid promises access to the power below if they meet the witches’ challenge.

The next day, they start their challenge. The witches appear and throw a series of summoned creatures towards the team. By winning the fights, they compel the witches to face them directly. The witches ride their moving house into battle. The team kills Black Nerys, but Winnie Yellowtooth and Auntie Bertha flee. Within the house, they find mysterious magic items.

The party returns to the Myconid cave. Tarradin, Lothori, and Asharak descended into the cave. Tarradin faints, and Lothori and Asharak take him out. Tarradin says in a coma for 2 days. During this time, Tarradin experiences a spirit journey, and connects with the Wellspring, a vast spirit underlying the world. The Wellspring tells Tarradin that powers will try to take the land, some will succeed, and some will fail; this is the way of things. Tarradin swears to protect the land. The Wellspring is indifferent, telling Tarradin of trees that reproduce by runners, with roots leading to new trunks, which lead to new roots. Any tree can die, but the forest continues.

Meanwhile, the others clear the remaining witches’ beasts, draw a penis on Tarradin’s comatose face, and learn the secrets of one of the witches’ trinkets – the Pipe of Smoke Monsters. Lothori reflects on Tasnin’s recent behavior – brutal execution of Shoalar, the extreme training of Pixan, and the night hunting in Yatar. He deduces that Tasnin was infected by a wereboar and frees her from the curse. Tasnin feels reborn, and stands a vigil overnight. This awakens a magic power within Iqbal’s ancestral Great Axe.

Tarradin awakes and shares his vision with the team, and presumably wipes the penis off his face. They head back to Yatar, and reunite with Pixan, who is deepening his faith. The Ship is renamed ‘Shoalar’s Penance’. Lothori learns another secret of the witches’ items – the Hat of Vermin.

Temple of the Crushing Wave

The team returns to Rivergard Keep. They carefully enter, finding it deserted. The team move up the Dark Stream under the keep and fight past ambushes and guards to find the temple of the Crushing Wave. They capture a prisoner who tells them of the cult, connections to Earth Cult (to the north) and the Air to the west. He also tells them of the Prophet Gar Shatterkeel, the wielder of Drown, symbol of Olhydra, who will end the world and reward the servants.

In the temple, they also find a tribe of lizardfolk led by Thuluna. Thuluna tells them the tribe has been enslaved by the Crushing Wave. If the party kills the guards to the east and west, Thuluna and her people will help against Shatterkeel.

The party agrees, and clears out the guards, including the spymaster Morbeoth. The spymaster’s records give news about the Fire Cult at Scarlet Moon, news of trouble at Conberry, reports about their own actions at Stonehill, and plans to infiltrate Feathergale Spire.

Returning to the lizardfolk, Thuluna leads the party to the cultists to the north, warning them not to let them ring the gong. They push through, making quick work of the cultists in the way. Thuluna withdraws the guards, leaving Gar Shatterkeel unprotected. Left alone, Gar quickly falls to the party, and Asharak takes Drown.

At this point, Thuluna leads her lizardfolk, two ogres, and three trolls against the party, demanding their surrender, allowing her to take control of the temple. She offers safe passage for the party, but Lothori fast-talks their way out of the ambush, and starts a running battle through the remaining rooms.

Pressed on all sides, the party retreats down a corridor, only to find more lizardfolk moving to flank them. Their escape blocked, Asharak takes Drown and uses its power to punch through the attack, sending the remaining lizardfolk fleeing. Thuluna is killed in the fighting.

Getting a moment of breathing space, the team finds a demon guarding a staircase leading down. As they kill the demon, they hear the gong sounding, summoning a monstrous creature. They flee down the staircase but find no escape. They quickly return and try to sneak out of the temple. On the way they are noticed by Bronzefang the dragon turtle, and flee from the temple.

Resting in the keep, Lothori learns the secret of another of the witches’ treasures, the Staff of Withering. Lothori is troubled and prays for forgiveness for violence. Banu senses a hole in the world while in the Fane. Tasnin was victorious and drank in triumph under the stars. Asharak dreams of the court of the Margraves, where Olhydra’s avatar appears, trying to recruit Asharak as a prophet. Asharak refused, they fight, and Asharak wins. The Speaker tells Asharak to bring the spear physically to the court so it can be destroyed.

The Black Earth Stronghold

The party decides to journey on to the monastery. They find a secret way into a mine underneath the monastery. While fighting the slavers running the mine, Asharak, still wielding Drown, finds barnacles growing on him, and loses his connection with his totem spirits. Freeing the slaves, the team moves up into Monastery, now clearly exposed as a Black Earth stronghold. They defeat the Black Earth and take possession of the Monastery.

In the monastery they find tales of Marlos Unrayle, who discovered Ironfang and became the Earth prophet. They also learn that part of the Monastery is walled off, inhabited by a professorial skeleton. Tarradin shares the story of the Wellspring, for which the skeleton gives a magical amulet, and asks for the party to retrieve the corpse of Samular Caradoon from Summit Hall.

The team descends the stairs below the Monastery to the temple of Black Earth. There, they meet with a priest called the Mogh Roith, who claims to follow Ilmater. Further, he believes that Lothori has a special role in the world, and tries to share wisdom from the Book of the Rack Broken Lord, claiming that Ilmater wants Lothori to destroy the world. The team generally thinks him crazy, but Lothori invites Mogh Roith to journey with them; Mogh Roith agrees, leaving the temple to meet them at the monastery.

The party find an ettin named Broog-Norb. They fight; he eventually surrenders, offering to let them rest in his room.

The team moves on, coming to a guard room with many guards. The fight goes badly – the guards knock Asharak and Tasnin unconscious. Tasnin is killed by one of the guards as she lies at their feet. At the darkest moment, Olhydra appears to Asharak, offering to save them all if he will become her prophet. Asharak accepts the deal, promising to face Olhydra and kill her. Olhydra’s avatar appears and kills the remaining guards. Olhydra tells Asharak to come to the Water Node and bring her forth into the world.

Devastated by Tasnin’s death, the team negotiate with Broog-Norb to protect her body. They hold a memorial for her.

Asharak tells the others of the deal he made with Olhydra. Lothori offers to take Drown, but Asharak denies Drown is a problem. Asharak finds he now has new powers coming from his deal with Olhydra.

Lothori casts Speak with Dead on Tasnin and learns that she still wants to come back to life to complete her revenge. The team promises to do so, or if they can’t, take her body back to Iqbal, and tell him Tasnin is sorry for failing.

Resuming the exploration of the temple, they find a forge where a Dao named Xharva works, crafting magic items for the Black Earth. Lothori immediately opens combat, and they manage to drive the Genie away.

The team finds a staircase going down and descend yet again. When they arrive, Marlos projects a magic voice to them, showing his knowledge of the team and their activities, and inviting them to speak with him about the Elder Eye.

(Side trek: The crew of Shoalar’s Penance, Pixan, Babar, and Gasper) save Yatar from cultists causing a hurricane with another magical orb.)

The team fights past a tribe of fire breathing Minotaurs, which they despatch, eventually reaching the centre of this level, a temple known as the Fane of the Eye, which is dedicated to a mysterious being call the Elder Eye. Marlos Unrayle, Prophet of Ogremoch, stands here, and offers the blessing of the Elder Eye if the party will join the cause, and particularly if Asharak will take up his role as the new Prophet. Also, they must kill a commoner being held captive.

They refuse, and a fight ensues, ending with Marlos and his team dead, and Ironfang captured by Lothori. Lothori leaves a taunting message written on the alter: “Your forces are weak. Your powers are weak. Your cult will fail.”

Exploring a little further, a fight with an armoured air elemental persuades the team it is time to leave. On the way out through the earth temple, they encounter what seems to be a final remanent of the Black Earth cult. They defeat them, and then rest in what seems to be a holy tomb.

Leaving the Fane without further incident, they return through the temple and back to the Monastery. They find the Mogh Roith in the scriptorium. He journeys back to the boat with them, healing them on the way.

Lothori and the team question the Mogh Roith. He agrees to answer questions if Lothori will undertake a geas to study the Book of the Rack Broken Lord each day. Lothori agrees. They learn much about the Black Earth, and of Marlos. He does not know what the Elder Eye is but knows that it rules the Elemental Prices. He tells the party about the four elemental nodes beneath the Fane. And he tells of how the Princes intend to bring the Transubstantiation of the world.

Tarradin uses divination to discover how to destroy Drown and learns that it must be thrown through a portal in the Water node. Tarradin assumes something similar applies to Ironfang and similar weapons. Lothori sends Pixan on a mission to take 1000gp to Sam Hellion the Pirate King in Freetown. This will repay the debt that Lothori incurred.

Meanwhile, the team returns to the Fane, accompanied by the Mogh Roith. They explore more and find their way to a river leading into the Water Node. This is a series of caves filled with rivers with strong currents.

Short form:

As they progress through the caves, Asharak is increasingly distant, and the others grow more concerned about his state of mind. They also find themselves under attack by Yngukulub (Yn-gu-ku-lub) the Aboleth, an ancient creature that has seized control of the people within the tomb. The attack culminates in a battle in front of the Water Node. During the fight, Lothori is betrayed by the Mogh Roith, who paralyses Lothori, steals Ironfang, promises to take Tasnin’s body, and tells Lothori to seek wisdom at Ashanda. Eventually, the party manage to throw Drown through the node, shutting the portal. As they seek to kill Yngukulub, Asharak is torn to pieces.

Long Form:

In one room, they find some cultists looked in a cage suspended in water. Asharak releases the slaves and bullies them into taking him as Prophet. Eventually, they attack, but ineffectually. Some try to surrender – Asharak kills one in cold blood. Asharak and Tarradin interrogate the last prisoner, but get nothing; again, Asharak kills them in cold blood.

They notice Banu did not engage in the fight, and was instead catatonic; she eventually recovers.

The way is blocked by a waterfall. Asharak moves on, using his mobility over water to explore. Meanwhile, Tarradin and Lothorishare their concerns about Asharak’s state of mind.

Tarradin: “Asharak is losing his shit. We’ve got to get the trident away from him.”

Lothori: “If he is the man we know, he will release the trident willingly.”

The team takes another passage, this time falling over a waterfall, into a room guarded by a water elemental. Asharak uses his will and Drown to dominate it and rescues the rest of the team.

They found a cavern with wrecks of ships guarded by a hydra. Lothori had a vision of his home being overrun but shrugged of the mental assault. The team kicked the Hydra’s ass.

They pushed on, wanting to move quickly. The punt fell into a current and is destroyed. The Mogh Roith got swept into a whirlpool and disappeared, while Asharak barely managed to save Lothori.

They build a raft from the wreckage. Tarradin is visited by vision of the Crushing Wave attacking Dellwood. He shrugs it off (Nat 20 save), saying “Whoever you are, I will kill you.” They talk about the visions, wondering if they are under attack.

Descending a last waterfall, they find a large lake with a floating bubble of water above a bank of fog in the centre of the chamber. A range of humans ambush them, moving aggressively and without care for safety. Asharak uses his mobility over water and the power of Drown to do battle.

Asharak steps into the fog banks and finds a shell of a man controlled by something else, who delivers a message demanding Asharak surrender Drown. Asharak rejects the message.

The rest of the party is attacked, first by ice Mephits causing the fog, then by two more Chuuls, and finally by Yngukulub (Yn-gu-ku-lub) the Aboleth, the creature controlling the humans and sending the visions. Tarradin summons giant eagles, riding them to destroy the Mephits. Lothori fights and kills, but is surprised and betrayed by the returning Mogh Roith, who paralyses Lothori, steals Ironfang, threatens to take Tasnin’s body, and declares that Lothori needs teaching:

You stay here and fight, headless of the suffering you cause to yourself, to your allies, and to those you take as foe. This is not the Rack-Broken Lord’s will. You think you understand. You are worse than wrong. You will need some prompting. So I take Ironfang from you. And I will take more. I know what you left in the rooms of that fool Broog-Norb. And I judge that you seek to end her respite, and return her to suffering. I go now to take what you left behind. Seek wisdom. Perhaps if you understand what is happening at Ashanda you will get the wisdom you need. When you reach the Earth node, you will find me and what I have taken. And we will see whether I understood Ilmater truly.

Meanwhile, Asharak fights the Chuul and then Yngukulub. Yngukulub steals control of Asharak and tells him to surrender Drown. Asharak gives Drown to the creature, and it retreats into the water. Lothori dispels the charm, and the party attempts to retrieve the trident.

Asharak dives into the water chasing Yngukulub, while Banu and Tarradin fly on the eagles providing air support. Asharak manages to wrench Drown from Yngukulub and runs back to shore, throwing the trident at the portal. An ice shield blocks the portal at the last minute, a last-ditch effort to save Drown.

Lothori and Tarradin break the ice shield, while Banu & the eagles attack Yngukulub. Yngukulub comes after Asharak and knocks him unconscious. Olhydra curses Asharak, as Lothori grabs the trident, throwing it through the portal at last.

The party turn to kill Yngukulub. Lothori hits Yngukulub with a powerful Inflict Wounds, and Yngukulub flees. Banu and Tarradin give chase. One of the eagles is killed, and Tarradin is in the water. Lothori heals Asharak, but Asharak is lost, staring after the portal.

Yngukulub tries to escape by climbing up the waterfall but is driven back by Banu and Tarradin. Yngukulub sulks at the bottom of the lake, trying to avoid combat.

Lothori persuades Asharak to re-join the battle. Asharak chases Yngukulub into the depths of the lake. They fight. Asharak makes a reckless attack. Yngukulub responds, hitting three times. The first hit knocks Asharak unconscious. The second and third kill Asharak. Lothori paddles out on the raft, trying to reach the fight. Yngukulub breaks the raft in two hits, then hits Lothori. Lothori, about to drown, takes a swing at Yngukulub, managing to land a killing blow.

Asharak’s body is trapped under Yngukulub and cannot be retrieved. The party scales waterfalls (with the help of the last surviving eagle) to escape from the Fane and hide out in the tomb to rest once more.

In the Fane, Lothori takes an oath to avenge Asharak. The team returns to Broog-Norb’s lair, finding Broog-Norb dead and Tasnin’s body taken.

The team decides to go to Summit Hall, the last remanent of the old Belsarian Empire. On the way, they see a figure making camp, admiring the sunrise over the eastern plains. They talk with Braedon, a traveller from another world, who fought to plug a river destroying his village, and ended up getting swept into this world. Braeden agrees to join the party.

Arriving at Summit Hall, they ask about Emed, the knight from Dellmon Lodge. They learn he was delirious, raving about an evil in the hills. He was confined to a bed, but he escaped and ran away.

They speak with Lady Ushien, ruler of Summit Hall, and share their tale fully. She is impressed with their tales of bravery. They talk about Renwick and Samular Caradoon, founders of Summit Hall. Is the skeleton in the Monastery really this Renwick Caradoon?

Lothori uses his strengthening magic to finally heal the pain from his death and takes this as approval from Ilmater that he is on the right path.

The team visits Renwick’s tomb, and speak with the corpse there. They learn it is not Renwick, but Bardick, a squire sacrificed to save Renwick. Lady Ushien is persuaded to travel to the Monastery. At the Monastery, Ushien speaks with Renwick, seeking advice on how to save the world. Renwick says to crush the parasites, then restore the flow. But Tarradin realises that Renwick has his own plans about the end of the world.

Tarradin seeks allies, but Lady Ushien will only engage when there is a clear goal and end plan. She agrees to listens should Tarradin have a plan.

Lothori attempts to divine the location of Emed. He sees a gully below a tower, he sees a giant hole in the ground, and he sees Emed held prisoner in a cave.

Hearing rumours of disaster, the party journeys to Ashanda, a Carthian town to the south of Perath. A Goliath named Runt is hired as a wagon driver to get them to Ashanda and back.

The Mogh Roith starts sending messages to Lothori, attempting to bring Lothori to his way of thinking. Lothori is angry and threatening in response.

Ashanda is indeed aflame, burned by members of the Eternal Flame. The party attempts to scout out the territory, but they are spotted by a lookout, which sounds the alarm before they came be silenced. A squad comes out from the town, including a fire giant. The team defeat the squad, allowing Hauk the Giant to surrender. Through sign language, Hauk negotiates for release, promising to leave the plane. The party agrees.

Hauk walks back into town, and then into a cathedral full of fire spirits. Hauk ignores them, but the party must fight. While resting after the fight, the party hears someone at the cathedral entrance – a soldier with a man in chains. The solider thinks the party are agents of someone called Vanifer. The soldier is quickly killed. The prisoner Walton tells of the fall of Ashanda. They learn some civilians are captive in the old watch house.

The team descend into the Sanctum Sanctorum, whether they find Elizar and a guard working on a fiery portal, having trapped Ashanda Itself drawing upon Its power. During the battle Elizar flees into the portal, emerging shortly after transformed into a giant flaming spirit. Once Elizar is killed, Tarradin reaches out to Ashanda Itself, but It collapses into dust, leaving behind two fragments that resonate with Tarradin and Lothori.

The party recovers and move to free the prisoners. They storm into the house, where a fire priest threatens to blow up the prisoners unless the party retreats. Lothori attempts to kill him with a guiding bolt but misses. The priest lets loose a fireball, killing the civilians. A bloody fight to the death follows.

The party spends a few days cleaning up the ruins of Ashanda from the burning spirits haunting the town. Eventually, they leave, intending to return to Perath.

A final pair of messages between the Mogh Roith and Lothori:

“You have cleansed Ashanda. Maybe you feel pleased, but you don’t carry yourself as if you won. What have you learned?”

“I’ve learned that evil men do evil things, and they do it with impunity. To suggest that this evil work is the work of Ilmater is perversion. “

“You have learned nothing. Evil men do evil. But they shape the evil. That is the lesson.”

“In the eyes of Ilmater everyone has a choice. You twist his teachings. I’m coming for you.”