Chronicles of the Accursed (Group 2)

Quote from Ben_Evolent >>

Hewelathan-Bear....offers some Goodberries from the pouch tied around his neck.  (She'll have to take them out herself since he can't do that while in Bear form.  It's +3 HP per Goodberry for this batch, and there are still 23 22 berries in the pouch). 

Assuming that the party is going to take a Short Rest (either here or on the Ethereal Cruiser on the way back to the Radiant Citadel), Hewelathan-Bear makes the same offer to Hildegard, Ruby, and Gorash. 

(OOC: Let's make sure we're all back to Max HP before the next fight!  Eating a few Goodberries, +3 HP per berry because of his Moon Sickle, is a good way to top up if you roll low and run out of Hit Dice before getting back to Max HP.  You could even use the Goodberries if you spend a few Hit Dice on healing, and you're just 3 - 6 HP short of your your maximum.  Save a couple of HD for later and just eat a couple of Goodberries.  We just need to keep a handful of berries around around in case a non-healer needs to revive an unconscious PC, but other than that, a Goodberry isn't a very useful way to heal during combat.  Since we anticipate maybe just one more big fight, we might as well use them and conserve our other healing resources.)   

"I would rather save her even a moment of this terrible suffering," Hildegard says emphatically. "Her blessings on our final battle will be infinitely more in return. But I do not have the healing powers myself..."

Hildegard turns to Selariel. "Selariel...what healing magic do you possess? Do you know how to Regenerate? Do you know Greater Restoration? I feel as though these might be enough...to..."

The horn pulses in her hand, and Perdita still stands there trembling and sweating, nostrils flaring wildly.

Gorash and Selariel are both at full hp again, Tamphalic was already he didn't get hurt (except for before the big fight^^)

As they get ready to get back to the Ethereal cruiser, Tamphalic remembers something. He goes to the green dragon and does a little bow again and in draconic asks with shame:

"Nordaka, I.. I .. I must ask you something, and I hope you have the power to help me, or at least know how to fix me. Years a god I stole from the hoard of one of your kind, I should never have done it, but I got greedy when I saw it. I have been banished from my tribe and the great Blue dragon cursed me which ensures I cannot touch another being. I know, it's a lot to ask, but I have tried to pay for my sins, and I hope that in trying to defeat the cult I have shown I am no enemy to dragons. Would it be possible for you to get rid of my curse, or would you know I would be able to get rid of it?"

Quote from ConstancePhokas >>

Hildegard turns to Selariel. "Selariel...what healing magic do you possess? Do you know how to Regenerate? Do you know Greater Restoration? I feel as though these might be enough...to..."

Hearing this, Hewelathan-Bear says, "Regeneration of lost or severed body parts?  That is not simple magic!  The druids of my Circle are masters of shape and forms, but only the most powerful members command magic that powerful.  If Lady Selariel cannot help, perhaps the head cleric at the Temple of Boccob on the Shaded Isle could?  But I imagine that it would have to wait until after battle with the Cult of the Dragon Lord."

Selarial smiles sadly.

"I am capable of the necessary restoration," she says. "But... regeneration is beyond my power. Though if I were given the proper scroll I might be able to achieve the feat you need. His Lordship or the priests on his Isle likely possess such a scroll."

"I will have to ask Lord Akkron exactly what it will take," Hildegard says, "for it was he that told me this can be reversed if I recover her horn. But it would be a crime to delay her healing any longer than is necessary. Which it may be, depending upon the situation we find on the Shaded Isle. But I am not going to make that assumption." She waves away Hewelathan's offer of goodberries. "If you are so concerned that we be at peak capacity for this upcoming battle, you should be equally concerned to heal whom is our most ancient and powerful ally, guardian and steed of Tali Windrunner herself, and how much more she would have to offer us in defeating the Cult whilst free and healed than as the slave of Hell."

Quote from Secretfool >>

Gorash and Selariel are both at full hp again, Tamphalic was already he didn't get hurt (except for before the big fight^^)

As they get ready to get back to the Ethereal cruiser, Tamphalic remembers something. He goes to the green dragon and does a little bow again and in draconic asks with shame:

"Nordaka, I.. I .. I must ask you something, and I hope you have the power to help me, or at least know how to fix me. Years a god I stole from the hoard of one of your kind, I should never have done it, but I got greedy when I saw it. I have been banished from my tribe and the great Blue dragon cursed me which ensures I cannot touch another being. I know, it's a lot to ask, but I have tried to pay for my sins, and I hope that in trying to defeat the cult I have shown I am no enemy to dragons. Would it be possible for you to get rid of my curse, or would you know I would be able to get rid of it?"

The dragon looks down at you almost fondly. She bows her great head and presses her muzzle to your mask. A small, electric shock passes between between you and the dragon... not enough to hurt her, but enough for her to feel.

"This is a grave affliction," she says in draconic. "But... not beyond my power to correct. If you indeed return us to Faerun, then I will make sure that the curse shall plague you no longer."

"Let us get to our cruiser than so we can get back to the teleportation circle that will bring us back to Faerun." Tamphalic says to everyone.

After a few moments of discussion between the two dragons, Nordaka eventually convinces Vitarek to settle down, and the party is able to take a Short Rest.

Everyone, please make sure your character is levelled up, hit dice used, etc.

Once that is done, what is the party's next move?

The stillness breaks—not with sound, but with absence. For just a moment, everything goes… quiet.

Too quiet.

Even Vitarek stills. Nordaka’s head lifts slowly, eyes narrowing as she scans the horizon. Her wings twitch once, then again.

“...Something just changed.”

Selariel frowns.

“What do you mean?”

The dragon does not answer immediately.

Then a ripple passes through the air. Not seen. Not heard. Felt.

Like the distant echo of something vast… and violent. The horn in Hildegard’s hand flares with sudden heat. Perdita cries out—this time not only in pain, but in recognition. Her body strains forward, hooves scraping against the ground as if pulled toward something far beyond sight.

Selariel’s composure falters.

“That was no ordinary magic…”

Vitarek lets out a low, uneasy growl, pacing once before stopping short.

“I do not like this.”

Nordaka’s voice is quieter now. Sharper.

“Neither do I.”

A long pause.

Then she turns to the party.

“Whatever caused that… it was powerful.”

Her gaze lingers on the horn, then on Perdita.

“If you have allies… if you have unfinished business… now would be the time.”

The air feels thinner now. Tense.

Waiting.

The Ethereal Cruiser drifts nearby, ready.

What do you do?

Quote from Mister_Whisker >>

Once that is done, what is the party's next move?

Hewelathan, still in the form of a Brown Bear, says in a deep, rumbling voice, "I think that we should split up.  Per Jodie's bargain with the lich, it will Teleport eight of us anywhere on the Ethereal Plane.  I think that we should split up so that eight of us can get back to the Radiant Citadel immediately.  Hildegard could ferry anyone else up to the Ethereal Cruiser first, and they would get back to the Radiant Citadel in an hour or two."  As he said before...

Quote from Ben_Evolent >>

Seeing the crystal ball, Hewelathan-Bear suggests to Nickeline: "Maybe you could use it to scry on Bridgette, Lord Akkron's apprentice.  She probably isn't protected from scrying, and maybe that would show you enough to know whether the attack is already underway."

...either before or after the Short Rest, we need Nickeline to contact someone who remained on the Shaded Isle to defend it against any attack by the Cult of Sserah while we went to the Radiant Citadel.  Assuming that Lord Akkron shields himself from divination, she could try any of the other people we know:

• Baron Ryder - Nickeline helped him set up the port city's defenses before we left for the Radiant Citadel, which may help her contact him.  He probably knows the status of the island and any battles taking place.
• Bridgette - Lord Akkron's apprentice. She may be best positioned to help us communicate with Lord Akkron. 
• Elmar Erikson - the mayor of the port city.  If the city is already under attack, he would certainly know.
• Captain Blythe - captain of the ship that brought the original party of Accursed to the Shaded Isle, though I'm not sure how well Nickeline knows her
• Shri - the drider bartender at the inn where we were staying

If the Shaded Isle is still waiting for the attack, or if they've beat back the first assault and are now waiting for the next attack, then the 8 who teleport back to the Radiant Citadel should have time to prepare before the others arrive.  (The party has some treasure from the raid on Talice's tomb, and perhaps that could buy us some potions or scrolls or even a magic lance for Hildegard before we return to the Shaded Isle.)

If the Shaded Isle is currently under attack, then the 8 who teleport back to the Radiant Citadel could immediately return to the Shaded Isle to help in the battle against the cult.  Once the others make it to the Radiant Citadel, they could return to the Shaded Isle and join the fight. 

If we're going to split the group, we need to decide which 8 are returning directly to the Radiant Citadel and who follows later.  We're currently 14 souls:

1. Hewelathan
2. Hildegard
3. Jodie
4. Korba
5. Nickeline
6. Tamphalic
7. Gorash
8. Ruby
9. Smiler (assuming that he's coming with us)
10. Selareil
11. Nordaka - green dragon
12. Vitarek - red dragon
13. Kobold Dragonshield #3
14. Kobold Dragonshield #4

If it's just a shopping trip, then the core 6 "accursed" party members could return directly to the Radiant Citadel with Selariel and someone else.  The others could join us as soon as they get to the Radiant Citadel.

If we need to get to the Radiant Citadel so that we can get back to the Shaded Isle immediately to join a fight that's in-progress, we'll definitely want to bring Ruby (and her Dragon Vessel) with us. 

Quote from Mister_Whisker >>

....a ripple passes through the air. Not seen. Not heard. Felt....Like the distant echo of something vast…and violent....What do you do?

(OOC: Oops!  I cross-posted with @Mister_Whisker.  I'll leave my post as-is, but I guess we need to get moving now.)

Did the pulse seem to come from a particular direction or source?
Hewelathan-Bear: Perception: 10

That is, this distant echo didn't seem to originate from the horn or from the dead god itself, right?  

Ah yes... the two kobold dragonshields. I almost forgot about them. They surrendered immediately when Firion died.

One of them is a male named Snog, the second a female named Dehra. They don't seem to be a threat right now... and certainly not suicidal enough to try anything. Leaving them on the godhusk would almost certainly be a death sentence unless the Astral Lich decides to use them as slaves. That said... they are Zolgu's servants, and even now they might try something once they are no longer trapped on an ancient diety's corpse.

Quote from Ben_Evolent >>

Quote from Mister_Whisker >>

....a ripple passes through the air. Not seen. Not heard. Felt....Like the distant echo of something vast…and violent....What do you do?

(OOC: Oops!  I cross-posted with @Mister_Whisker.  I'll leave my post as-is, but I guess we need to get moving now.)

Did the pulse seem to come from a particular direction or source?
Hewelathan-Bear: Perception: 20

That is, this distant echo didn't seem to originate from the horn or from the dead god itself, right?  

Distant echo... more a feeling than an actual presence. Just a "something is wrong somewhere that is relevant to you" sort of feeling.

Nickeline cries tears of joy when she detects no trace of the demon that had inhabited her crystal ball for so long. Even after she had figured out how to hide from its sight and ignore its sinister whispers, its continued presence mean that the treasure could not be used freely by the other members of her holy order. Now she could return a hero to her people, but there were other, more pressing matters.

"I've never tried to spy on someone in a different plane of existence," Nickeline says. "I don't think it would work." She's so excited to use her newly-restored crystal ball, however, that she tries to scry on Baron Ryder, the person with whom she has spent the most time on the Shaded Isle, anyway.

OOC:

Scrying requires a target on the same plane of existence.

Quote from mamoduck >>

OOC: Scrying requires a target on the same plane of existence.

(OOC: D'oh!  I always scan right past that restriction unless I'm specifically looking for it.  This is the first 5e campaign that I've played in where it's been relevant!)

Hewelathan-Bear shrugs and says, "Oh?  Then I guess we'd better just make haste and get us all back to Faerûn as quickly as we can!  We don't know what we'll find when we return to the Shaded Isle, but we wouldn't want to arrive too late to help them!"

Since the party doesn't know what's happening back on the Shaded Isle, maybe it's best that we all stick together and just ride the Ethereal Cruiser back to the Radiant Citadel.  Hewelathan-Bear suggests that Nickeline might be able to contact Lady Selariel's associates on the Radiant Citadel so that they can prepare the way.  That way, the party will hopefully be able to move straight from the Ethereal Cruiser's dock to the teleportation circle back to the Shaded Isle with minimal delays.  Even better if Lady Selariel's people can gather some supplies for the party (e.g., healing potions, potions of resistance, spell scrolls)!

Tamohalic is against splitting up, their strength is in their numbers not in individuals.

"lets get to the cruiser" he says as he moves that way. 

 "Agreed," Nickeline says, hurrying along to keep up with Tamphalic and Hewelathan. She asks Lady Selariel if she has any tokens or items belonging to any of her associates which Nickeline could borrow to attempt to contact them.

Jodie sighs after the hard-won fight. "Yes, all get back to the radiant citadel...now that our way is not threatened."  

Jodie turns to the dragons, "Great drakes, fly back with us and we'll secure your transport back to Faerun.  You can call us friends of dragonkind.  We may face your kin manipulated by the cult.  We trust you can persuade them otherwise..."

(Did we search the cultists and Firion for items?  Surely let's get the archmage's spellbook)

((We did not mention searching them, but I guess we would most probably have done that^^))