Abishai's Dragons of Icespire Peak

Zephyros gasps as he sees his spectral wife. He almost flinches as the ghostly image caresses his face, as if expecting her to become a Banshee, like in his dreams. Obviously, the sea elven woman's beauty proves his expectation wrong. For the first time in a long time, Zephyros senses something warm inside him.

Not peace- the weary soldier had seen too much death. Both from his hands and by others.

Nor happiness- His wife was still dead. He would never be able to so much as embrace his beautiful bride. His blood line ends with himself, the bearded bear knew.

But Joy.

The sense of longing vanishes- He had felt it all of the fourteen years of terrible war. It had briefly ceased when he returned to Silvara on the shore, but the wicked Coven had swiftly snatched anything Zephyros Ironheart had left.

His other half restored to him, he actually smiles. Not just a smirk- but grinning from ear to ear. He places his right hand upon his chest as he feels her power traverse through him. Silvara commands the Ironheart to avenge the fallen, and he gladly obeys.

"You have transgressed against the sea and her people- and she hears the blood of your victims crying out for vengeance within the depths. I am a man of my word- and now you face the sharp end of justice."

Zephyros Ironheart hurls his wife's trident at the treacherous green hag.

Attack: 23

Damage: 15

BA: Zephyros summons his trident to his hand.

And he throws it again.

Attack: 26

Damage: 15

Perception: 14

Kithran,

 Zephyros,

Your trident flies, striking the hag in the back as she finishes her last words, expecting the group to honor the bargain. She sheiks in surprised anguish, "Gah... noooo." Blood bubbles out of the hags mouth as the trident returns to your hand and is once more thrown. A second strike causes the hag to fall over into her cauldron, now empty save for her bleeding corpse.

The ground shudders under foot and the crack in the tower increases down the steps, stopping just short of the grassy floor.

Everyone,

Well done! You've successfully defeated the evil coven of hags. What would you like to do now?

Meira watched, mildly surprised when Kithran made a bargain with the hag.  And then she was more surprised as Zephyros strikes the hag down.  She nods, although nobody can really see that as she is still invisible. "A good outcome," she says as she wanders towards the now calmed cauldron. "I presume the souls this coven had taken are now freed and the entire coven is destroyed as well." 

Even as she moves she continues to scan the room for any more dangers.  She also takes a brief look in the cauldron once she gets there to ensure nothing else is inside of it that might be a concern. 

"I don't know about the rest of you all, but I could use with a bit of a rest." 

As the final hag is slain, Rasziel slowly and weakly sits down against the wall at the stairs. He is pleased to see the souls released, the scene giving him a measure of hope to accomplish that same feat one day. "Yes...a rest..." He manages to say between coughs. He had truly been at death's door, but the only thing he could think about as darkness had overcome him was the contract he was still bound to. He could not perish, too much was at stake, he had to find a safer way to deliver his due.

Lord Kithran watches as Zephyros strikes down the Hag with mild disinterest. He walks into the southern room. The undead paladin stoops down to pick up a few gold coins, letting them sift through his fingers. I don't care for gold, and silver. Maybe there is something more valuable among this trove?

He stops in the middle of the room and looks around for anything that might be magical.

Perception: 7

Gareth listens to the hag chanting in Sylvan and understands that she is undoing whatever foul spell she had set in motion. He kept a steady grip on his bow. Despite Kithran's promise, the ranger did not intend to let any hags leave this place alive. So he is relieved and not at all surprised when Zephyros ends the hag's miserable existence with his trident. He gives the warrior an approving nod. 

"Your wife is at peace now, at peace and also avenged. I hope you have gained some measure of peace from this too," says Gareth. 

Rasziel slumps against the stairs and the ranger moves to him with concern. He nods at Meira. "Yes, we could all use a rest, especially Rasziel. I'm afraid I'm out of healing potions or I would give you one," the ranger tells the merchant. 

Gareth watches the undead paladin walk into the southern room. He is surprised to see the dwarf here at all but grateful for his timely assistance. "Find anything interesting in there?" he calls out to the dwarf.

"Aye. Enough gold to start a war." Kithran responds. "I have no need for coins."

Kithran will continue scanning for potentially magical items.

Kithran,

You see five iron chests, three of which have lids propped open. Gold, silver, and copper pieces spilling over onto the floor. Discarded weapons and armor sets, trinkets, baubles and all manner of decorative pieces. From ruined paintings, to chiseled stone busts and figurines. However, you're unable to discern if anything is magical in nature with just your perception.

"No matter, I can rest and recuperate here until I'm fit to travel again." Rasziel tells considerate ranger. He had barely registred that the restless dwarven bahamutan had appeared in the midst of battle, but as the undead warrior mentions gold there is a glimmer of hope in the frail young man's dark eyes.

Kithran, make an investigation check.

(Used heroic inspiration) Investigation 19

Still invisible, Meira decides to walk over to the passage leading east. Not going down that passage, she stops to look at where it may go.  

Kithran,

Searching through the treasure horde, you find:

• 560pp, 3,200gp, 5,800sp, and 9000cp
• 13 silver goblets
• A gold filigree compass
• A pearl inlaid spyglass
• A small chest of gemstones
• A Chiseled bust of Umberlee
• 5 longswords, 4 shortswords, 11 spears, 5 crossbows, 8 shortbows, 6 longbows
• A rust pitted dagger
• 2 sets of chainmail, 1 set of plate, 3 shields
• A glass pendant
• A seashell charm
• A gold ring with a fancy inscription
• A silver ring with a fancy inscription
• Serval decorative pieces, from ruined paintings due to the moist area, to tattered journals, and stone figurines
• An interesting clay jug
• Two closed iron chests. (Contents unknown)

Without a way to discern if something is magical in nature, you have no idea besides trial and error to determine an items magical potential.

Meira,

Inside the eastern room with your goggles, you can see some kind of work bench. Beakers and alembics. Mortar and pestle. It appears to be an alchemical work station. Shelves filled with herbs, and other interesting ingredients. Broken glass and other refuse litter the room. Several bottles are corked and filled with some kind of liquid resting on a table next to the workstation.

Everyone,

Alisande flies down to rest near Rasziel and Gareth. “Ah, so my cognitive faculties are not succumbing to hallucinatory delusion—indeed, the formidable death knight from Axeholm has manifested upon the battlefield and engaged in martial confrontation alongside us. A fortuitous occurrence, I daresay, for I found myself perilously proximate to the precipice of mortality mere moments ago. Do we know why he has come?" The witch looks bloodied and bruised, near the point of collapse.

Quote from Culuril >>

...She also takes a brief look in the cauldron once she gets there to ensure nothing else is inside of it that might be a concern.

 Sorry, I missed this!

Looking inside the cauldron, you see the Green Hag, dead. Her face contorted with a mix of surprise and pain. Her blood pooling in the bottom of the cauldron. There is no danger left from this foe. 

Looking at the vast alchemical work area, Meira can't help but think of Eldrin. 'He would have loved this,' she thinks. However, she really hardly knows a thing about such things and figures it better to join the others. And probably rest. 

She walks over to where Alisande, Gareth, and Rasziel have congregated. She arrives just in time to hear Alisande's question about Kithran. "That is a good question. I would have thought he would have moved on from this world."  

About then Meira realizes she was still invisible and would turn herself back visible. "Maybe a bit of rest and then we should look around this place?" She tries to find a comfortable place to sit down. "Any of you have an interest in alchemy? There's quite a work area over there to the east. Probably a few potions we should check out too." 

Everyone,

You all begin to rest to dress your wounds after a hard fight. Towards the end of the rest, the building trembles again and the crack in the lighthouse tower wall grows a few more feet to the grassy floor of the lighthouse basement. It stops roughly 10' from the center pool. As the tower trembles,  some rocks tumble down from the top of the tower.

[[OOC:I need everyone to make Dex saving throws DC 11 to avoid falling rocks, taking 8 bludgeoning damage on a failed save. Alisande's save: Nat 20]]

Alisande yells, "Watch out!" as the rocks hit the ground around her and she deftly jumps out of the way.

You all gain the benefit of a short rest and may use any hit dice you have left to heal. Alisande feels much better after bandaging some of her wounds, 29/37. 

What would you like to do?

Gareth looks at Alisande with concern. He is not used to seeing the noblewoman so bruised and disheveled. The ranger does his best to help patch her up and himself as well and spends the remainder of their short rest leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. He still has his eyes closed when he feels the entire lighthouse tremble. Alisande leaps out of the way of some falling rocks, and the ranger is not far behind her. 

"Well," he says. "I think that may be our cue to leave."

To Meira he says, "I'm probably not as good as Eldrin, but I've made a potion or two in my time. Let me take a look before we leave."

Gareth enters the room with the alchemist's workbench. He begins to fill his pack with the herbs and ingredients. He also grabs the potions but takes a moment to uncork one and take a tiny taste. When he returns, he glances toward the other room where Kithran disappeared. The undead paladin had said he'd found enough gold to start a war, and he wasn't kidding. The ranger's eyes almost bug out of his head as he takes in the piles of treasure. 

"Nine Hells," the ranger breathes. "I think everyone better come take a look at this. Quickly, before we're crushed by another rock." 

DEX Save - 25 (Also, Gareth is indeed proficient in Alchemist's tools due to his Folk Hero background, and I've totally forgotten that many times.)

(Short Rest - used 3 hit dice, recovered 22 hp)

(DEX Save: 10)

After resting and recovering her strength, Meira is immediately struck by one of the falling rocks. She's quickly on her feet, trying to assess the situation. "Should we just get out of here? Or do we have time to check things out?"

She followed Gareth, first back to the workshop then to where Kithran had found the treasure.  "Maybe we just get this all out and sort it later." She'd offer to help if anyone has ideas for collecting it all. 

(Used 2 hit dice, regained full hp.)

Dex save: 10

Kithran grunts as he's struck on the back by a falling stone. He peers upward to observe what's going on. It won't help if I am buried under this filthy spire.

The seashell charm and the glass pendant catch Kithran's gaze. He walks over and picks them up, studying them intently. Interesting pieces of treasure, perhaps these might have magical properties?

"It would be wise to leave this place, before it comes crashing down." The death knight states. He holds on to the seashell charm and the glass pendant, while moving to open the two closed iron chests.