Dragon of Icespire Peak ***CLOSED***

Minsys stands still watching it all close back up and then looked up to survey the wreckage.  They should probably take that thing down later.  Sighing he looked up towards the tower and shouted, "Hey, it closed up! Put the keys back in."

"Nevermind!  It's still big enough for us to get down," he shouts after closer inspection.

Connak watches the tree leave and head into the cover of the forest, wondering what they've just unleashed upon the world.  He nervously quips, "What are the chances that tree likes to eat dragons?"

After the tree blight and its hitchhiking kin have shuffled past the tree line of the Neverwinter Wood and out of sight, a sense of calm descends upon the manse. A light breeze blew softly across the lawn and if they didn't know otherwise, the party could have assumed they had stubmled upon a quaint, old homestead nestled within a peaceful glade inside and even more peaceful forest.

The mouth of the well and its internal stair leading down into the rank darkness loomed, and some pondered whether the tree blight caught there was merely a conincidence or rather some type of plug or barrier to what lie beyond.

Slowly the sun began descending towards the horizon, and before long the cicadas enetered their nightly droning serenade of the surrounding wilds...

Tabesha'l dusts off her coat and skirts as she turns towards her companions:

" Methinks 't would be an incongruous, yet mayhaps wise decision to camp in the vicinity of yon gaping hole that leadeth into the netherworlds below; if any other monstrous forms should emerge from its entrails while we art at rest, we wouldst be not far from it of course... thus also able to detect said-dangers fore they falleth upon us unawares, yes ?"

She looks back towards the library. " I for one shall do my share of studying 'fore we vacate my ancestor's fair mansion. And by 'fair'  I of course use said-term somewhat loosely..." she sighs, rolling her eyes, " the place truly could do with some proper house-care, to be certain. Mmmph." 

She seems lost in her own thoughts as her eyes rove over the shell of what once was her grandmother's domain. Is she considering bringing the accursed ruin back into the family fold ?

"I must concurr with Tabeha'l. While rest is of the utmost importance right now, especially with that tree apparently exectuing advanced withdrawal of limbs. Best we keep a look out whereever it is that we decide to put up," Tink looks to the others as they discuss their next course of action.

"The library could be good place to hold up but it hardly affords us a good vantage point to keep watch. Perhaps you can take what you want from the library and we can hole up some where more secure?"

Connak looks out of a window at the woods beyond the manse and says, "Under normal circumstances, I would much rather make camp in the cover of the trees than in this death trap.  However, given the proximity of that tree we just saw leave into the forest, I have to say it won't be safer out there either.  So having to choose between two bad choices, I prefer the one with a roof..."

The elven arcanist nods both to Tink and Connak's comments, while she looks up at the roof with a sorrowful frown: " Lords of my Stars ! Wouldst thee all look at the state of the shinglework, there ! Such a waste. Of course yon treelike monstrosity did nothing to help with the general masonry, either: the place doeth need extensive repairs, badly so. Yet, it shall suffice to our present purpose, of course."

She clasps her hands and shrugs, " Kharnaneythrë Anath Onyuril !  'One Glamour At A Time', as the ancient fey lords and ladies used to say. Who shall take first watch ? As I said, I shall be awake for a little longer, but engrossed in my oh-so-crucial studies... Arvi will do his part also, obviously. Won't you, wretched creature ?" She looks at the Quasit (who turned visible again after returning from its scouting down below) with a mixture of motherly care and amused disdain. " He is quite repulsive, isn't he ? Poor thing... !" she reflects, addressing no-one in particular.

"I sense no...aggressive entities nearby, Mistress..." hisses Arvi before assuming his centipede form and coiling back and forth in figure-eight circuits at Tabesha'l's feet. "...but this place is given to a very...strange power. Perhaps you should reassemble that staff and further study it while we have a brief respite..." he spits.

Just then a large crashing sound echoed up to the house from far off in the distance, in the direction that the tree blight had shambled. It was followed by an other-worldly howl, though the party recognized it as the same sound the tree blight made as they were briefly engaged with it earlier. The party alerted, but soon the sounds subsided and they relaxed slightly when no dangers approached them.

The rats charmed by Minsys earlier reappeared, and scurried to and fro as if looking for food. They scampered across his legs and feet and one even clambered up to sniff about the barbarian's ear and neck, assuming he did not swat the creature away. Invisibility fell over Arvi and a few moments later, one of the rats screeched in pain as it tumbled head over heels. A second later, the centipede faded back into view and proceeded to devour the rodent in a rather graphic display that seemed more than what was necessary.

Dusk continued to fade into darkness as the party rested into the night...

(OOC: the party takes a long rest, please reset your character sheets and select spells as needed.)

Vaxis removes his armor for the night, and settles down to sleep.

The tentacles of Minsys' new cloak probed and searched the ground, the air and anyone who came within five feet of the barbarian. It was as if each of the long stalks had a mind of its own and they never seemed to rest, constantly feeling the tactile world around them to gather information about the environment. Though they looked rather hideous (and added a somewhat sinister look to Minsys' already formidable appearance) the appendages were actually harmless - the spikes protruding from the large squid-like pads were of a fleshy texture as opposed to the implements of torture they appeared to be. One of them roamed along the ground and over the back of one of the rats that still scurried to and fro (despite Arvi lurking nearby) which elicited a sharp squeal from the tiny beast, who quickly retreated into through a hole in a nearby wall.

Meanwhile, Tabesha'l could sense that the white staff was more than just a casual walking stick...a quiet voice echoed somewhere deep in her consciousness that urged her to reassemble the two halves of the item. The voice was not Arvi's but was also not one that seemed wholly unfamiliar either, though in a fleeting thought she could not recall where she might have heard it before...

As they wind down for the night, Tink spends sometime checking over W.H.I.S.K.E.R. and fixing any dents and tightening and lose bolts. Eventually she too beds down for a restful night's sleep.

While her companions are setting up camp for the evening, Tabesha'l has retired to the library, where she distractedly leafs through a few tomes.

Yet her attention keeps returning to Aerydesia's staff.
She finally clears a table and lays down the two pieces on it, taking a deep breath before sheathing the makeshift sword back into its white wooden scabbard, effectively returning the staff to its integrity, as she concentrates her arcane powers to attempt to reveal its true powers... if any powers there should be.

Vaxis quickly settled into a deep slumber, even as the others were still moving around, talking and attending to their equipment. Though the night was cold, it was still well above freezing temperatures, yet puffs of frosty vapor issued forth from the silver dragonborn's nostrils with every exhale. The vane that ran along the center of his head began to quiver and flexed slightly as he entered the stage of sleep where dreams were cultivated...

Images of Vaxis' past flashed through his sub-consciousness: the cathedral where he said his first prayers to Bahamut, his great-grandfather's face - grim yet wise, the pedestal upon which sat the large infernal puzzle box that his elders had scolded him and all his cousins to never, ever touch, and finally that same puzzle box falling open in his hands to reveal the heavy amulet contained therein that held a diamond the size of a fist in platinum chains...

In her solitude, Tabesha'l studies the staff of her ancestor closely and forms a bond with the item, revealing to her all of its magical properties:

The night passes mostly uneventfully, though both Vaxis and Tabesha'l were often awakened from their slumber: Vaxis by his recurring dreams of his past and Tabesha'l by the familiar voice that had begun calling to her after her discovery and further study of the white bone staff. Connak often woke to fend off the probing of the curious tentacles of Minsys' cloak. Only Tink slept soundly throughout the night, benefitting from the protection of W.H.I.S.K.E.R. who swatted away the unwanted advances of Minsys' strange new garment.

(OOC: LONG REST COMPLETED)

The next morning, the team begins to stir as the sun begins to creep up over the treeline and birds begin to sing their morning song. As Tink came to, she realized she was holding a book that she did not remember looking at the night before...she had slept near the others and not in the library, where Tabesha'l had secluded herself to.

The book lay in her lap with the front cover face up. It was an elegant brown leather volume, in much better shape than most of the other moldering books in the ruined library, most of which had been ravaged by moths, rodents, moisture, mold and years of neglect. The title, written in Common in an elegant gold leaf: Gem Dragons and their Kin. One of her index fingers was inserted in the pages near the middle of the text, apparently holding her place.

Opening the book to where her finger lay, she found the following entry:

As the party wakes, they find Tabesha'l sitting by a nearby window, looking mournfully upon the destroyed yard below. Her brow is furrowed with preoccupation and she is unusually quiet. The white staff rests on her lap as she idly runs her fingers down its length, following its intricate carvings.

Searching her memories, Tabesha'l believes that the voice she keeps hearing is that of none other than her grandmother, Aerydesia Pananthyr, who had disappeared early in her youth, presumably to excavate magical caverns that lay somewhere in the very wilds in which the party now found themselves.

Minsys eats a quick meal.  Slightly saddened by the fact that the boar meat was all be spoiled from have sat, unbutched, unbled the whole night.  At least the rats would have a nice meal.  He shakes his head and grabs his maul in one hand and then lights up a torch in the other.  "Gonna go search the hole with water...Who wants to join?" Minsys says waiting for a response.  "Oh and skip step three."

Connak checks his gear to be sure everything is in good shape, then packs it up and nods to Minsys, ready to get started.

Tink oils all of Whisker's joints and then gathers her stuff together, "Alright then. Whisker and I have also completed our preparation protocols and should be ready to proceed."