While trying to fix my cart wheel I blacked out. When I woke up I was in an egg and hatched by Yuan-Ti priests who used blood magic to summon me, a strange bird creature, and a giant. They seemed to think the three of us had been chosen by their god, Selmakine, to save them from an attack by humans. As the priestesses were leading us to their temple we saw the snake city being attacked by metal soldiers.
These metal men turned out to be the hated Dalmogens from Crag. I did not care much about the snake battle until I learned this. I followed the giant, who isn’t quite a giant, called Thia and the bird person named Khar up a mountain path where we saw mystic arches. Before we passed through, a snake came out and bit each of us. It did not hurt and instead of venom it left the sigil of Selmakine which the head priest said would allow us to call on the god when we need it. At the end of the arches was a bridge to a place that reminded me of home but everything was different in a bad way. Khar claimed he saw a tunnel through the ground.
After passing through we were followed by a Dalmogen scout. The three of us were able to defeat it but not before it was able to blow on its horn. We opened its chest and I took out its heart and a piece of pure blackness that reminds me of home. Moving on we found a wooden metal man which I put the heart into and it woke up. He told us that he used to be a gnome until a Dalmogen human cursed him and the entire island. After removing the heart at his request I pressed my Tremulous sigil against the wooden man because the wood he was made of reminded me of the Fellmantine from home. This triggered a vision of a human flanked by metal men on either side standing atop a volcano. The human had a string of many pure blacknesses. We continued a trek down the mountain and found a shrine with a rusty dagger which Khar took.
After many hours of climbing we came across a small village and talked to Gunthar, the dwarf who runs the place. He told us that most people on the island, in particular the elves, live at the capitol and the population has been growing as more and more people get stuck on the island. Gunthar let us stay the night. In the night I met the goblins Flick, Slick, and Mip, all siblings, and accidentally revealed that there is a flying person in our party. They assumed he is a dragon and made the rest of the village tie Khar up before Gunthar could calm everyone down.
The next morning Gunthar told Thia that they have to burn part of the forest down to stop it from overtaking the farmlands. This news upset her and we set out to see what made the forest sick and aggressive like this. Gunthar promised to stop burning the forest if we can get it to stop growing so fast. The three of us ventured into the forest and went northeast towards the swampy dead forest. Khar flew ahead to scout and we saw Flick and Slick run ahead to watch the “dragon”. After being found out, Mip walked with Thia and I and we moved forward to a dry circle in the water where we saw the other three disappear. Thia opened a pair of double doors and we walked in.
Thia and I walked through the doors and found a feather on the ground and lit torches along the wall. We followed the path, which looked like it had been built around thick roots, downwards as it spiraled. The strange thing about the roots is there were no trees in the ground above. Eventually we fell down a steep incline, Mip was riding Thia’s shoulder as this happened, and into a round room with a thick root across the middle. We could hear singing in this room but couldn’t tell where it was coming from. There were smaller roots the forked out from the large one and the smaller ones twisted in and out of different skulls and skeletons on the root floor.
Mip heard the singing and ran around the large root. I followed her but felt tired and lethargic when I climbed over the root. On the other side I found a hollowed out rotten stump with a drop into another area. Thia and I were able to lower ourselves down with a rope and found Khar. He was dancing in the air with another flying creature as she sang. Mip was on the ground staring at them in a trance. This room was similar to the previous one (roots, skeletons). While Thia investigated the main root I was able to cut the small ones binding Mip. She came out of her tranced and was elated to see two “dragons” in the air.
The other flying creature landed next to Thia and faced her. At this point Khar came out of his trance. The creature asked us how we got here when this wasn’t part of the arrangement with the sisters. Apparently the bog is theirs. While Thia and the creature were talking I saw that Mip found Flick and Slick enmeshed in roots. I was able to free them but they were unconscious and gaunt. The flying creature sees me doing this and attacks us. Mip, angry about her brothers, is pivotal in combat and helps us subdue the creature.
Looking around the area Thia was able to find a dark, twisted dagger in the back of the creature and Khar found a similar one in the large root. Khar removed the root dagger and the creature began convulsing as the similar one in its back disappeared. The roots in the chamber retreat and we see twenty bodies, all male, unconscious on the floor. Thia confirms that the malignant presence she felt in the root is no longer there.
We are able to revive the unconscious men who all tell us they were trying to get the Lansten, Gunthar’s village. A door appears in the chamber that takes us to the bog where a similar root retreat and water drain is happening. We find the road the Lansten and are able to make it back with all the survivors. On the way back we are able to see two old hags each with a necklace of an ear and eye watching us.
Even though it was only a day to us Gunthar says we were gone for fourteen. After treating the survivors there is a bonfire celebration. During the celebration we are able to learn about the strange harpy. Her name is Lynae. She is Gunthar’s daughter and was not born as a harpy. She left Lansten three months ago to go on a scouting trip and never came back. While trying to find the road to Galgostein (a nearby coastal village) she was distracted by an old woman on a lily flower who offered help. The witches changed her and she followed their instructions.
The next morning we see Frakis, an ally of Gunthar’s, leaving for the capitol. We are also able to talk with Lynae and Gunthar some more. The witches who changed Lynae are named Shari and Melody. They are moving women to an old Dalmogen outpost in the Tanzerein forest. Gunthar tells us the forest more alive than it has in recent memory and is no longer aggressively growing. Thia senses a forest presence to the north and believes if we can heal it the forest become even more peaceful, thus allowing more travel on the island. We agree to go north.
We woke up and headed north towards the forest. On our way we noted that the soil just outside of town is noticeably healthier looking than it was the day before. We followed the path Farkis took for as long possible until we branched off into the jungle.
In the jungle we noticed a crossroads where the path disappeared behind us. No matter which direction we went all paths led back to this crossroad. Khar flew above the canopy but only saw tree tops in all directions, even the non-jungle route we took. I was able to teleport outside of the event horizon of the crossroads. Thia and I were able to hear but not see each other. Thia and Khar were able to tie a rope to a tree and, holding it taut, walk out of the crossroads.
Further down the path we came across a flower house that looked similar to a hag’s home. I threw a stone to test how solid it was but accidentally threw too hard and destroyed part of a it. A hag who wasn’t part of the Sisterhood came out and told me she had made a deal with the Raven Queen and I should go with her. She then knocked me unconscious with her gaze. While unconscious I received a vision from Her who said she does not meddle in deals such as this. When I woke back up Thia and Khar had killed the hag who turned to a putrefied liquid.
In the hag’s flower hut we found a note in giantish that was a threatening letter addressed to Teranga from Agatha of the Emgira Sisterhood. The letter mentioned the hags in the bog had already joined and they would all collectively usurp everyone else on the island. We left the hut and saw one of Her watchers. Khar was kind and helped it through the canopy and we continued along our path.
This jungle’s clagmatine is smaller than mine but there’s an archway into it. No one has been close enough to mine to know if there’s a way into it. In this one there are long shafts leading upwards. Khar flies me up to a ledge at the very top while Thia is able to do a Druidic ritual that teleports her. At the top we find a lethargic wood elf who does not like me because I lit a campfire in the jungle. She shares a vision with us of the clagmatine being splintered by fire spikes. After this Thia and the elf perform a ritual in which the elf disappears in a pulse of energy. As we watch the jungle below us transform with life while the elf’s voice tells us to find the two other clagmatines on the island.
I asked Thia why these clagmatines are surrounded by forests and she is confused when I tell her mine is not.
From the tree we see a stone ruin in the distance. We head towards it and find a metal pole with inscriptions detailing the great power it contains. I grab it and am struck by lightning; luckily Thia is able to bring me back to life. We leave for Lansten with my carrying this metal rod. When we return we learn of a hag attack during which Lynae was charmed to attack Gunthar. The hag used a mirror to cast her spell. We all rest for the night.
The next day I try the lightning test again and barely survive. I have a vision with three ancient figures who debate whether I am a “fated one”. Ultimately they decide I am and give me a Javelin of Lightning. I am barely alive but more powerful.
We set out north from Lansten to go to the hag outpost. Lynae wanted to go against Gunthar’s wishes so we had to distract him while she snuck out. On the road we encountered a group of travelers being attacked by a metal man. After a brief combat in which we defeated the metal man we learned the travelers were deserters from the Dalmogen army. They were deserting because the work the army had them doing was not the same as what was promised. After a short rest we sent them down the road south to Lansten and we continued north. As we walk Thia sensed a dying clagmatine to the north-west by some old ruins. Lynae tells us the ruins are an old shore town.
In the ruins we find an old military outpost with a courtyard full of metal men in various states of decay. Some are made of brass instead of the silver/iron appearance of all the active ones we’ve seen. I found a ring that could fit the vanta black memory shard and put it on. Fitting a couple different pieces in the ring I am able to experience the lives of the people who now inhabit the metal men. After the first time of this I gather as many memory shards as I can carry.
Residents from the nearby village come to investigate our disturbance of the ruins and greet Lynae like an old friend. We learned that the town’s women have been missing and there are problems with the nearby forest. Even though all the trees are dead the residents still hear chanting at night. One halfling in the villager was exiled from the forest and can only tell us that “pointy pointy” happens at night.
We long rest in the village and at night Flick and Slick reveal that they have been following us and want to show us something up the beach from the town. We see a lake in a cave and on walking in are teleported to the Ancient Ones. They are collectively known as Selmakine and were the ones who gave us our marks. At a certain point our marks will be empowered and turn from their current purple color to green. After this vision we returned to the town and set out into the dead forest.
Our journey into the forest was uneventful until we got to the clagmatine clearing where we were ambushed by the halflings that live there. Thia, Khar, and Lynae were all put to sleep with sleeping darts but I was able to dodge. After an intense standoff and Thia waking up I convince the halflings to take all of us to the tree. The halfling live in the tree and have a large fire outside of it where they sacrifice their victims. The halflings agreed to not sacrifice Khar and Lynae until Thia and I could visit the top of the tree.
At the very top we encountered a drop from the top into a hole in the bottom of the tree called the “leap of faith”. Thia and I jumped down and barely survived the landing in the water at the bottom of the hole. We see the druid’s gateway and Thia begins to do her ritual. After a while we see Khar and Lynae appear awake, on a bloody altar, and with a sprouting tree coming out of Khar’s magic seed necklace. Thia takes this seed and puts it in the druid gateway which awakens the tree. The tree’s spirit tells us she is the top of the clagmatine we already saved and all three trees were once one until they were split and scattered around the island. Thia completes her druidic ritual and we are teleported out of the tree. The forest is aggressively regrowing so we alon g with all the halflings run out of it.
Outside of the camp we saw ten women running away from the forest. We stopped them to see where they were going and they replied back to the mothers’ camp. After further questioning we learn the mothers are the hags and there is great concern because they have been disappearing. There used to be five. In the camp there is also a minotaur forge master. The mothers attract women to the camp by offering them stable food.
While we were talking to the women the townsmen approached us and one man recognized a women. She had been told by the hags that the men had all died which is why they all abandoned the village. We convinced the men and women to abandon the camp and village and go with us to Lansten. Along the way back to town we learned that there are forty women still remaining in the camp.
During the night I studied both the memory shards and my Selmakine mark. The memory shards are called Feltinites. I tested one Feltinite in the memory reader I found and saw a metal man dying in the Dalmogen outpost. I checked the same Feltinite a second time and was able to see a second memory. The metal men are called the War Forged. This particular War Forged was originally a human who had hurt his leg and was promised to be healed by the Dalmogen empire.
In the morning we saw Coven the halfling talking to the retreating halflings from the previously dead forest. They have moved to the forest by Lansten but during their flight a number of their women were abducted to the hag camp. We also learned that some of the refugee women in town have left in the night and taken Mip with them. We determined that we should try to rescue her and Jezebel, one of the refugee women, said she would lead us there.
We followed the river north until we were on the outskirts of the camp and could see to lily flower houses next to some cages with the halfling women in them. The hags emerged from their houses and began to fight us. During the combat one hag is able to blow into a magic beak that alerted the rest of the camp and reinforcements began to arrive. The combat was bloody, Jezebel was killed by witches and Thia was gored in the shoulder by the minotaur, but we were able to kill the hags. We weren’t able to find Mip or stop the reinforcements were able to move the halfling prisoners. The minotaur’s parting words were a promise to invade Lansten later that day.
Nearly dead, we retreated a safe distance from the camp to recoup and sent Lynae to Lansten to warn them of the invasion. We also sent Flick and Slick out to scout the camp. Lynae was able to warn Gunthar and returned to us. Flick and Slick bring back a kobold and dwarf. Gambold, the dwarf, told us that Agatha’s headquarters are at the top of a hill. He also told us that the troops have marched and the camp is empty except for the minotaur.
While trying to sneak into the camp we were spotted by the minotaur who spoke with us. Her name is Bolsa and she was traded to Agatha when she was a child. While not outright saying it, she wanted to be free from Agatha so she could return to Dustrumlin where she trained with the dwarves. Bolsa told us that Agatha is from the Feywild and can teleport to the island using mirrors. While we could try to kill her, the easiest thing to do would be to trap her in the Feywild. She also told us that Khar’s evil blades thirst for blood and would be strong against Agatha.
Bolsa offered to lure Agatha out by using Lynae as bait. Agatha was behind Lynae’s involuntary transformation and was greatly annoyed when she got away. We agreed to this plan because we believed Agatha was keeping Mip near her. In Agatha’s headquarter hill is a giant mirror to the Feywild. It looked nothing like home. Where things are calm and you can feel Her presence at home everything here was wild and shouting. We were able to go through the mirror and found Mip with Agatha. We charged her to free Mip but quickly realized she would kill us if we stayed too long. We were able to get Mip through the mirror and retreat before destroying it. But Agatha’s promise to return to the island echoed in the chamber.
Where she put wings on Lynae, Agatha forced magic on Mip. She was now able to cast spells but was also severely traumatized by what happened. Bolsa left to go north to Dustrumlin while we headed south the Lansten. Along the way we saw two refugee women leading the halfling women there. While Agatha was not gone, the camp was effectively disbanded. Jezebel was killed, Lynae was mutilated, and Mip had scars we couldn’t see so it felt like a very hollow victory.
In Lansten we found a high elf Grand Vizier from the capitol. He told us the capitol needed people like us to help make things right on the island. We agreed to go with him and he teleported us to the capitol city. In the capitol he shows us a cliff over the fog. He cleared the fog and we saw a giant statue chained to the land pulling it through the ocean. Dalmogen was not able to conquer the high elves’ land so in response fractured its clagmatine and created the statue to always pull the land through the see.
After seeing the statue we walked into the capitol proper where we learned the elves were still able to communicate with the mainland. We learned that Thia’s home forest was destroyed by the Dalmogens and Diocene, the goddess of hope, has lost hope. The Dalmogen forces had also begun invading dwarven lands. The final thing we learned was that the giant statue could only be stopped with a weapon. Khar had three of the four pieces already so we just needed to find the last piece and assemble it.
After this we were led to something called an inn. It’s like a bunch of little huts stacked on top of each other but they let anyone own one of the huts for a night. This is weird because they gave me a hut for the night but I didn’t even have to build it first.
We stayed in the capitol for a week. While there I was able to look at all the tall stone buildings and talk to the dwarves who made them. They showed me how to place the stones in the buildings so that the higher floors don’t crush the lower ones. They also use these things called scaffolds which are like temporary buildings but without walls on the outside. I must remember to tell mom about this next time I’m home so she can test it out.
Just like the buildings, the people here are very strange. They sing and chant with each other. And when they are happy or sad they tell each other. I tried a few of their songs and one sailor taught me his. It’s called “The Great Fall” and it’s about how he landed on this island. I want to learn more songs I can perform.
When the week was up we all met Farkis who took us to a tavern called the Oily Toad. We learned a little bit about what’s been happening outside the capitol. Namely, we learned that the forest is healthier again (except to the east) and that the dwarves and kobolds built a fighting arena just to the north of the capitol. He also had us try a drink called the Oily Toad. It makes your head fuzzy and everyone really cheerful so we had a few.
We were really excited to see the fighting pit so left the Toad and hired a carriage to take us there. Along the way we passed a statue of a dwarf and kobold shaking hands. Once we arrived at the fighting pit we learned we could fight as a team against their champion and wager our gold. We bet all the money we had.
In the pit we found Bolsa and a couple dwarves with her. She was a good fighter and clearly was doing better now that she wasn’t under Agatha’s control. We were able to kill the dwarves, which the crowd loved, but Bolsa was harder. She laid down a field of fire which nearly killed me but Thia was able to use a death hand to end her life. We hadn’t meant to kill Bolsa so we quickly revived her to the boos of the crowd. Bolsa wasn’t happy that she was still alive and walked away from us. We got our prize and left for the capitol.
On the way back Khar had us stop at the statues to inspect them. He saw slots for weapons and an inscription that said they were for the dragon to test his might. Once Khar dropped his blood blades in the slots a ring of fire surrounded him and a voice whispered in Thia and my heads. “Don’t tamper with my test”. A dragon appeared before Khar and wrapped him in flames. He fought as well as he could but the dragon pushed him into an opening in the statue. He and the ring of fire both disappeared and when he emerged his right arm and wings were covered in scales instead of feathers. Even though it wasn’t sunny we could see a dragon shadow on the ground around him.
Tired and hungry we returned to the Oily Toad for some food and more drinks. Once we felt better we went to the markets and bought some new equipment. All of this lead us to the elvish spire. This spire is clearly different from the dwarfish buildings I studied last week. Where those buildings worried with stone striations and focused on structural integrity, this spire flowed upwards in curves and looked like a flame towards the sky.
The Grand Vizier gave us a tour and we saw mages doing their different magics to communicate with the outside world. He gave us a little history about Keravak, the dragon who tested Khar. We also learned that the chains of the giant pulling the island connect at five points to the land: the capitol, Dustrumlin, Costrumlin, and two in the mountains. He implored us to go to the eastern forest to fix the clagmatine tree there.
At the Vizer’s suggestion we left the spire to visit the Gates of Binomar. Once there we met researchers who were studying War Forged bodies to understand how they work. Azer the elf told us some of what he knew: the different Feltinite shapes are for different War Forged shapes. Some scout, some detect magic, and some fight. They were in the snake lands looking for something.
We also learned from Azer that this island was once the battleground between the Dalmogens and elves. That ended when Dalmgoen presented a statue of Diocene to the elves but it was a trick. The giant construct was hidden in it and broke out to destroy the clagmatine tree. Diocene intervened and helped chain the construct to the island instead. Azer thought that the chains to the construct would break when the sigil is broken.
After this we went to the Flaming Salamander, another tavern. We all ate a meal. While Thia was passed out and I was watching a singer perform, Khar went out back. A short while later the tavern keeper told me that Thia and I needed to leave immediately. I woke up Thia and we made way for an inn. In the inn we saw Khar covered in blood and paying for a suite and the innkeeper’s silence. We went to Khar’s room to sleep.
The salamanders got us so drunk that I actually slept at night like the others do. What a horrible experience. I wasn’t even able to organize my mind or commune with Her. I just closed my eyes and suddenly it was hours later. No wonder every other species is so chaotic; they lose large amounts of time every day and can’t ever organize their thoughts. I never want to have another toad, salamander, or toad-amander again.
When I actually woke up it was because guards were at our door to take us somewhere. Thia and I both had wrinkled clothes on; Khar’s clothes were bloody in addition to wrinkled. Between knowing I did nothing wrong and Khar’s clothes we didn’t feel like we could deny the guards so we willingly went with them. Along the way Khar claimed he had no clue what happened.
Walking through the capitol some people ran from our entourage while some just stared. We made our way to the Vizier’s spire. Khar continued to deny everything even in front of the Vizier. Luckily we learned that he wasn’t in trouble. The leader said he had been up all night cleaning up the body and mess Khar left at the Flaming Salamander. Apparently the deal with Karavak requires that his disciple kills something every day and he was driven mad to appease it. Despite not knowing anything about the dragon Khar entered into this deal. The Grand Vizier let us know that he would add something to the population’s daily rations that would make them forget the previous day but it would still be for the best if we could leave the capitol for a few days so we left for the eastern forest to investigate its clagmatine.
The forest was pressing against the edge of the capitol and the ground was completely covered in roots. However, between Thia’s forest spirit and Khar’s senses we were able to find the right direct and sneak past some spiders along the way. Thia saw hoofprints on the ground and thought it may have been one of her centaur friends so we mistakenly followed them. Instead we walked directly into an ambush. Before we realized what happened we were surrounded by centaurs who didn’t believe we were there to help the forest. It wasn’t until I ran up to them and dropped my weapons that they believed us.
They led us to their clearing and we heard a voice that shook the ground when it spoke. “Prove to me you are what you say you are” and a small plant sprouted in front of Thia. She did her druid ritual and the plant blossomed into a full tree in front of us. The roots of the tree wrapped around us and pulled us underground. Instead of panic we felt nothing but warmth and peace as we passed out.
When we regained consciousness it was at the base of the first clagmatine tree we restored on the island. An elf appeared before us. She was Dicoene, goddess of hope, previously fragmented and trapped in the clagmatine pieces but now fully restored. When we asked if she would help against them she dismissed the Dalmogen conquest outright saying there were more pressing things to worry about. There were clagmatine throughout the whole world that were shattered: two in the skies, one in the oceans, one each in the elvish, dwarvish, and human lands. I hoped that Khar would be able to help with the sky trees since his people seem to live above everything.
The other thing Diocene told us to do was reopen gates to the elemental planes. These seemed to be similar to Binomar’s gate but only go to one place instead of seventeen. When the giant created and closed his gate it closed off Diocene’s ability to move from plane to plane. She hinted that other gods may be trapped as well. If we could open these gates it may help Her extend her power and reach.
When we had talked earlier the Grand Vizier had told us there was a wanderer on the island named Naraxis who would be able to help Khar with his deal with Karavek. The final thing Diocene told us before she left is he could be found on the giant construct.
Since we were close to it we returned to Lansten. Gunthar was happier than we had ever seen him. When we restored Diocene’s final piece everyone on the island heard the clagmatine grow even bigger so Gunthar knew exactly what we’d done before we arrived. Bertha, while also happy, was tending to a triton who had washed ashore. This was the first time anyone had seen a triton out of the waters around the island so, even though she appeared to be stable, no one knew how to help her.
We celebrated our victory that night in Lansten with Gunthar and everyone else. They had something called mead which was also an alcohol but you could actually drink it to enjoy the flavor instead of just getting drunk.
That night Bertha and Guntharr told us about the triton. She had washed up on shore last night and it was strange because she wasn’t even trying to kill anyone like most tritons do. As we were talking the whole island shook; huts and lookout towers in Lansten all collapsed and hurt people. While the townspeople began helping each other, Thia did a druid healing spell on the triton and she woke up. We found out that she speaks broken elvish but she was very difficult to understand because her voice was so raspy. Still, we learned that she was swimming in a river when a huge root hit her on the head. I think it was when the clagmatine started growing but we didn’t say anything about it.
Everyone realized that we couldn’t feel the colossus’s footsteps anymore and, concerned by this fact, Guntharr sent a falcon to the capitol. While he did this we took the triton to a river so she could breathe better. She seemed like she didn’t want to kill us. Once in river she seemed to get better but talking with her was difficult. She would poke her head above the water to hear us ask a question and then we’d put our heads under water so she could answer us. Doing this we learned that the tritons blamed the us surface dwellers for the island moving and have been attacking ships in retaliation. Also, there are creatures in the deep sea that have never been to the surface that they are allying themselves with. Concerned about the Vizier and the capitol, we told the triton that we had to go. She knew the river that ran past the capitol and told us she would wait for us under one of the bridges.
We left to take the road to the capitol. As we approached we could see chunks of the Vizier’s spire were gone, buildings had collapsed on top of each other, and bridges over the river had cracked and fallen. The immobile body of the colossus stood, unmoving, over all of this and we knew that it was time to go talk to it. On our way towards it we saw the Grand Vizier at the top of his shattered spire. Using message cantrips we told him what we were doing and he wished us luck.
The colossus was huge; its head was in the clouds. I’m not able to fly or climb so to speed things up we made a small harness that attached me to Khar so he could fly both of us up. Thia turned into a bird and was going to fly alongside us. Even being able to fly so quickly, after many hours we were barely halfway up before we needed to find a ledge and rest. While resting we were able to see the entire island from above it. The ground was cracked and crumpled in many places where the clagmatine had grown, there were whirlpools all around the island where the tritons kept watch, and floating in the distance was a giant stone on a storm cloud.
When we resumed our ascent, Khar was too tired to keep flying both of us up. Instead, I began climbing using handholds while still in the harness. He would flap his wings to help me along. Thia, not used to being a bird, got rammed into the stone by a gust of wind and Khar and I had to jump and catch her together. We were barely able to save her before she fell. Confused from getting hit, she sat on my shoulder as a climbed and occasionally would scout ahead before returning back to her perch. I climbed until my arms burned and my legs were going numb. Just when I didn’t think I could climb anymore we reached the colossus’s shoulder. We were so high up that the clouds were below us and we couldn’t see the island anymore.
Sitting on the shoulder we saw a ghostly, ethereal body of Noraxis, the last general of Kervak before Khar. He had wanted to live forever and so entered the dragon’s service. But eventually he realized it was a curse. Keravak’s bloodlust grew in him until he could no longer manage it. He stopped paying attention to who he was killing and eventually he was alone, roaming through the world to find more victims. It wasn’t until Kervak’s enemy, the silver dragon Paladine, took pity on him that the curse was lifted. Now, Noraxis spends his eternal life in solitude. His mind will never be free of Keravak’s call so his days are spent in meditation keeping the influence out of his mind. He told us that the Elquonar elves follow Paladine and may be able to help Khar with his curse.
After telling us all this I noticed a massive piece of feltinite at the base of the colossus’s neck. Touching my feltinite ring to it I was able to talk to the colossus and learn that it was a very simple minded being who was tricked by Dalmogen into pulling the island. It wanted to be the general of the giants. For this to happen, Dalmogen told him this would happen after his current task of pulling the island would be done without telling him that it would never over. After talking with Thia and Khar we decided that the best thing to do would be tell the colossus that new orders had come in from Dalmogen to take the island to the its starting place. In order to do this we attempt to learn from Noraxis about how Dalmogen spoke and issued orders but he would not do so unless Khar took on more of Karavek’s curse. It was a heavy price to pay but he did it.
With a prepared script from Noraxis I spoke with the creature a second time and after being initially suspicious about the source of the new orders it believed me. We watched the colossus turn around, brace both arms against the island, and begin pushing it backwards. After, Khar asked Noraxis one last thing: what did he know about Selmakine. He told us that the giants respected the Yuan-Ti obelisks around the world and Dalmogen had gone out of his way to not engage in combat with them either. Our business complete, we walked down the colossus’s arm back towards the island.
When we reached the capitol a second time we found the completely abandoned. Some of the buildings were further toppled from the force of the giant beginning to push the island. We weren’t able to find our triton friend in the river so we took the road back to Lansten. Lansten, too, was mostly abandoned and the few people still there told us the Vizier had called for everyone to gather in Dustrumlin so we got on one of the wagons leaving the town.
On the road to Dustrumlin we pass the fighting pits were we fought Bolsa. Instead of an arena it is now a tent city holding all the people from around the island. On entering the dwarvish capitol we see two entrances into mines: one is the entrance from Dustrumlin and the other is the entrance from Kostrumlin, the kobold sister city to the dwarves. The Grand Vizier’s wizards are using all their magics to hold the dwarf entrance open while the kobold entrance is completely under rubble.
We tried to approach the Vizier while he was surrounded by people but Guntharr stopped us, saying the Vizier is mad at us. Guntharr had us wait until most of the people had been dismissed. The people surrounding him were the ruling council of the island. They wanted us hanged for the destruction caused when the colossus began pushing the island. I pointed out that the Vizier knew ahead of time what we were doing and therefore none of them should have been surprised. Also, I pointed out some kobolds in the Kostrumlin wreckage who needed help. The council agreed that their time would be better spent helping people and asked use to investigate the mines looking for survivors. We learned that Lynae had gone in hours ago and not returned. Before we set out the Vizier gave us a horn which would allow us to talk with him while we were below ground.
In the mines there were multiple paths and we took the one that seemed to go towards Kostrumlin to look for anyone still alive. We traveled for a little while before find our path blocked by the colossus’s arm. In the earth around the arm we saw a small tunnel, too small for any of us to fit through, and thought it may have been Lynae. Thai transformed into a badger to widen the tunnel for us while Khar and I followed behind slowly. One thing I learned about Khar is that bird people do not like being in tight spaces. I could hear him panicking behind and he crawled over me to get out near the end.
Minorly annoyed at him, we continued on until we came to a clearing with a bunch of eggs in the middle and hundreds of very small tunnels leading up and down and away from it. Also in the clearing was the body of a still alive kobold with bite marks all over him. We get him away from the clearing as fast as possible and heal him up. He told us that his name is Beeza and he was leading other kobolds to try and dig out. They had gathered in the food storages so he leads us there only for us to see huge lizards had eaten some of the survivors and had cornered the others.
During our fight with the lizards Khar was completely swallowed by a bigger one. Thia and I were able to kill the lizards and cut Khar out of the stomach and revive him. Next to him in the stomach we also found Lynae’s half-digested body. While we and Beeza were checking on the rest of the kobolds, Khar’s sword began to glow red hot and shoot flames everywhere. We were able to get away just before it burst into a small explosion that burned away the rock around it. While the explosion was scary it did reveal a tunnel that lead towards the Kostrumlin gate. We followed it, carrying Lynae’s body, and saw that the dwarves and kobolds on the other side were able to excavate it.
On the surface Guntharr saw Lynae and began to panic. He, Thia, and I went to find Bertha to see if there was anything that could be done. Bertha and Bolsa said they would try their best but neither of them sounded very confident. While we were doing this Khar spoke with the Grand Vizier who told him the tritons were attacking refugees.
During the night, while we could hear the kobolds mourning their lost and celebrating their survival, I attempted to commune with the Ancient Ones but wasn’t able to contact them. I don’t know if they weren’t willing to talk or if something on the island was blocking me. In the morning we were on our way to the medical tent when Guntharr, covered in cuts up and down his arms, told us about trying to protect people from the triton attacks. When we reached the tent we joined Bertha and Bolsa who had been working through the night to stabilize Lynae. She still wasn’t conscious but was now breathing on her own.
As we turned to leave a brass dragon-born walked through the tent’s entrance. His name was Rogar and he was the leader of Kostrumlin. To thank us for our help yesterday he wanted to help Lynae but we would need to wait outside the tent because he was using blood magic and kobold sacrifices to do so. Despite us protesting about the loss of life, the kobolds all saw it as a great honor to be sacrifice in Rogar’s magic. The ritual took a long time and we could see flashes of light inside the tent. When it was done we were brought back into the tent. Between Rogar’s magic and Bolsa’s hag medicine skills they were able to use kobold skin to replace what was missing from Lyane’s. She was still unconscious but in much better shape than before.
Talking with Rogar we learned that he distrusted the dwarvish council members and wanted to know what they were up to. Khar made a deal, he needed his Keravek sword reforged so would provide Rogar with information if the the dragon-born would help. He and Bolsa both agreed to help. After the promise of future help we tell Rogar about our past conversation with Diocene and how she told us about the dwarvish seal under Dustrumlin. Rogar pulls the Vizier into the meeting and both were very concerned about this information. The Vizier’s assistant relayed that Ebmyl, one of the dwarf leaders, had asked for materials that morning before disappearing. On the Vizier’s request, we and Rogar agree to descend into the mines via Kostrumlin and secure the portal before Ebmyl gets there.
To be inconspicuous we met Rogar and his group at the site of the seal instead of all traveling as one big group. Mip, Flick, and Slick were able to distract people by riling up a loud group to go fight the tritons while we went underground. Once we met Rogar we all dropped down to where the seal was. The room was massive, it held a frost giants throne but looked like no one had sat in it for hundreds of years. There was also a giant magic dome with something inside it. An inscription by the barrier read “be warry, what lies beyond the barrier only brings death… the dragon’s bane”. When I got close enough to the barrier to read the inscription I could feel my energy draining away. It took more effort to move away from the barrier than to move towards it. While I was reading this Thia found the skeletons of dwarves in the corner with notes about what they had done. The object in the dome was called the World Eater and they had hidden it away after the giants used it to defeat the dragons.
We used the horn to check in with the Vizier with our findings but he wasn’t able to talk at the moment because four council members had gone missing. As our conversation ended people entered the chambers. One of the missing council members was leading a retinue of dwarves and kobolds. Thia, Khar, and I hid from sight while Rogar spoke with them; they were looking for the “true history of the dwarves”. After a brief conversation with Rogar the gnome began to investigate the magic barrier. But her version of testing was to pick up one of Rogar’s kobolds and throw them into it. The kobold didn’t even have time to scream before it was disintegrated by the barrier.
This was when we ran out from hiding to try and stop her. I threw a bolt of magic at her but she dismissed it simply waved her hand and it dissipated. Thia tried to stop her with druid’s magic and the gnome simply laughed. Rogar, closest out of all of us, kicked her into the barrer but instead of disintegrating like the kobold her skin flaked away to reveal that she was a warforged in disguise. She laughed at us and then began reading the inscriptions on the thing inside while her dwarves and kobolds kept us from interfering. Our arrows and magic couldn’t penetrate the barrier so she was able finish reading the inscription. With rumbling and whirring the World Eater stood up and shot a bolt through the giant’s gateway out of the chamber. Water began to flood in, carrying tritons with it who began fighting the warforged. In this chaos we were able to climb out of the chamber and escape back to the surface, past the slaughtered guards who had kept lookout.
On the surface we found the remnants of a battle; the warforged had attacked on their way into the Kostrumlin mines. During the fight the Vizier had lost an eye and an arm. We were able to talk with him and learn about what happened while he was attended to. The council members who had left for supplies were Dalmogen spies who used old warforged parts to reconstruct themselves on the island. The World Eater was constructed by giants that, when fired, destroyed the dragon queen and sundered the continent of Craag. With the magic barrier around it gone the magic protecting the island was gone, too. The island was no longer protected from Dalmogen forces. It was time to abandon the island.
That night no one rested well because the next day we were going to prepare the leave the island. I was able to take a piece of feltinite from a defeated warforge and watch the memory of how they were assembled. Through its eyes I saw it wake up in Azer’s workstation during Ebmyl’s supply run. The dwarves on the supply run were all either killed or warforged in disguise. I watched as they marched tirelessly through the woods towards the camp and then ran into camp to attack people. My vision lasted all night and in the morning I felt as if I hadn’t rested at all.
In the early hours I found the Vizier and party and told them about my vision. Specifically, the leader of the warforged had mentioned that the elvish armada was on its way but was in battle with the Dalmogen fleet. This information just made it all the more urgent that we be ready to leave so the Vizier called an assembly of all people to tell them the plan. There will three ships for people to choose from. The Vizier’s ship would leave for the elvish lands, Rogar’s would go to the dwarf lands, and Faarkis’s ship would go wherever its people decided. All three ships were to be escorted by the elvish armada.
After the assembly Bolsa pulled us aside saying that she had figured out how to reforge Khar’s blade. Since it was made from dragon metal a normal forge will not be able to handle it , however, she had found a lava forge on the island which could get hot enough to reshape it. Rogar, Daldek the dwarvish leader, Bolsa, and Gawor the forgemaster all agreed to help with the task and went with us to the forge. It took some time and effort because of the blade’s origin but they were able to reforge the blade. Instead of a rusty and brittle blade it shined and caught the light. After they handed it to Khar we saw a blazing inscription appear on the blade: The Sonset Sukone of Noraxis. Khar swung the blade and the shadow of dragon’s wings appeared behind him.
We headed back to camp to help load the boats but when we got there Bertha called us and the Vizier into the medical tent. Lynae still had not woken up but her body was floating in the air and her limbs were all being pulled in different directions. The Vizier theorized that different spirits were trying to take over her body. He made a mental bridge between himself and Lyane and was able to transport us into her mindscape where we found out that he was right. Three things fighting for control: a hag, a floating eyeball, and a warm winged creature that looked similar to Khar. In the middle of the battlefield was an unconscious Lynae floating in the air. Khar and I were able to hold the three invaders off while Thia was able to revive her. As soon as she woke up she drove the intruders out and sent us back over the Vizier’s bridge. In the real world we told her everything that had happened. She decided that she would go on Rogar’s ship to the dwarf lands. We boarded the Vizier’s but Faarkis and his crew were all drunk so the Vizier was towing Faarkis’s ship as all three ships departed.
This was my first time sailing and, despite how much Thia said I should enjoy it, I wanted it to stop the moment it started. A ship’s deck isn’t stable like ground it will always rock with the water and make it feel like you’re about to fall overboard. And everything about being on the water makes you feel small while being below deck makes you feel too big. Nowhere was comfortable and there were people everywhere. Luckily, the goblins distracted us. They were going from Faarkis’s ship to ours on a rope and wanted to show us something on the other boat. Beneath the decks on Faarkis’s ship, the Water Maiden’s Sorrow, were caged lizards from the Kostrumlin mines. Flick and Slick told us that they would release the lizards on whoever tried to attack the boats.
Suddenly all the feltinite pieces in my bag began glowing. The Vizier sent a message that Dalmogen ships had spotted us and were heading towards us. Worried that they could track the memory pieces, I threw them all overboard. It hurt. I had gathered them for Her because they were raw memories. They would have made the best offering for Her but I failed in a moment of weakness.
A Dalmogen slaver ship was headed towards us faster than we could ever hope to travel. Not able to outrun them and not armed for sea combat we came up with a third plan. Faarkis’s ship was built to ram and board other ships so the idea was for the other two ships to run while the Water Maiden’s Sorrow bought time. As we turned to face it, the slaver ship picked up speed and fog began pouring out of it until we couldn’t see anything.
Faarkis’s crew quickly split into two groups: one to board their ship and one to stop them from doing the same to us. We were in the first group along with the Vizier. The Water Maiden’s Sorrow had a ramming bow that could break into a ship’s hull and there were doors on it that would allow the boarding party to enter. As the three of us and the Vizier were getting into position in the front Mip ran down to tell us that the slavers were boarding the Vizier’s ship, the Concordant. Faarkis was able to use the shouts the find the enemy in the fog and hit them directly in the side with the Sorrow.
Shoving the door open we ran onto the lower deck of the ship where there were two very surprised guards. Khar flew forward and killed them both with his sonsetsukonne. I could see the blade glowing as it passed through the bodies and his eyes burned red as the guards fell to the ground. Along the walls of the ship were lined with cages of emaciated prisoners. I found a keyring on a wall hook and was able to free them but none of them were in any state to fight like we had hoped. We told them to go back through the bow of the Water Maiden’s Sorrow while we would continue to fight our way to the upper deck.
The next level of the ship was better guarded: they were better equipped and had dogs to help them. Khar was able to sneak up on one guard and kill him before they knew what was happening. Thia summoned brambles up out of the floor and walls to hold the others in place while I channeled a storm of blades around them and killed them. The prisoners on this floor were in much better shape to fight but were also much more securely locked down. Most of them went below to board the Sorrow but some, including a loxodon and a tabaxi, stayed behind to heal us and join our fight. At this point the Concordant fight sounded like the slavers were winning so we went up to help them.
The slaver captain was ready for us and had forces waiting specifically to fight. They wrapped a chain around one elf’s neck and dropped a weight overboard. He tried to hold on to something but he was dragged down. That’s not to say we didn’t fight back. The Vizier shot a wall of fire at the archer in the crow’s nest and Thia knocked a beam on top of the captain. We were just getting the upper hand when an old man walked out of the captain’s quarters. When he did this all of us froze. I couldn’t move my arms and my screams weren’t reaching my mouth. This was Dalmogen himself.
He seemed uninterested in the fighting around him. All his interest was focused on me. He didn’t know how I was able to read feltinite pieces but could feel it in his mind every time I had. He was here to study me. He pulled out an empty piece of feltinite and placed his hand on my face. The pain was the worst I had ever felt. He was ripping apart my mind to put me in the piece. I tried to call out to the Raven Queen so She could save me but the last thing I ever felt was my connection to Her being torn away from me.