Narrative

Day 38 began as the party returned to Captain Briarthorn, where Lady Kalissa Hartwall was fully armoured. Giants were close to the intended ambush point. The dragon would try to split off some of the larger giants so the party could attack them, and some towns had responded through Errol and were sending small troops to help. The party arranged to meet Hartwall in the forest and planned to start a fire to separate the large giants from the army. While riding the dragon, they saw a black plume of smoke near the mountain at the edge of vision. The plume was magical in nature, perhaps Hartwall/Highden.

As they drew closer, the smoke shape came to attack them. Hartwall protected the party from the dragon’s flame. A giant attacked, bashing Invar into the ground with his mace while the others closed in. Dirk clung to the giant’s arm and climbed up his leg. Morgana summoned a bear and grappled the giant’s arms. The party defeated all the giants. Hartwall and a skeletal dragon fought each other. The skeletal dragon had the book from Ruby Eye’s lab, and the words he spoke from the book were words he did not understand. The party teleported out to the armies, and the dragon came toward them.

Eliana felt sick, with salt water in their nose, like after holding the White Rune. Dirk had a familiar brain tickle and saw another feeling: a room with other goliaths, a sickly threat on female green dragon armour, a chin tick like Shibble grossing, and a chest around a table that was intense. A female smiled and said, “you need to go back to now.” Geldrin saw a circular table where mages discussed her and slid a paper to her. Another vision showed a man knee-deep in a ford; as he crossed, a woman said no no no, and red thorns were everywhere. Hartwall saw her mother buried in the ground.

The party went to the river to speak to water elementals and ask for help with the dragon flames. Dirk used the rod to speak to the elementals. The water elementals required the party to agree to free Leedus, an auroch, from the prison near Rimewatch. Geldrin summoned the void elemental to help. The void elemental said the party would owe him another favour, since Garadule revenge was the previous favour. The requested terms were not to free Valentinhide and to let Kasher reign, and not to oppose Kasher; the void would bring someone else to the fight. The party agreed to the water elemental. Geldrin told the void they could not accept. The party managed to say that someone might be trapped. When given a dead grub like the ear grubs, the void vanished.

The party then appeared in their minds in a palace-style room with plush carpets. An elderly gentleman, Icefang, sat looking at them, older than in his paintings, sane and at ease. He said, “I disagreed.” A memory showed the mage table, with Icefang shouting at Browning. A dark elf appeared and dropped a grub in his ear. Icefang said he never would have dropped a rope, was glad he was sane before the end, and said they needed to right the wrongs. The party should not feel sorry for him; he had lived a good life for the half he could remember. The barrier was a good thing, but too many sacrifices had been made.

A black hole opened under the battle. Snowflakes appeared, and a massive frost dragon burst through the hole, seized the skeletal dragon, carried it to the barrier, passed Hartwall, and said “My Child.” Icefang came back through, crashed through the barrier, and soot crashed down from the barrier, badly injured. Eliana felt the salt water feeling again. Icefang crashed into the river, and Soot shouted that he would take them all with him.

Geldrin entered or invoked a dark cavern with a throne made of skulls. He walked toward a pale human female seated on the throne, with bleeding eye sockets and skeletal hands and feet. She said, “hello my child what is it you wish.” Geldrin asked to dispel dragon magic. She said she had only just put it on and had taken him as payment. She had watched him with great interest since hatching. When asked whether some of the other deals had caused her [unfinished], she said no, but taking the Mother down had. Geldrin offered her Garadule. She agreed. Geldrin chanted, Soot’s flames vanished, and his bones scattered. Eliana used breath weapon on the dragon head. A water elemental retrieved Icefang and laid him down.

Hartwall did not know who her father was; she had always been told he died in battle while her mother was pregnant. Invar’s vision was at Redford Point: leeches attacked in the river and made victims believe they were not really there so they could feed on as much blood as they wanted. Hartwall saw her mother in the ground, trapped by a hundred tiny red creatures.

A portal appeared, and Valenth and Ruby Eye emerged. Valenth knew before the party told her. Ruby Eye realized that they had done it to him. The dark elf was the form of Ennui’s apprentice, and The Mother, Betrayer, and others had been making plans. One curveball plan was to swap Valentinhide with Kasher. A coin appeared and tinkled on the blue ground. A portal opened to a carriage drawn by two cows and guarded by very dressed-up guards. An elderly gentleman appeared, the same one from the vision of Provitsa’s birth: Lord Bleakstorm. He had a message from Icefang from outside the dome. He looked no different from his pictures because he was dead. He had not freed the auroch because he could not remain inside the dome long; Browning would find him and send minions after him. Lord Bleakstorm gave Eliana a snowflake coin, a one-use portal to Bleakstorm.

The party learned that kobolds were very good at digging through the barrier, though it does not go all the way down. The grub contained nothing but had properties like a leech crossed with a larval fly. Cardonal would take Icefang to be buried near Snowsorrow. Geldrin planned to try to free the Justicars by pretending to be the Grand Towers medical team.

People, Factions, and Places Mentioned

People and name-like figures mentioned include Lady Kalissa Hartwall, Captain Briarthorn, Errol, Invar, Dirk, Morgana, Ruby Eye / Rubyeye, Eliana, Geldrin, Shibble, Valentinhide, Kasher, Icefang, Browning, Soot, the pale human female on the skull throne, Tirar, Valenth, Ennui’s apprentice, The Mother / Betrayer, Lord Bleakstorm, Provitsa, Leedus the auroch, and the Justicars.

Groups and factions mentioned include giants, towns sending troops, goliaths, mages at the table, water elementals, kobolds, and the Grand Towers medical team.

Places mentioned include the forest ambush point, Hartwall/Highden, the river, Rimewatch and the Ice Prison, the barrier, Snowsorrow, Goldenswell, Riversmeet, and Sunset Vista.

Items, Rewards, and Resources

Transport and communication resources included the dragon ride with Hartwall, teleporting out to the armies, the portal to Lord Bleakstorm’s cow-drawn carriage, and the snowflake coin that is a one-use portal to Bleakstorm.

Magic, spells, and supernatural effects included Hartwall shielding the party from dragon flame, Morgana’s bear summon, the skeletal dragon’s book from Ruby Eye’s lab, White Rune-like saltwater sensations, brain-tickle visions, Dirk’s water-elemental communication through the rod, Geldrin summoning the void elemental, the mental meeting with Icefang, Icefang’s ear-grub memory tampering, frost-dragon intervention, Geldrin’s skull-throne bargain, Soot’s flames vanishing, and the portal coin that tinkled on the blue ground.

Named objects and obligations included the black dragon book from Ruby Eye’s lab, the dead ear grub, Lord Bleakstorm’s one-use snowflake portal coin, the party’s promise to free Leedus the auroch from the prison near Rimewatch, the void elemental’s attempted terms involving Valentinhide and Kasher, and Geldrin’s plan to free the Justicars by posing as Grand Towers medical staff.

Clues, Mysteries, and Open Threads

Highden’s battle involved Hartwall, Soot, a skeletal dragon, Icefang, water elementals, and the skull-throne woman. Ruby Eye and Icefang had both suffered ear-grub memory tampering.

The water elementals required the party to promise to free Leedus, an auroch, from the prison near Rimewatch. The void elemental tried to add terms about not freeing Valentinhide and letting Kasher reign, which Geldrin refused.

Lord Bleakstorm appeared dead but active, delivered Icefang’s message from outside the dome, and gave a one-use portal coin. He could not remain inside the dome because Browning would find him.