Narrative

Day 51 began with the party taking the diplomacy plan to the council. They advised giving Verdigrim trade terms. The council disliked the plan but listened. At the dragonborn base, one dragonborn saw the party, followed briefly, then disappeared toward a hidden entrance. More surrounded the party as they approached, and three dragonborn came forward: a burly mean-looking woman, a small old man, and a burly one. They said Eliana bore the shine of stepmother and that Verdigrim had ordered them to speak. The burly envoy was Grimescale, envoy of mighty Verdigrim; the old man was Gravltooth.

The dragonborn said their lands had been theirs for one thousand years and were no longer theirs. Ashkielion, now understood as Ashkelon, belonged to the goliaths, while a closed place held other lands to retrieve. The party requested safe passage to Verdigrim. They were taken through tunnels to a Dunnen-style throne room of very dark stone with copper accents, where Verdigrim sat as a man with very dark skin and copper accents. He admitted he had invited the party earlier because Perodita had told him to kill them in exchange for leaving his people alone.

Verdigrim wanted to keep his own “Verdigrimtown” and wanted what was already his. Five white raiding forces outside the town could be revisited later, and the notes mention a gold amount roughly equivalent to one sibling’s hoard. He warned that he would not lend forces in a way that put himself at risk. The party told him his mother was still alive, and he wanted to meet her.

The party returned to camp at 14:00, requested the council, and were admitted at 16:00. They explained the trade agreement. The goliaths leaned toward accepting, moving to Ashkielion, and taking the rest of the town. When the party returned to their tent, Wrath was waiting, smartly dressed. Wrath said Rubyeye needed rescuing; Cardinal had gone but been useless. Eliana stated they were called Eliana Hartwall because that was apparently their mother’s name, though one of their mothers was and one was not. Ingus was told to tell the council where the party was going.

Wrath took the party to a huge underground dwarven city. A lava ball held a humongous elemental lava orb, possibly a prisoner, and a dwarf king prayed to the gods to keep the orbs safe. Spindl, Rubyeye’s auntie, had a massive ruby in her chest plate, had seen the party before, and knew they were coming. The party said “Garadule” had called them and they had come to help him. Invar made an offering to the lava orb; a tiny creature from a box leapt to the orb and told him to aid his friends. The party saw cells and a dark-skinned man crawling across sand begging for help, Grand Towers elves leaving defeated and in pride, and the fall of two empires. Pride teleported away.

Wrath became angry because the party had not killed Pride, and the dwarf High Priest wanted to arrest Wrath for existing. The council had deemed Rubyeye a wanted criminal and summoned him; Spindl led the party to Rubyeye, who was imprisoned in a prison cell on ancient charges. His charges included 174,312 merfolk babies murdered, entrapment of elemental spirits, construction of tower, and downfall of ancient race. Rubyeye said Ennuyé had a body stored somewhere, perhaps Coalmount Falls, and remembered Hannah, six elemental forces, six arms on the exhausted, and that there had been six of them all along. The party asked Spindl to call an audience with the judges, then decided to kill Pride.

Geldrin scried Pride in a veined stone building with flat red and blue stained glass. The party broke Rubyeye out and teleported to Salinus’ Prison, where Umberous, Infestus’ son, spoke on Infestus’ behalf. Umberous said nothing the party had done had caused Infestus’ ire because they had done what they were asked and kept the dome up. He gave Geldrin white powder to recover spell slots. The party killed Pride, releasing a void elemental that absorbed its brother and may also have absorbed Pride before teleporting away. Umberous wanted the party to deliver Rubyeye to Infestus but agreed not to tell Infestus about Rubyeye if the party did him a favour, giving them a Sending Stone.

Rubyeye tried to teleport the party back to the dwarven city. After a snowy mountain and a great stone fort in the sky, they arrived in a scared-feeling dwarven stone room. Rubyeye recognized it as a prison, perhaps Throngore’s, under Lewshis and Anorazorak, before his eyes glowed red and he disappeared at 21:00.

The party investigated the part of the prison they had landed in. Dwarf statues, plaques, sarcophagi, decapitated bodies, heirloom armour, fine glass dust, and missing gem clues pointed to the thirty dwarves who captured Throngore and to possible resurrection magic. A dome contained a featureless humanoid figure, uncertainly Aglue?, Anemie?, or Valentinhide. It said it was no one, lost, once part of Valentinhide, and that Thomas put it there and took what was there. It explained that elemental planes had been a highway, that a pact created the world but left too much highway, and that the Vessel of Divinity made beings into gods while stripping away something that left lostness behind.

Joy warned Dirk not to trust the figure because it took her mum, while Dirk’s ancestors gave a positive response to letting it out. When asked why everyone thought Eliana was a Hartwall, the figure answered, “Because you are.” Stoven, Stuart, and Simon arrived angry that their things had been disturbed. Simon communicated with Throngore, who was happy to meet the party and would see them soon. Morgana then knew an odd circle that took the party to an Everchard wood with bees, apples, snow, and a teleport circle of furs, rugs, and bird poo. Geldrin felt as if he had made it, and Morgana thought she had placed the memory there, but not from her current self. The party went to Morgana’s hut at 00:00.

People, Factions, and Places Mentioned

People and name-like figures include Verdigrim, Grimescale, Gravltooth, Eliana Hartwall, Perodita, Wrath, Rubyeye, Cardinal, Cardonal, Ingus, Spindl, Garadule, Pride, Geldrin, Salinus, Umberous, Infestus, Ennuyé, Hannah, Throngore, Lewshis, Anorazorak, Stoven, Stuart, Simon, Thomas, Joy, Morgana, and Dirk.

Places and groups include Tradesmalls / Verdigrimtown, Ashkielion / Ashkelon, the dragonborn tunnels, the goliath council, the huge underground dwarven city, Grand Towers, Salinus’ Prison, Coalmount Falls, the Barrier, the dwarven prison, Everchard, and Morgana’s hut.

Items, Rewards, and Resources

Items and resources include the trade agreement, Rubyeye’s prison cell, the elemental lava orb, Spindl’s ruby chest plate, Invar’s offering box, Umberous’s white powder, the Sending Stone, the Skull of Iresmun, dwarf armour and heirlooms, the missing gem, the Orb of Compassion, the Knock-like ruby, the Vessel of Divinity, and Morgana’s odd teleport circle.

Clues, Mysteries, and Open Threads

Verdigrim’s bargain, Ashkelon’s status, and the white raiding forces remain unresolved. Rubyeye’s ancient charges and his memory of six elemental forces are major open lore. The void elemental released by killing Pride escaped after absorbing its brother and possibly Pride. The Throngore-linked dwarf prison, the lost part of Valentinhide, Joy’s warning, the Vessel of Divinity, and the direct answer that Eliana is a Hartwall all remain central mysteries heading into Day 52.