RealmsToowoomba Recap # 69 [RPG]

[16 Flamerule 1372 continued]

Just a few minutes' ride into the Evermoors reveals to Dolcetto, Markus, and McBronzebottom that the area is even more ominous than before.  Scarcely a sound can be heard, and a hazy grey mist obscures all sight beyond fifteen or twenty feet.  Even on spectral mounts, the adventures are forced to detour and backtrack frequently to avoid deep pools of standing water and treacherous bogs.  After about an hours' ride trying to keep generally heading west, the trio see a row of razor-sharp spears jutting out of the ground facing east.  Rather than risk an ambush trying to move around or over the spears, the adventurers decide to backtrack again, and look for another way to continue west towards Startop Mountain.  The map that Dolcetto had created in Silverymoon helps to keep the adventurers from getting lost in the largely featureless moors, and after heading southeast for an hour and then west again, the adventurers feel like they're starting to make progress.

A few hours into their journey, just as they're starting to get comfortable, disaster strikes!  Twisted unliving reflections of humanity, recognized by Dolcetto as "wights", crawl out of the ground and strike before the adventurers can react.  As Markus was in the front of the adventurers' formation, he quickly finds himself and his mount surrounded.  A mere scratch from one of the wights seems to drain some of Markus' life-force, leading the swordsman to shout to Dolcetto that her plan for surviving the Evermoors was terrible.  The wights continue to attack until Dolcetto is able to reach Markus and cast a spell to transport the two of them and McBronzebottom several hundred feet to the east.  

Having escaped the wights, Dolcetto explains to Markus that the type of undead they fought can drain the energy and experiences of those they touch, and that there is a chance those afflicted will never recover if treatment is not sought within 24 hours.  She leaves it to Markus to decide whether to continue for Startop Mountain or retreat.  Markus insists that the group needs a cleric, and elects for a return to Silverymoon.  As the adventurers were forced to abandon their spectral mounts to make the quick escape, the trio are reduced to walking slowly east on foot.  When night falls, Dolcetto tries to find a sheltered campsite for the party to hide in, but her efforts come to naught in the barren Evermoors.  

Shortly before midnight, the situation goes from bad to worse.  The adventurers realize they've been surrounded by shadowy, almost intangible spectral spirits that have hidden in the mist.  Again, the adventurers are slow to react before the onslaught.  The wraiths glide in silently and plunge their soul-draining fingers into the adventurers before the trio can mount a defence.  Dolcetto falls to the ground in seconds, a lifeless husk.  Markus and McBronzebottom, too, find themselves trapped with no hope of escape until suddenly Markus' holy symbol to Tymora, the Goddess of Luck, flashes with divine power and drives the wraiths away!  Seizing the moment, Markus grabs Dolcetto's backpack and helps McBronzebottom stumble away towards the east.  

Meanwhile, far away in Longsaddle, Fargrim continues drinking and swapping stories with Trappy.  At one point, as Trappy leaves to fetch more drinks, Fargrim realizes someone is sitting right next to him.  The unremarkable, middle-aged man looks faintly familiar to Fargrim, and starts a conversation asking the dwarf what he would say if told that everything Trappy describes actually happened.  Fargrim, deep in his cups, tries to remember who the man is before being reminded of an earlier encounter the last time the adventurers were in Longsaddle with the member of the wizardly Harpell family, Aldarac.  Finding that Fargrim is too inebriated to hold a sensible conversation, Aldarac tells Trappy to bring the "Harpell Vintage 1358", which turns out to be a potion of sobriety!  Aldarac tells the now-hungover Fargrim that the dwarf has become noticeably darker in spirit than when last they met.  Further, Aldarac says, Cain is even less welcome in Longsaddle than before, as his efforts to burn the humanity from his body are succeeding.  In regards to Mellia, he posits that she is foolish to continue questing for the Crown of Horns after being warned off months ago, and that in a very real sense her mission is a selfish one: to save her daughter, she would risk unleashing a terrible fate on the world.  Fargrim retorts "Well what would you have us do, then?", describing his debilitating visions of darkness coming.  "We are mere pieces of driftwood in a storm," Aldarac replies.  "We cannot hope to turn the storm, we must simply float with the waves and endure it, or push against it and be dashed upon the rocks."  Fargrim seems moved by the analogy, and says that he's been given much to think about.

That evening, as Cain performs a mysterious ritual and Ralkin and Mellia study spells, a distracted Fargrim takes up Trappy's offer to come see the village's new entertainment.  When he was last in Longsaddle, the craze was frog-fighting.  Trappy says that frog-fighting grew old after a while, and that, with the help of Regwald Harpell, they've developed a new sport: frog-jousting, but on giant-sized frogs!  Fargrim is induced to climb onto one of the strange, horse-sized creatures and have a tilt at Trappy, but during one of his mount's jumps, a strange feeling comes over Fargrim.  He feels like he's falling and every nerve in his body spasms, and, suddenly, he finds himself standing in a land made purely of fire!  Waves of heat from a nearby river of molten lava wash over the dwarf as he hears a voice in his head, explaining that one proven pure, Mellia Nightflower, has chosen him to be tested by followers of the Flamelord.  A massive humanoid-like creature composed fire takes form, and attacks with no mercy.  Fargrim raises his red-bladed axe in defence, and some property of its metal wounds the creature!  Enraged by the ambush and perceived betrayal, Fargrim charges the elemental and swings wildly until its reduced to mere harmless smoke.  "You have proven yourself worthy.  Follow the path of the Flamelord and remain pure," says the mysterious voice.  Fargrim instantly finds himself back in the saddle on the giant-frog, and is bucked off.  He hits the ground hard, but is otherwise unharmed and only lightly-singed by the strange encounter.  He returns to the inn, asking Trappy to deliver a message to Aldarac for a meeting in the morning.

[17 Flamerule 1372]

Having left a companion behind to moulder in the Evermoors, Markus and McBronzebottom find that their luck holds.  Walking through the night, they eventually reach the edge of the foreboding land and the same set of fortifications they passed on the way in.  A cleric of Lathander shakes his head at the adventurers, reminding them of the warning he had given them just hours before.  Still, he heals some of their wounds and even invigorates their tired bodies.  Markus and his loyal companion continue walking through the morning, and eventually reach the hamlet of Wistof's Den in the afternoon.  They take up rooms at an inn, hoping to forget of the terrors they witnessed.

Back in Longsaddle, Fargrim has another conversation with Aldarac.  Aldarac says he's just confirmed Fargrim's belief that evil is rising under Startop Mountain, but repeats his assertion that the Crown of Horns needs to be hidden rather than wielded, stating that it will corrupt the soul of any who touch it and will inevitably be misused.  He implies that he had a role in hiding it the first time around, and that if Fargrim or his band find it, they should return it to him to be sent away even further from mortal eyes.

Upstairs in the inn, Ralkin tells Mellia that Fargrim returned last night suffering from minor burns.  Mellia admits that she might know the cause, and seeks out Fargrim.  The two well-travelled companions have a fateful conversation during a long walk along the banks of a stream.  Mellia starts by apologising for Fargrim being attacked by the fire elemental, explaining that one of the tests she had to undergo to rescue Cain in the Flaming Brazier was to name a candidate for purification.  She says she chose Fargrim as a mark of respect, knowing that others would be incapable and unworthy of succeeding in the test.  Fargrim brushes the apology aside, and turns the conversation into a different direction.  "What was the plan for Nesme?" he asks.  "What were we going to do there?"  Mellia, noticing his use of past tense, says that the goal is to free the people of the city from an evil cult, and remove from them the false hope that anyone can shelter them from the plague of undead that is coursing through the Evermoors.  If the remains of the city are destroyed, she says, the people will be forced to leave and start better lives elsewhere.

Fargrim doesn't seem to be persuaded, and asks what Nesme has to do with their long-standing quest to find the Crown of Horns.  Mellia replies that she and Cain are both bound to travel to Nesme as part of the price paid for Cain to gain freedom from the Flaming Brazier; but after that one short task is finished, she continues, the quest for the Crown will be taken up again until successful.  "And what will success entail?" Fargrim asks.  "If you use the Crown to save your daughter, many more will die.  The Crown must be sealed away, not touched by mortal hands."  Mellia says she has to take things one step at a time; others have been sent to find the Crown by the dark figure who kidnapped her daughter, and if one of them finds it first, all is surely lost. 

Mellia reminds Fargrim that he swore an oath to help her rescue her daughter, just as she swore to help him find Grim and kept her oath.  Fargrim angrily replies that he swore to help rescue her daughter, not travel to Nesme--the two have nothing to do with each other.  He says it would make more sense to find the man who has kidnapped the girl, and confront him, but Mellia says she has been turned to glass and would be easily destroyed if the dark figure is angered.

Fargrim declares that he intends to travel directly to Startop Mountain and stop anyone from finding the Crown and unleashing its horrors.  Mellia again reminds Fargrim of his oath, and says there is only one way to rescue her daughter.  She says she knows her daughter is still alive, as her mentor in divination, Gideon, knows where the girl is being held hostage.  She expresses anger that Fargrim would think of abandoning her, just as Markus did.  She says that if he travels alone towards Startop, he'll surely die in the Evermoors.  But if he comes with them to Nesme, she'll vow to think if there is another way to rescue her daughter besides obtaining the Crown.  Fargrim, however, is not persuaded.  He says he needs to talk to Cain before leaving, but that his decision has been made.

[18 Flamerule 1372]

Markus buys a cheap nag for he and McBronzebottom to ride the rest of the way back to Silverymoon.  The horse literally groans under the weight of the two adventurers and their belongings, and falls dead just as it reaches the gleaming walls of the city.  After placating an angry guardsman, the two then walk to the city's Temple of Tymora, where Luckpriestess Aratha Sul finishes restoring McBronzebottom to normality after the attack of the wights and wraiths.  Once back in their old lodgings at Wayward House, Markus summons his Marauders and tells them solemnly to slap him if he ever thinks about venturing back into the Evermoors.