(no subject)
The Twilight Grove
Three paths lay before the companions: to the north a narrow and unstable passage that appeared close to collapse; to the east a short, angular crevasse that seemed to breach a masonry wall; to the south a broad, winding tunnel that led on into darkness.
Splitting up, Vale and Tiernan investigated the eastern passage while Drenden and Zahara scouted the south. The paladin and warlord discovered a derelict tomb, its ceiling half collapsed upon the sarcophagi within. The southern route explored by the elf and tiefling companions led to a vast cavern, choked with vegetation that included luminescent mushrooms, twisted Feywild strangler trees, and violet-hued ivy that climbed its way up the walls.
Meeting up in the tomb to report their findings, the party inspected one of the sarcophagi that had been broken open by a falling slab of stone. The knight entombed within, whose carved epitaph indicated that he was a valiant hero named Sir Egan, had been disturbed and robbed -- his weapon gone missing, as well as his skull, humerus and femur bones. Zahara placed a strangely pristine skull that the group had discovered earlier in their travels among the other bones in the coffin, and the very air of the chamber seemed to heave a sigh of relief around the companions.
Returning to the Verdant Cavern that Zahara and Drenden had discovered earlier, the party began a careful climb down a natural rock ledge. No sooner had Vale Eamon's feet touched the floor of the lower cave, than a number of bone piles scattered throughout the cavern began to stir. They rose into the forms of eladrin archers and a rag-clad druid, and then from amidst the heavy fungal growths at the chamber's heart rose a gigantic, lumbering skeleton with a single eye socket -- a cyclops!
Though the skeletal cyclops' bony fists struck many mighty blows against the heroes, and each of the party was the target of more than one flesh-ripping arrow, the group managed to avoid much of the skeletal druid's entangling vine attacks and dispatch their foes. Though most of what the undead fey wore and carried was worthless, a masterfully crafted greatbow of twisted yew was found upon one of the archers and given to Drenden by Vale.
As the others rested, investigated the Verdant Cavern or inspected their newly-acquired prizes, Zahara crept away from the party to follow a strange, hellish-red glow that she had spotted from a side passage. Moving as stealthily as possible the rogue was able to observe an ancient crone, hunched over a bubbling, smoking pool of amber liquid.
Known to enslave or eat children and young women, the hag seemed an appropriate place to continue the search for Sharwyn when the tiefling rushed back to her companions to report what she had seen. The party entered the hag's lair in hopes of negotiating, but Vale Eamon's righteous anger and upbringing in the Church of the Light kept his temper running high and his blade drawn from its sheath. Receiving only the information that Sharwyn was alive, but supposedly "already lost" to the heroes, Vale and the others were forced to withdraw from the creature's lair.
Furious at the party's failure to take up arms against the hag, the paladin forged ahead with companions in tow. Passing through another breach into a vast, vault-like chamber. Ancient galleries dedicated to long-forgotten heroes were overgrown by a subterranean garden of alien flora, further impressing the location as a Crossing of the Feywild. Roots and tendrils seemed to writhe and undulate of their own volition while bizarre blossoms turned their petals toward a soft blue energy that radiated from numerous crystalline formations.
The chamber wass dominated by the statue of an immense dragon, pieced together from chunks of unfamiliar black stone -- a dull, red light seemed to emanate from between the carefully carved slabs. This was, without doubt, a shrine to the ancient, evil dragon Ashardalon.
Vale's mind was distracted and unfocused by earlier events. As Zahara and Drenden wandered off to inspect the galleries in search of lost treasures, the paladin's stare was fixed upon the sculpture before him. For just a moment the dragon's visage seemed to glow and the holy warrior's head was filled with gentle whispers. Minute by minute the whispers increased in volume until a pair of black figures emerged from the darkened galleries beyond the statue. Ghostly and insubstantial, these figures were wraiths -- and accompanying them were shadow hounds whose very presence dimmed the light of Vale's magical sword.
The party gathered up and prepared to combat the undead foes, only to find that their enemies' numbers were even greater than they had believed. A third wraith, this one surrounded by an aura of whirling shadows and sibilant whispers, crept in from behind the companions, surrounding them.
The wraiths proved to be formidable foes. Their black phantom blades left the heroes weakened, the horrible whispers that filled the air left their minds numb and dazed, and only the Vale's attacks infused with the raw power of the Light itself kept the shades from regenerating the small amounts of damage that had been inflicted upon them. One by one, however, the hounds and wraiths fell to the onslaught of the four adventurers until the final shadow was dispatched. As this occurred, a brittle, crackling sound arose from the draconic statue in the gallery's center -- chunks of stone began sloughing off the sculpture in larger and larger pieces until, suddenly, the entirety of the statue collapsed into a pile of black, lifeless stone.
Nearly crippled and in desperate need of a rest, however, the group chose to retreat to the sanctity of Sir Egan's tomb. They would return when their grievous wounds were healed to investigate the remains of the statue.
Three paths lay before the companions: to the north a narrow and unstable passage that appeared close to collapse; to the east a short, angular crevasse that seemed to breach a masonry wall; to the south a broad, winding tunnel that led on into darkness.
Splitting up, Vale and Tiernan investigated the eastern passage while Drenden and Zahara scouted the south. The paladin and warlord discovered a derelict tomb, its ceiling half collapsed upon the sarcophagi within. The southern route explored by the elf and tiefling companions led to a vast cavern, choked with vegetation that included luminescent mushrooms, twisted Feywild strangler trees, and violet-hued ivy that climbed its way up the walls.
Meeting up in the tomb to report their findings, the party inspected one of the sarcophagi that had been broken open by a falling slab of stone. The knight entombed within, whose carved epitaph indicated that he was a valiant hero named Sir Egan, had been disturbed and robbed -- his weapon gone missing, as well as his skull, humerus and femur bones. Zahara placed a strangely pristine skull that the group had discovered earlier in their travels among the other bones in the coffin, and the very air of the chamber seemed to heave a sigh of relief around the companions.
Returning to the Verdant Cavern that Zahara and Drenden had discovered earlier, the party began a careful climb down a natural rock ledge. No sooner had Vale Eamon's feet touched the floor of the lower cave, than a number of bone piles scattered throughout the cavern began to stir. They rose into the forms of eladrin archers and a rag-clad druid, and then from amidst the heavy fungal growths at the chamber's heart rose a gigantic, lumbering skeleton with a single eye socket -- a cyclops!
Though the skeletal cyclops' bony fists struck many mighty blows against the heroes, and each of the party was the target of more than one flesh-ripping arrow, the group managed to avoid much of the skeletal druid's entangling vine attacks and dispatch their foes. Though most of what the undead fey wore and carried was worthless, a masterfully crafted greatbow of twisted yew was found upon one of the archers and given to Drenden by Vale.
As the others rested, investigated the Verdant Cavern or inspected their newly-acquired prizes, Zahara crept away from the party to follow a strange, hellish-red glow that she had spotted from a side passage. Moving as stealthily as possible the rogue was able to observe an ancient crone, hunched over a bubbling, smoking pool of amber liquid.
Known to enslave or eat children and young women, the hag seemed an appropriate place to continue the search for Sharwyn when the tiefling rushed back to her companions to report what she had seen. The party entered the hag's lair in hopes of negotiating, but Vale Eamon's righteous anger and upbringing in the Church of the Light kept his temper running high and his blade drawn from its sheath. Receiving only the information that Sharwyn was alive, but supposedly "already lost" to the heroes, Vale and the others were forced to withdraw from the creature's lair.
Furious at the party's failure to take up arms against the hag, the paladin forged ahead with companions in tow. Passing through another breach into a vast, vault-like chamber. Ancient galleries dedicated to long-forgotten heroes were overgrown by a subterranean garden of alien flora, further impressing the location as a Crossing of the Feywild. Roots and tendrils seemed to writhe and undulate of their own volition while bizarre blossoms turned their petals toward a soft blue energy that radiated from numerous crystalline formations.
The chamber wass dominated by the statue of an immense dragon, pieced together from chunks of unfamiliar black stone -- a dull, red light seemed to emanate from between the carefully carved slabs. This was, without doubt, a shrine to the ancient, evil dragon Ashardalon.
Vale's mind was distracted and unfocused by earlier events. As Zahara and Drenden wandered off to inspect the galleries in search of lost treasures, the paladin's stare was fixed upon the sculpture before him. For just a moment the dragon's visage seemed to glow and the holy warrior's head was filled with gentle whispers. Minute by minute the whispers increased in volume until a pair of black figures emerged from the darkened galleries beyond the statue. Ghostly and insubstantial, these figures were wraiths -- and accompanying them were shadow hounds whose very presence dimmed the light of Vale's magical sword.
The party gathered up and prepared to combat the undead foes, only to find that their enemies' numbers were even greater than they had believed. A third wraith, this one surrounded by an aura of whirling shadows and sibilant whispers, crept in from behind the companions, surrounding them.
The wraiths proved to be formidable foes. Their black phantom blades left the heroes weakened, the horrible whispers that filled the air left their minds numb and dazed, and only the Vale's attacks infused with the raw power of the Light itself kept the shades from regenerating the small amounts of damage that had been inflicted upon them. One by one, however, the hounds and wraiths fell to the onslaught of the four adventurers until the final shadow was dispatched. As this occurred, a brittle, crackling sound arose from the draconic statue in the gallery's center -- chunks of stone began sloughing off the sculpture in larger and larger pieces until, suddenly, the entirety of the statue collapsed into a pile of black, lifeless stone.
Nearly crippled and in desperate need of a rest, however, the group chose to retreat to the sanctity of Sir Egan's tomb. They would return when their grievous wounds were healed to investigate the remains of the statue.