8-16 – 8-18-22CR: Adrien, true to his word, departs quietly at dawn on the morning of 8/16.  The party waits for three days for their courier to confirm delivery of their message to the President.  A sending confirmation arrives on the afternoon of 8/18, directing them to meet Ambassador Jayna Westhold of the Hathoraen embassy in the east wing of King Thaggha’s castle.  They have a friendly and profitable meeting with Jayna, who turns out to have been a classmate of Nathaniel’s at the Academy in Aerendale.  They receive a sizable letter of credit from the President, an increase to their monthly stipend, and a valuable piece of information: Emery was relieved of duty by Kyrian Darkstar, Director of Hathoraen Intelligence, for his own protection during the ongoing investigation into the identity of one “Jarious Estenbur.”

 

                The last piece of business for the day is four sets of applications for dual (or in Zara’s case, triple) citizenship in Malok-Gorthai.  Nathaniel, Zara, Tel and Essedar are accepted as citizens of the Orclands after an efficient interview process in the west wing of King Thaggha’s castle; Protector Londario declines to apply, remaining a citizen of Hathorae alone.

 

8-19-22CR: In preparation for an expedition into the wilderness to track down the Nightrender bandits and perhaps a displacer beast or two, the party takes a day of downtime to scribe scrolls (Nathaniel: fireball CL5, acid arrow CL5) and brew potions (Essedar: cure moderate wounds CL3 x2).  Zara, Londario and Telenvor practice their melee skills, working up a sweaty froth out behind the Fanged Spear.

 

8-20-22CR: Nathaniel stops by the Smiths’ guild to purchase a finely crafted Masterwork longsword for himself.  Before leaving town, the party eats lunch at the local branch of Sandy’s, and meets a cougar morph druid named Rral’myrrah.  The druid is concerned about the eastward migration of the Caladan Cougar population in the forest, and she blames the orcs for over-hunting the beasts. 

 

                The party travels south from Thran-Gaar and finds evidence of a Nightrender camp nearby off the main road in the southeastern forest.  They spend all night trying various tactics to lure the Nightrender bandits into an ambush, but are unsuccessful.  Fatigued, they decide to retreat across the road and out of the woods in the early morning for a rest.

 

8-21-22CR: The party sleeps until 2pm to recover from their fatigue.  That afternoon at about 4pm, Nathaniel tracks the Nightrenders to a forest trail back across the road to the northwest.  At 4:30 he loses the trail due to a clever obfuscation tactic on the part of the bandits; further, his relative inexperience as a tracker leads the party directly into an ambush that the Nightrenders have prepared!

 

                The ferocity of the Nightrender attack takes the group by surprise… this is no mere group of highwaymen.  Led by a vicious winged half-fiend ogre called Ox’ik who wields a deadly barbed falchion sword in melee, the Nightrenders fall upon the party with shocking speed.  However, the group stands firm in the face of the ambush and uses solid teamwork and coordination to assist each other in flanking Ox’ik and disrupting the Nightrenders’ plan by taking down its leader first.  Among the foes they defeat is Ox’ik himself, 2 bugbear skirmishers, 3 bugbear zombies, and a fiendish dire wolverine.  The troll javelineer, whom they also fought on the road while saving Rana Greywhiskers, is also among the combatants… but the cagey troll escapes the party’s wrath again, fleeing into the northwest forest.

 

                The party thoroughly searches and loots the Nightrender base camp, and discovers that Ox’ik was a dedicated worshipper of the demon lord Orcus, Lord of the Undead.  It appears that yet another dark cult may be at work in the region.  In addition to 5 Nightrender war banners, the party claim’s Nemmia’s husband’s Orc Double-Axe and a host of other treasures.

 

                After the battle, Telenvor appraises the two rubies inlaid into Ox’ik’s falchion at 200gp each.  The party rests a safe distance from the now-abandoned Nightrender camp and posts a standard watch; the night passes without any additional encounters.

 

8-22-22CR: In the morning, Nathaniel spends a few hours leading the party through the northwest forest in search of displacer beasts. He discovers a set of tracks much larger than expected, which seems to indicate a displacer beast pack lord (a 10’ tall x 20’ long creature) may be lurking or hunting in the area.  After a brief discussion, the group chooses not to pursue the pack lord or its attendant packmates.  They head back along the main road north towards Thran-Gaar, camping off the road to the east that evening.  Nothing disturbs their rest at night.

 

8-23-22CR: By 1:30pm the party reaches the gates of Thran-Gaar, and reports its success in defeating the Nightrenders to gate captain Sadha Frosthorn.  She pays a bounty of 400gp (4x100 for 4 of the war banners) to the party, and an additional 200gp bounty for the proof of Ox’ik’s demise.  They return the double-axe to Nemmia at the Artisans’ guild, and she in turn provides the agreed upon price: her Amulet of Natural Armor +1.  Ox’ik’s falchion radiates a mildly evil aura when Zara uses detect evil upon it, so they liquidate the weapon for 480gp at the Smiths’ guild. 

 

                The party eats a late lunch of barbequed pork at the Roasting Hog, trading banter with their young orc server D’ak.  They are becoming regulars at the Hog.  After lunch, Nathaniel suggests a visit to the Wizards’ guild tower near the castle – he needs to purchase components for an identify spell.  There, the party meets Magor Windhowler, the cantankerous mistress of the guild.  She offers to scry on the blackguard Krothaer on behalf of the party: 1200gp for a standard scrying, or 2000gp for “special services” which she will not discuss in detail – but such services apparently carry a degree of risk for Magor.

 

8-24-22CR: A heavy rainstorm rolls in during the night, but by morning it has subsided to a steady drizzle.  The party braves the muddy streets of Thran-Gaar to turn in the last of the Nightrender banners to Sadha Frosthorn for another 10pp.  They visit the Jewlers’ guild and get Ox’ik’s skull pendant appraised by the guild master, an older human named Aelias Mymander.  He buys the nonmagical pendant for 100gp (it was inaccurately appraised at 10x its value by both Tel and Nathaniel).

 

                 As the party is about to leave Mymander’s shop, the guild master discovers a hidden latch and a compartment inside the skull pendant which contains a small sealed vial of clear liquid.  He gives the vial to the group freely.  Nathaniel uses his skill in Spellcraft to analyze the liquid; it appears to be a reappearing agent for invisible ink.  He applies some of the agent to Ox’ik’s map and discovers a note written on the back from “Grulok,” detailing a meeting which is to occur on 8-25-22CR at The Pit in Thran-Gaar.

 

                At noon, the party briefly meets with Captain Sadha Frosthorn and gives her a copy of the Nightrender map, detailing weak points in her Tribal Guards’ patrol patterns.

 

                The group decides to meet with Grodish Ash-Eye to discuss their recent findings.  He only makes them wait for about 30 minutes before seeing them and agreeing to send his contacts out among the less savory elements of the city to seek news of this “Grulok” person.  Apparently the local thieves’ guild has been in a quiet but escalating rivalry with a more violent group, possibly an assassins’ guild.  Grodish believes his contacts in the thieves’ guild can discover the identity of Grulok.  He also thanks the party for their continuing service to the community, noting that they are gaining a good reputation in town as trustworthy adventurers.

 

                The party enjoys a late lunch at Sandy’s and spends the afternoon touring the city to visit several sites they had not previously seen.  They stop by the Fountain of Ijruk to pay their respects to the dung sweepers and water sellers, and they find a cider house called the Crushed Apple, but choose not to go inside.  A handsome and rakish young orc with a topknot of small braids meets Zara’s eye as he exits the Crushed Apple, but Zara does not return his flirt.  Nathaniel visits Chelsea’s Liquors and Fine Imports, where he buys some Jartian salt water taffy and two bottles of maple mead with mulling spices.  He discusses local Hathoraen politics with Franz Chelsea, who is Hathoraen by birth and who returns to Aerendale at least twice a year to restock his business.  When asked why he stopped playing chess with Magor, Chelsea says that his business picked up and he got too busy to keep playing so regularly with the orc wizard.

 

               Around 7pm, Nathaniel goes to visit Magor Windhowler and challenges her to a game of chess.  Magor is confident that she can defeat Nathaniel, and she does so handily, winning three straight games (only the second of which was a close match).  However, she respects Nathaniel’s intelligence and ability as well as his attitude of losing with grace and sportsmanship; he is invited back for more chess anytime.  Nathaniel also briefly meets Zurdush Windhowler, Magor’s son and apprentice in the guild.

 

                While Nathaniel is at the wizards’ guild, Zara tries out the nightlife at the Tradewinds Inn with Londario and Essedar.  The Tradewinds is an upscale local inn that caters to humans and well-to-do orcs.  She enjoys a complimentary crab cake and glass of Valharic dandelion wine with Ybrynna Windhowler, the proprietor of the Tradewinds.  Zara is so impressed by the quality and ambience of the place (despite Ybrynna’s money-grubbing nature) that she brings the whole party back for dinner later that night.  They enjoy a fine feast, which lasts until slightly after midnight.  Slightly inebriated, everyone staggers back to the Fanged Spear for a good night’s sleep.

 

8-25-22CR: At breakfast, Madoth Thundermaw delivers a message to Nathaniel and Zara from Grodish Ash-Eye; they are to meet him at the Ash-Eye lodge at 10:30am.  When they arrive, Grodish informs the party that his contacts have checked into their sources, and he now believes that “Grulok” is a cover identity for a tough fellow named Grim’dok Bloodflayer who often does business at The Pit. 

 

                The party walks down to the Pit to scout it out before their probably encounter with Grim’dok.  They chat with the barkeeper, a scruffy orc woman named Jaaka, and get some tips from her on two pit fighters (Taargash Dragonbane and Grin’dol Windhowler) who will be battling at sundown – the fights at the Pit, they learn, usually start around that time.

 

                Around 1:30pm, they decide to do some more sightseeing in Thran-Gaar to pass the time before sundown, and head over to the southeast part of town near the Bench.  On the way, they pass the alchemists’ guild and stop in at Kamor’s Emporium, a locally owned mirabicary (magic shop), for a two hour chat with Kamor Frosthorn, its proprietor.  Some skillful diplomacy by Zara convinces the old orc wizard to reveal that the Bloodflayer tribe and its Elder Shaman Cho’do Bloodflayer are rumored to be involved in slavery of “lesser” races.  However there is no proof of these deeds, and the Bloodflayer tribe enjoys a prestigious political position due to its geographical situation: the tribe acts as a buffer zone and first line of defense against the undead of Kylowill. 

 

                After departing Kamor’s Emporium, they visit the Hathoraen Mirabicaries’ guild branch, run by a jovial fellow named Samuel Markov.  He guarantees his prices will be less than Kamor’s, since he keeps his overhead low and has the purchasing power of an entire guild behind him.  None of the party purchases anything, but Markov invites them to return anytime.

 

                By 5:00pm, Nathaniel and Zara decide that it’s time to head back towards the Pit for an evening of information gathering.  First, Nathaniel stops by the local office of Taliraen Independent Couriers and Sendings (TICS), hoping for a message from Adrien, but there is nothing waiting for him.  The party enjoys a tasty meal at the Roasting Hog, and by 6:30pm they are headed back to the Pit. 

 

                They settle in and watch several unarmed contests, exchanging bets with an obese and drunken orc named Toulsh, and the handsome young orc who flirted with Zara outside the Crushed Apple on 8-24, who introduces himself as Jagya Dragonbane – the 2^nd cousin of a 2^nd cousin of Lord Tirog Dragonbane, of Dragonbane Stead.  The battles proceed throughout the evening:

·          Hursh Fire-eater (male half-orc) def. Grin’dol Windhowler (male orc)

·          Taargash Dragonbane (male orc) def. snow ape (animal companion) – exhibition

·          Ju’mok Ash-Eye (male orc) def. Taargash Dragonbane

·          Hursh Fire-eater def. Ju’mok Ash-Eye – this match is by far the highlight of the night, with the underdog Hursh using unorthodox techniques to surprise the far more experienced and powerful Ju’mok.

 

During the various battles, Nathaniel and Tel scan the crowd hoping to find some sign of “Grulok” or Grim’dok Bloodflayer.  Eventually, they notice him in a corner, discreetly taking bets and talking to various orcs. Grim’dok is a massively muscled orc with dark gray skin, shaved bald with tribal tattoos all over his scalp, and he wears an eyepatch over his left eye with a small red jewel.  At one point, he meets Nathaniel’s eye and shrugs.  Later, a flunky of Grim’dok comes over to the party’s table and invites them to speak directly with his boss.  They politely defer, and choose not to engage Grim’dok in conversation – it seems the offer may have been nothing more than a thinly veiled threat.  However, as Zara and Nathaniel are ordering drinks, the rakish Jagya sidles up to the bar and expresses interest in their problem with Grim’dok.  He suggests that the Bloodflayer is up to no good, and that his activities in Thran-Gaar are “bad for business.”  The conversation is agreeable to all, as is Jagya’s pleasant company, and this time Zara returns his gentle flirting.  Later, he agrees to accompany the party back to the Fanged Spear to discuss their plans in more detail.

 

 

Around 10:00pm, the new friends arrive at an agreement: Jagya will spend some of his own coin to check his sources for news about the comings and goings of Grim’dok’s people, while the party lays low for a day. 

 

              

 

8-26-22CR: The group takes a day of rest at the Fanged Spear, enjoying Maddoth’s hospitality and staying sheltered from the sweltering heat of the late summer.  They do hear a confirmed rumor that the Imperial Prince Royce Ralaevar of Moridar will be visiting Thran-Gaar in one week as part of his tour of the northern lands.  Prince Royce has been groomed from childhood to be the next Dragon Emperor of Moridar, and with his recent coming of age he is now prepared to take office. 

Nathaniel works on crafting a wand of elemental bolt, but will require 2 more days to complete his project (cost: 3000gp minus incorporated gemstones, 240exp, 3 days’ crafting). 

 

                Around 8pm, Jagya shows up with new information: his contacts have provided a name and a connection to investigate – the Bloodflayer slave ring long rumored to exist is quite real, and it is known as Filthshackle.  Grim’dok may have connections to both Filthshackle and the assassins’ guild because of his (now severed) connections to the Nightrender cult of Orcus.  Further, there has been an incursion of a violent assassins’ guild into the city in recent years, and open war between the assassins’ and thieves’ guilds is about to break out.  The local thieves’ guild is not a violent bunch, preferring to keep a low profile and do “2^nd story jobs” exclusively.  They are not known to engage in protection schemes, murder or thuggery, and as such they avoid the direct wrath of the Krodath-Gaar militia forces in the city.

 

                What Jagya proposes is that, since the party has tipped its hand to some extent to Grim’dok, they take a walk late at night down (around midnight) near the Bench, effectively posing as bait for the assassins’ guild.  Such a gambit will undoubtedly be dangerous, but in order to continue their investigation some proof of the guild’s existence must be found, and that proof traced back in some fashion to the Bloodflayer faction led by Elder Shaman Cho’do. 

 

                At 9pm, Zara boldy asks Jagya to share her bed.  Taken somewhat aback and yet flattered enough to break into a wide grin, the orc nobleman turns down her offer, suggesting that because of his own superstition, he would rather enjoy her company after the likely battle to come – such an arrangement, he suggests, would ensure her return, whereas to bed her now might bring bad luck down on their heads.

 

                At midnight, the party walks in shadows to an alleyway behind the Bench in search of their quarry.  Unfortunately, they fail to spot Omaagho and his assassin’s guild cohorts [5 rogues, a 7^th level wizard, and a totem horror (Helmed Horror) construct].  The ambush is sprung: the wizard blocks their escape from the alley with a wall of ice, and the party is quickly surrounded.  Zara falls quickly to multiple stab wounds and is killed by a pair of scorching rays from the orc wizard.  One of the rogues steals Zara’s helmet of indomitable will off her corpse, and the assassins scatter as the Krodath-Gaar miltia shows up.

 

                Shocked by the ferocity of their foes’ assault but determined to return their friend to life, the party heads toward the Temple of Anushar (Arinna) near King Thaggha’s castle at the south end of Thran-Gaar.  They meet priestess Sranhi Wraithscorch and pay 3,750 gold pieces for the diamonds necessary to perform the raise dead spell on the fallen paladin.  Srahni completes the spell, and Zara’s soul is reunited with her body, returning her to life so she may continue the fight against evil.  The party spends the night in the temple at Sranhi’s urging.

 

8-27-22CR: In the morning around 10am, Nathaniel walks across the main road to the Wizards’ guild and buys a scroll of frostball (fireball with energy substitution) from Magor’s collection of spells.  He believes this spell will capitalize on a perceived elemental vulnerability of the totem horror construct, which fought with a flaming bastard sword.  On the way to the guild, he is met by Jagya, who appears most distressed that his advice led to Zara’s death in the previous night’s ambush.

 

                After collecting Zara and Londario from the Temple of Anushar, the party speaks with Jagya at length about their apparent miscommunication regarding the ambush.  Jagya says that his associates sent for backup were killed outside Franz Chelsea’s shop en route to reinforce the party.  Jagya tearfully apologizes to Zara for her soul’s temporary departure from this plane - which he feels is his responsibility.

 

                The party decides to visit Chelsea and discuss the murders outside his shop with him.  The Hathoraen shopkeeper is distressed and nervous about all the violence, but knows little about the incident – his shop was securely locked and he hid in the back rooms when he heard all the sounds of fighting out front.

 

                Now that they have a good reputation in the city and a letter of introduction from Elder Lodge Shaman Grodish Ash-Eye, the party feels that they can gain an audience with King Thaggha to discuss recent events with him.  Late in the afternoon they head to the palace at the south end of Thran-Gaar, where they meet Valthirok Wraithscorch, the beautiful orc Spirit Chanter, who arranges a special meeting with Thaggha.  With Grodish’s letter of introduction, they are only required to wait one hour for the King to complete his current business.

 

                They mighty Thaggha greets the party warmly and speaks well of their recent acts on behalf of his city.  The party shares all they know of the recent events in Caladan Forest, and they also tell the orc king of their ongoing investigation into the connections between Filthshackle and the cult of Ethoar.  Thaggha is most concerned with these revelations, and sends the party on a mission to To’jarak Quarry to find the missing Brother John Randall.  They will travel with twenty members of the Wraithscorch tribe honor guard, as well as Valthirok, Cho’do Bloodflayer and Bo’boka Bloodflayer.  Thaggha believes that Cho’do must be made to see the evidence of the cult-slaver connection for himself if the Elder Shaman is to turn his tribe away from its current path.  For their part in this mission, each party member will receive 2,500 gp from Thaggha’s royal treasury.

 

                Before leaving the palace, Nathaniel decides to visit Jayna Westhold in her diplomatic offices.  He convinces her to let him copy color spray from her spellbooks, and also gets her to pull some strings and let him into the palace’s arcane library, where he copies hold person from a tome in the stacks.

 

                After nightfall, the party returns to the Fanged Spear and speaks further with Jagya over warm bread, cheese and ale.  The handsome orc is rather fidgety and somewhat nervous, and Nathaniel succeeds with a Sense Motive check against him, discovering that Jagya is apparently under some form of mental domination.  He does not reveal this immediately, but after Jagya departs, he tells the party of his discovery in the privacy of their rooms.  Troubled by this revelation but determined to help Jagya, they sleep through the night and prepare to depart in the morning.

 

8-28-22CR: After a warm breakfast of oatmeal and dried apples at the Fanged Spear, the party makes their rendezvous with Thaggha’s honor guard.  In all, twelve Wraithscorch and eight Bloodflayer warriors accompany Valthirok, Cho’do and Bo’boka (the latter two Bloodflayers are also revealed to be brothers).  The retinue departs without delay.

 

                During the journey north, Cho’do speaks in his soft, lilting tones of all the sacrifices his tribe has made to prevent the incursions of Vadarixian’s undead.  He shows off the salted, blasted earth of his tribe’s homelands, where nothing edible will grow.  He also voices his doubt that the party will find any proof of wrongdoing among his tribe, and questions the need for all this wasteful investigation.  As the band comes to the top of a high sea cliff, Bo’boka produces a spyglass through which the distant, frozen Isle of Kylowill can be seen across the Kylowill Straight.  Two hours later, as the sun dips low and dusk falls, the group arrives at a fork in the road between the seat Bloodflayer power – the village of To’gaal – and the To’jarak Quarry, where Zara and Nathaniel believe Brother John is being held.

 

 

                After a brief discussion of who is to stay above ground and who will venture into the deeper reaches of the quarry, Cho’do and Valthirok each release on of their orc honor guards to observe the party as they delve into the mystery of John Randall’s disappearance.  Uld, a friendly and good natured bruiser from the Bloodflayers, accompanies the party, as does Vashnak, a quiet and confident orc from the Wraithscorch tribe. 

 

                Cho’do leads the entire group down a series of twisting, right-angled paths into the pit of the quarry.  He claims that the deepest levels of the underground quarry have been abandoned for many months due to incursions of monsters from the Underlands.  The Bloodflayers simply do not have the resources to push back the monsters and cannot afford to have their goblin slaves picked off a few at a time by the denizens of the dark.  Therefore, only the upper levels and aboveground areas of the quarry are currently operational.  Cho’do does not know what might await the party once they enter the underground passages at the bottom of the pit.

 

                Soon enough the entire group has reached the bottom of the quarry.  A 20’ wide and 15’ high rectangular entryway has been carved into the jagged, stratified gray stone of the south wall.  Telenvor briefly scouts ahead, but he detects no hostiles up ahead.  The pathways deeper into the quarry seem still and dusty, as though they have been abandoned for many months as Cho’do claimed. 

 

Cho’do, Valthirok and Bo’boka settle in and make camp at the base of the quarry while the party – Essedar, Londario, Nathaniel, Telenvor and Zara – move inside to investigate.  Uld and Vashnak follow the group at a safe distance behind.  The gray and white strata of the rough inside walls slope outward as they rise, allowing for easy climbing if such is necessary.  Advancing ahead, the party soon finds a split in the tunnels and a set of stone barricades guarding two high passages on either side of the corridor.  Two large rats perch on the barricades, one on each side, watching the party curiously as they explore the area.  Further inside the quarry, the party reaches a dead end that seems slightly out of place.  Nathaniel uses detect magic to sweep the area for illusions and finds that the main wall ahead is entirely illusory.  Given this development, the party decides to explore beyond the illusory wall immediately.

 

 

A 10’ wide corridor leads them to a long set of stairs that head west and deeper into the earth.  At the end of the stairs, a room opens up to reveal two statues of orc warriors, each with a fiery bloodstone set into the right eye.  Two more rats scuttle around the base of the statues, their whiskers twitching nervously.  Suddenly the room grows cold and a wraith-like form emerges from one of the statues.  The wraith seems to have formerly been an orc, and it is missing its right eye.  The wraith gestures imploringly at the statue nearest it with its ghostly spear, but before the party can react, the two rats growl – a deep, rumbling noise, and fiercely leap to the attack.  The rats’ bodies seem to writhe and change as they fight, and glistening muscle slides into place to cover existing wounds.  Soon the tiny rats have grown to medium size, and their oversized jaws drip a nasty, foaming venom.  Nathaniel, Zara and Essedar recognize these “rats” as possible agents of the same faction which invaded Caladan Forest some time ago.

 

 

As the party fights off the foaming rats with magic and steel, Zara cleverly strikes the two bloodstones in the two orcish statues with her longspear, shattering the gems and freeing the orc wraith from its undead state.  The wraith vanishes with a whisper of thanks for the paladin.  Soon after, the disgusting rats are destroyed and their churning flesh ceases to move.  The adventurers take a moment to heal their wounds (none of them has been infected by the rats’ diseased saliva), intending to explore deeper into the quarry.  Afterwards the group heads briefly back to the surface to report their findings to Valthirok. Bo’boka and Cho’do.  Intrigued but puzzled, the orcs suggest they head further into the complex.

 

 

The slope of the quarry tunnels increases in steepness downward as they move further inside, accompanied again by Uld and Vashnak as witnesses.  A rhythmic rumbling sound beyond a set of doors leads to a smelting room, but before the party can explore the room they are set upon by a number of aberrant foes.  Two orc rogues spiderclimb across the walls of the room to flank the party, and a horrible chittering chaos beast slides its bulk across the floor towards them.  Nathaniel’s innate sense of his favored enemies – aberrations – tells him that these foes are of a similar ilk to the ones they faced deep in Caladan Hollows… the minions of Sulanesh. 

 

 

After a quick but furious battle the party is victorious.  They explore the smelting room and discover that it is driven by a bound large fire elemental at the far end of the chamber.  Rocks tumble down here from other parts of the quarry and are sorted and dumped into a series of pits at least 120’ below the main smelting chamber.  Essedar notes that the elemental is also projecting a wall of dangerous heat that protects the corridor beyond.  If only someone in the party spoke Ignan, they might communicate with the elemental. 

 

 

Nathaniel suddenly attempts a new bit of spellcraft and channels his mana through Cereborn.  In a moment of insight, he unlocks a new reserve ability: as long as he keeps a 3^rd-level spell in reserve, he may use tongues at will through Cereborn as a standard action (activation).  Excitedly, the young wizard begins to experimentally converse with the elemental… and he is understood!

 

 

The fiery guardian speaks of his task – to guard this corridor for his master, and orc wizard called Turgash.  The elemental is tired of being bound to the smelter and tells Nathaniel of a crystal which Turgash holds that can free it.  It cannot intentionally suppress the heat wall it has been ordered to project, but Essedar manages to temporarily dispel the aura and the party advances through the corridor beyond.

 

 

Around the next corner, they soon spot Turgash’s horrible laboratory.  The wizard, a Bloodflayer tribesman, is clearly infested with – or inhabited by – something which appears to be a mass of fibrous writhing worms under his flesh.  Despite this, he is quite cognizant and has prepared a defense against the party’s incursion.  Two more tentacled chaos beasts await the group here, and a pair of tortured, glistening creatures who were once orcs emerge from two egg-like sacs of pinkish-purple flesh on the ground nearby.  As Turgash fights, hooked and segmented worms occasional whip out from his face in attempts to infect the party.  Fortunately, none are successful in their attempts to burrow into flesh.  Zara fights her way through the hybrid orcish monstrosities and disrupts Turgash’s magic; not long after, the battle is over.  As the elemental claimed, Turgash held an elemental crystal which, if activated, will allow the bound guardian to return to its home plane.

 

 

The party retreats to the smelting room and Nathaniel asks the elemental if it will watch over their sleep.  The guardian agrees, but is eager to return home soon afterwards.  Between regularly posted watches and the unsleeping elemental, the party’s rest is undisturbed.

 

 Falling Stars, Rising Hope