Session 15

Day 68
After a few days of waiting in Ironville and seeking out some info about the Earth Key, the newly named Sons of the Phoenix travel to Ashfield in order to see how things stand there.

Day 70
As they arrive at Ashfield, they see the Starkhold army in the middle of packing up and disassembling the siege engines. As they enter town, it becomes clear, that the war has been stopped and their efforts to do so has been recognized, both by José Stark, Sophie Ran and the Council of Ashfield.

Day 71
Ashfield celebrates the end of the war, and the efforts of the Sons of the Phoenix.

Day 72
The Sons head for the Bluestone Hills, as they have found info that the dwarven king Khorad was the last to have the Earth Key, and he was buried in a crypt in the Bluestone Hills.

Day 74
After repelling an ambush by a troll and an ettin, they encounter about 20 wayfarers from a village called Harp, located north of the hills, near the Swamp of Death (dun-dun-duuun). They tell that they are on the run, because 2 weeks ago, about half of the village fell prey to a disease. Not long after, almost everyone was dead, with plague-like symptoms. Then, after the dead had been buried, they rose from their graves, about 3 days later.

Later during the day, Urnyx led the Sons to the crypt, and they entered it.

Throughout the day, they fought elementals and minotaurs and found some info on how to weaken a "fire demon". They also ran into some nasty traps, especially one that consisted of a flood room and a water elemental. Luckily, the Sons were smart and payed attention, so they could deal with the trap with a minimal of effort.

The Crystal Gong and the Elemental Keys.

A gong made of crystal? Sounds stupid. Sounds like something the elves would make. I mean, what do you think happens when you take a hammer made of magical steel and strikes the gong? Seriously, what good is a gong if you can't use it for its purpose. 

- Knutt Hammershield, year 4873 

Created at the dawn of times, the Crystal Gong is said to have been made of the crystallized tears of the Twins. The Twins decreed that the Gong would always exist and help the people of Gemnos in their darkest hour.

Throughout the ages, it has surfaces several times, each time heralding a big change. It's powers are unknown but it is said that striking the Gong with it's hammer heralds the coming of change, of salvation.

The last time it was used was by King Braenor during the First Demon War. After the war, it was hidden in an ancient dwarven fortress, protected by what is called an undefeatable masterpiece of dwarven magic and artisanship. In order to open and use the Gong, you need four keys and the hammer to strike the Gong.

The four keys are each made of an element (earth, fire, water, air). After the war, the earth key was kept by Braenor, King of dwarves. The air key was given to Eldar Sorrowsong, a powerful elven wizard while the water key was given to King James of Tarradar, one of the heroes of the First Demon War. The last key, the fire key, was thrown in Hellmouth, while the hammer was given to Aurac for safekeeping.

Since then, no one has heard of the Gong. Many sages have speculated as to why it didn't surface during the crisis of mankind that was the Second Demon War - perhaps the keys had been lost, perhaps the Gong had fallen into the wrong hands. Or maybe the use of the Gong simply wasn't recorded.

The four keys have likewise fallen off the map. The air key disappeared when Eldar died, the water key vanished presumably when King James' city Tarradar was sacked by gnolls and the earth key, for long a symbol of the dwarven kings, isn't any longer.

Cosmology by religion

Depending on who you worship, the church will have very different takes on how the world looks.

The churches of the new religion
While there are obviously a difference between the churches of Bane, Bahamut and Cyric, they do however agree on a few things.

The primal spirits, the Twins, Nira and Torax, the Fourteen. While surely gods, and there well before the three new gods, they have been diminishing in power for long and are thus no longer a real influence to the world. People who keep worshiping them are merely prolonging the suffering of their death. These godlings hide in the Faerie World, far away from the influence of the real gods, who wage war against each other in the Elemental Chaos (Bahamut and Bane does at least).

Bahamut, along with his seven archangels, called the Saints of Heaven, rule Heaven, collecting souls of good creatures when they die.

Bane on the other hand, rules Hell with an iron fist. He has nine Lords of Hell, nine demon princes to help him keep the souls of all evil creatures in line.

Cyric sits in the Underworld and collects the souls of those who are neither good nor evil.

The Elemental Chaos, the Astral Sea etc are battlegrounds for the eternal war between angels and demons, between Bane and Bahamut.

The church of the Twins
The Twins are everything. They are Gemnos. They are the only god. They are the world. They do not sit in mortal guise somewhere on an outer plane. They are the outer planes too.

Likewise, the Twins do not fight for souls, and the souls do not go anywhere when their mortal shell dies. Instead they return to Gemnos and people are reborn. Perhaps as another creature altogether.

The church of the Moon and the Sun
The churches of Nira and Torax claim that Nira is the sun, Torax is the moon. They circle Gemnos, perfectly shaped as them. They are the duality aspect of all in Gemnos and when you die, you go rejoin whichever of them you worship.

To followers of the Twins and of Nira and Torax, Gemnos is the world. The Faerie is a magical land from which creation stems, the Underworld is where souls go before they are reabsorbed into Gemnos (or into the sun and moon), and Heaven, Hell, The Elemental Chaos etc are outer planes filled with monsters.

The churches of the Fourteen
The fourteen churches all agree that their parents and grand-parents live somewhere deep in the Faerie. Themselves live in each their own place, their own plane. Souls of their worshipers go there when they die. In parenthesis is included the name of the plane, according to the cosmology of the new religion, at least as far as sages can deduce.

Mask - The Guildhall of Deceit (The Underworld)
The Raven Queen - Mausoleum of Death (The Underworld)
Shar - The Pit of Darkness (The Underworld)

Pelor - Temple of Life (Heaven)
Torm - Halls of Justice (Heaven)
Lathander - Forge of Eternal Light (Heaven)

Mystra - Tower of Sorcery (The Faerie)

Auril - Castle Everfrost (The Elemental Chaos)
Kossuth - Palace of Fire (The Elemental Chaos)
Tempus - Citadel of War (The Elemental Chaos)
Umberlee - Ship of Chaos (The Elemental Chaos)

Erathis - Pillars of Order (Astral Sea)

Just as the new gods, they all collect souls. But instead of spending the souls on creating armies angels and demons to wage an eternal war, they simply absorb them and empower themselves. Just like the church of the Twins and the churches of the Sun and the Moon, the churches of the Fourteen see the traditional (according to the new religion) outer planes as a place filled with monsters, except for the areas under their control.

Religions on Gemnos

There are two distinct religions on Gemnos. Two pantheons if you will.

One pantheon is comprised of Cyric, Bane and Bahamut, along with their angels and demons. It is called the new pantheon. The other pantheon is comprised of the Twins and all their aspects, or children depending on which of the several branches of the church you lean towards. It is called the old pantheon.

The new pantheon
There are three gods. One good (Bahamut), one evil (Bane) and one neutral (Cyric). Each god is all-powerful and claims absolute dominion over their outer-planar domain. Bahamut rules Heaven, Bane rules Hell and Cyric rules the Underworld.

They are called the new pantheon or the new gods, simply because worship of Bane, Cyric and Bahamut started much later than worship of the Twins.

All three gods and churches acknowledge the Twins, Nira, Torax, Mask, Torm, Mystra, Tempus, Umberlee, Erathis, The Raven Queen, Pelor, Auril, Kossuth, Shar and Lathander as gods although they are barely acknowledged as competition. They are part of an old and soon to be forgotten religion.

The old pantheon
The old pantheon is itself divided into three branches. 

The Church of the Twins does not acknowledge Bane, Bahamut and Cyric as gods. If pressed, a priest of the Twins will classify them as powerful angels, outer-planar beings with tremendous power. The Church further claims that Nira and Torax as well as Mask, Torm, Mystra, Tempus, Umberlee, Erathis, The Raven Queen, Pelor, Auril, Kossuth, Shar and Lathander are just facets of the Twins, a humanization of something too big for most mortals to understand.

The Church of Nira and Torax claim that they the twin children of the Twins. It agrees with the Church of the Twins on Bane, Bahamut and Cyric, saying they are merely powerful angels, with no power over souls, save over those who sell their soul or otherwise make a bargain with the angels or demons. They also claim that Mask, Torm, Mystra, Tempus, Umberlee, Erathis, The Raven Queen, Pelor, Auril, Kossuth, Shar and Lathander are just facets of themselves, with Mask, Mystra, Erathis, The Raven Queen, Auril and Shar being facets of Torax, while Torm, Tempus, Umberlee, Pelor, Kossuth and Lathander are facets of Nira.

Logically, the respective churches of Mask, Torm, Mystra, Tempus, Umberlee, Erathis, The Raven Queen, Pelor, Auril, Kossuth, Shar and Lathander claim they are the grand-children of the Twins, the children of Nira and Torax, and gods in their own right. Called “The Fourteen” by the common man, they, just like the rest of the family, do not acknowledge the new pantheon as anything but powerful out-planar creatures. As far as not being recognized as gods by their own “family”, the official stance is merely that it is a claim made by the older religions because they (the Fourteen) are the future of Gemnos, while the Twins, Nira and Torax are the past.

Prophecy

Prophecy is the art of predicting the future. In theory, prophecy can come from anyone gifted with spell-casting. In general, sages distinguish by three types, when it comes to prophecy. Natural prophets, reborn prophets and unwilling prophets. 

Natural prophets usually show the gift at a young age and retain it throughout their life, until their death. 

Reborn prophets are often much older when they acquire the gift of prophecy. Typically some sort of event or action of sacrifice acts as a catalyst for acquiring the gift. It could be a priest who sacrifices his eyes to better see the future, or a warlock that sacrifices his firstborn in order to remove himself from emotions to better be able to focus on the prophecies.

Unwilling prophets are "normal" spell-casters that for whatever reason are chosen by some higher power to be a conduit for the visions. Most of these prophets have a short lifespan, as only select few can handle the visions of the future.

The common ground of all types of prophets is that they have visions of the future, which they translate to words based on instinct and magic so that future generations can heed their warnings. A few do not "see" the future, but hear it instead.

The wording of prophecies is often extremely ambiguous. Interpreting and understanding prophecies is therefore an unpredictable and unreliable business. True Prophecies are always fulfilled, but not all prophecies are true ones. Or rather, all prophecies are true, but are only one possible version of the future, which can be changed, although it very rarely happens.

The Bluestones

The Bluestones, which are found primarily in the Bluestone Hills, but also in a few other remote hilly areas of the world of Gemnos, are magical gemstones with different properties.

Over the years, sages have catalogued at least three different types of Bluestones. There are rumored to be at least two more, the Soul Bluestone and the Starflare Bluestone, but there is not enough information on those.

Clear Bluestones enable a spellcaster to draw on it's energies and recall a spell he has previously cast the same day.

Jagged Bluestones have one purpose, namely to empower rituals, especially conjurations and divinations.

Essence Bluestones can be used to store spells inside, to be activated at a later time.

As a rule of thumb, the bigger the Bluestone, the more powerful it is.

The Arcane Academy

There is no way you can put 200 mages together on a small island and think that something bad won't come out of it. I mean, look at the devastation just one or two can cause. I tell you, it is suspicious that they haven't all killed each other yet. Something fishy is going on out there, across the water. I hear they steal babes and feed their blood to the wizards to empower them.

- Robert Watcher, cityguard in Lochhurst, 5673 

Located on a magical island called Cruul in the middle of Dragon Lake, the Arcane Academy is one of those places surrounded with more myths and stories than anything else, perhaps except Jack.

What we do know with certainty is the following:

Founded by Marlin the Archmage when he was young, the Arcane Academy serves both as a center of magic education and research. It fields the greatest library in the Seven Army Nations, but unless you are a member of the Academy or have an invitation from Marlin or a teacher, there is very little chance you will ever see the inside of the library.

As Marlin said in 5789, when the Academy opened, it was to be a place of learning, where magic-users of all kinds could stay and be safe from percecution, while they learn to practise their arts in a safe environment.

The Academy has room for about 200 students, and most of those will be between the ages of 10 and 25, but sometimes the power manifests at a later age, and thus a few students are much older. Aside from the 200 students, the Academy has about 20 teachers working and living there. Going to the Academy is expensive, or cheap, depending on who you are. Each new student must take a test before joining (in early spring), and the result of the test determines your fee for the next year.

Once you start, you will be required to take and pass a number of classes. The first year only has 3 different classes, while year 2 through 5 have 6 classes, year 6 has 4 classes and year 7 through 10 only has one or two, your area of specialty. Teachings of those classes typically start at 7 am and lasts until 6 pm. Every 7th day is off.

Year 1: Cantrips, History of Magic, Practical Magic

Year 2: Cantrips, History of Magic, Practical Magic, Monsters, Evocation, Abjuration

Year 3: Monsters, Evocation, Abjuration, History, Making potions, Transmutation

Year 4: History, Making potions, Transmutation, Enchantment, Necromancy, Arcane Knowledge

Year 5: Enchantment, Necromancy, Arcane Knowledge, Conjuration, Making Scrolls, Divination

Year 6: Conjuration, Making Scrolls, Divination, Illusion

Year 7-10: Area of specialty

If you wish to visit the Academy, you need to head to Lochhurst and go down to the harbor. There you will find a guy named Remus who has a boat and can sail you out to the island. Taking your own boat just won't do. Many have tried, but Cruul, as mentioned earlier, is a magical island, and so far, it seems that it is impossible to find, unless you sail with Remus. Many have tried and failed. Allegedly, following Remus' boat won't do the trick either, as it always seems to disappear from sight at the most inopportune moment.

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Lockhurst

Size

34.000 inhabitants (halfling 10%, dragonborn 10%, elf 5%, dwarf 3%, gnome 3%, half-elf 3%, half-orc 3% and tieflings 1%)

Leader

Warlord Enry Kammel

Coat of Arms

Black Dragon on blue parchment

Known Power Players

Marlin the Archmage, the [Council of Peers]

Location

Lochhurst is located next to the Dragon Lake, in the central part of the Seven Army Nation.

First impressions

Lochhurst is a busy city. A lot of noise from carts. Many small canals and thus bridges. The city is surrounded by 60 ft spiked walls, held together by massive 90' iron towers, through which you need to pass through in order to enter the city. At entrance, guards check all wagons and goods. Like most other big cities, humans are in majority, but just so. There are however many extraordinarily many dragonborns in Lochhurst.

History

After the Second Demon War, five famous adventurers, the [Brotherhood of the Dragon], arrived here in 5701 and spent an obscene amount of gold building five luxurious estates in the ruins of an ancient city that had been almost completely destroyed during the war. As the small communities grew up around the five estates, they discovered that they were not alone. An ancient black dragon called Urtho'rak lived at the bottom of the Dragon Lake, and now that he had awoken after sleeping through the Second Demon War, he wanted his share of the Brotherhood's riches. In the end however, the Brotherhood won that war, and Urtho'rak was killed. Eventually, the communities grew together and formed a city, each community becoming a ward.

Square in the middle of Lochhurst, you will find a huge statue of Eletha. It is there to honor the work she did in stopping the holy war of 5779 between the Church of Bane and Bahamut.

Religion

The four dominant religions in Lochhurst are Torm, Mystra, Bahamut and Shar.

Now

Regional trendsetter of art, culture and litterature (It has one of the largest libraries, run by the priests of Mystra, called the Art of Knowledge.

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Summoning demons & devils

Demons and devils were once like you and me, but an eternity in Hell has changed them. Not just physically, but mentally. Do not try to summon demons and devils. Do not try to understand them. But most of all, never ever make a pact with them. You always end up dead, your soul forever cursed to replenish the infernal armies of Hell.

Most people equate the act of summoning a devil or demon with powerful mages and spells like Gate or Planar ally. While this is certainly true, it is also true that many besides powerful mages and clerics can attempt to summon the extra-planar creatures.

The details of how and why are sketchy at best and not always accessible to everyone, as the information is jealously guarded by sages, cultists, warlocks, witches, sorcerers, shamans and the like.

Usually the act involves a summoning symbol of some kind (such as a pentagram), a lot of salt, a number of black candles, a handful or two of rare herbs and incenses, some invocations spoken in infernal/abyssal, quite a lot of death and the true name of the devil/demon. Also worth noting that certain items can further facilitate the success of the ritual. Especially a sacrificial dagger made of silver/bone/cold iron and/or a sacrificial dagger made of bone can help a lot.

But there are exceptions of course. For example, it is said that a box containing certain items (picture of you, graveyard dirt and a bone from a black cat amongst others) buried in the middle of a dirt crossroad at midnight will summon a demon with the intent purpose of striking a pact regarding your soul.

The Afterlife

Even amongst the most knowledgable of mortals, little is known of the whys and hows of the afterlife of Gemnos, but this much is known.

When a creature dies, its soul travels to the Underworld or it has sold its soul, in which case it goes directly to Hell. Sages speculate that this is why demons and devils work so hard to corrupt mortals. By striking a deal with a mortal, they bypass the 100 years of negotiations and possibly also steal souls they wouldn't have gotten otherwise. The only other exception to this is when a creature is killed by Destruction or Disintegrate, in which case the soul is also destroyed.

After the ten days of traveling through the veil, the soul arrives in the Underworld. Why it takes a soul 10 days to pierce the veil, no one knows, but those 10 days is the window during which a soul can be brought back by the use of Raise Dead. It is however impossible to contact a soul while it is passing through the veil.

Then, for the next 100 years, the soul will roam the Underworld as an incorporeal ghost, during which time Heaven and Hell will bargain with Cyric for it. If the soul has unfinished business, it will usually already be able to pierce the veil and return from time to time to the mortal world and haunt it.

At the end of the 100 years, the soul will either become as a creature of the Underworld (and possibly continue to haunt the mortal world) or travel to Heaven or Hell and be reborn there. It is during those 100 years that a creature can be brought back to life by the use of Resurrection and contacted using Speak with Dead. Once a creature is reborn, nothing short of divine intervention or True Resurrection will enable someone bring it back to life. Even with True Resurrection, there is little to do once the soul has grown used to its new body, something which happens another 100 years down the line.

Ironville Crossing

Size
26.000 inhabitants (halfling 10%, elf 5%, dwarf 3%, gnome 3%, half-elf 2%, half-orc 3%, dragonborn 1% and tieflings 1%)

Leader
Warlord Sophie Ran

Coat of Arms
Boar on green cloth


Known Power Players
House of Nobles

Location
Ironville is located on the Iron Isle, an island in the middle of the Yokar river, in the central part of the Seven Army Nation.

First impressions
Being located on island in a river makes Ironville a bit different from other cities of the same size. Only 600 meters from the northern to the southern wall, the city is more than 3 kilometers from its westernmost to its easternmost point.

The city is dotted with many large manors, belonging to the noble families of Ironville Crossing. All entrances and exits in town go through ancient stone towers made by dwarves.

Six gargantuan bridges span the river, connecting the Iron Isle to the mainland, both to the north and the south.

History
Back before anything was ever built on Iron Isle, the place acted as meeting place for local villages. Leaders met here, with a mutual agreement that it was a place of peace. Eventually a city was built here, but it was, as most other cities, destroyed during the Second Demon War.

When people returned, after the Second Demon War, many of the first settlers claimed nobility, and before long, the growing city had more than 200 noble families. Power struggles filled the day-to-day agenda for almost 20 years, until Ragan Thork emerged and took the mantle as Warlord. Since then, the warlord of Ironville Crossing has always had to deal with the many noble families running the city.

Back in the day, when the city had not yet had it's city walls rebuilt, the then settlement was threatened by the now extinct Bloodtusk Orcs from Oakwood. The settlement was saved by the ranger Trenigar, who not only fought like a demon asking the green-skinned menace, but single-handedly slew their war-chief and then infiltrated their lair and killed their elders and shamans, putting an end to any plans of expansion they may have had. A 30' foot tall marble statue of Trenigar stands at the Main gate.

Bane used to have a strong presence in the city, but following the Bane-Bahamut Holy War in 5779,  riots occurred and the temple, which had survived the Second Demon War was torn down, after the clergy fled the city. The Temple ground is now considered cursed and still stands in ruins, in the middle of the city, 80 years later.

Religion
Since the Holy War, the three main churches in Ironville have been Torm, Lathander and Bahamut.

Now

Even though the number of noble families has been set at 100, the remaining still wield considerable power and influence. Or so they used to. It seems that Sophie Ran only feints listening to the House of Nobles and usually with her mind already made up. This does not make the nobles happy, but with the army loyal to a fault, no one dares moving against her at the moment. 

House of Nobles

The House of Nobles, or just the House for short, has been the main advisory voice to the warlords of Ironville Crossing. Each of the 100 noble families has a seat there, and they meet once a week to discuss where Ironville is heading and what can be done. Whatever they agree and vote on, is presented to the Warlord.

Traditionally most warlords have always been present at these proceedings, but according to word on the street, Sophie Ran has yet to show her face in the Mandate, which is the name of the building where the meetings are held.

The meetings, which are famous for sometimes lasting days, when tempers are hot, are otherwise closed to the public.

Session 13

Day 60

After going early to sleep, Chavron, Arath, Petyr and Nevron get up in the middle of the night to thwart the supposed magical attack that is coming. The golems are hidden in the Big Boobs Barn, while the four defenders lurk nearby and wait.

Around 4 am, a portal (Arcane Gate) opens up on the wall, and Starkhold soldiers flood the ramparts. Chavron, Arath, Petyr and Nevron strike back, while the golems block the enemies from getting down from the wall. As the ramparts fill up, and all seem under control, a wizard comes through the gate, closes it and opens another one, this time from the wall directly to the balcony of the palace. Soldiers from the wall storm through, quickly followed by most of the defenders, minus two golems and Nevron who are left behind.

The battle is moved to the palace, where Chavron, Arath, Petyr and Nevron manage to deal with the mage and the Starkhold soldiers before they kill Lord Delacroix and Jaren Sunwell, the elven council-member.

They are obviously very happy with Chavron, Arath, Petyr and Nevron. But Delacroix also admits to them that Ashfield probably won't hold. They need our heroes to head to Ironville and strike a deal with Sophie Ran. Delacroix would go himself, but doubt he would be able to make the trip alive. Our heroes seem to be Ashfield's only hope. However, an alliance is worth nothing if Ashfield is taken or sacked.

They have located and identified one or more of the immediate leaders of the Starkhold army. They reside in an old mill, reachable by Arcane Gate, which they have two scrolls off. So Chavron, Arath, Petyr and Nevron have Charming Charlie open the gate and our heroes sneak from the forest to the mill. Disguised as Starkhold soldiers, they bluff the guards and make them leave. They enter the mill and face the leader, his pyromancer and his bodyguard. After a long and close fight, they manage to kill the enemies. Unfortunately, when Nevron attempts to open a gate from mill's roof, the spell fails. Instead they have to sneak back.

Random Rules

Effect of Surprise. A creature that is surprised cannot move or take actions until after its first turn in the battle.

Moving Around Other Creatures. You can’t move through an enemy’s space unless it is two sizes larger or smaller than you. In contrast, you can move through an ally’s space, but you can’t stop there.

Instant Death. Massive damage can kill you instantly. When damage reduces you to 0 hit points and there is damage remaining, you die if the remaining damage equals or exceeds your hit point maximum.

Moving Diagonally. Entering a square diagonally costs 11⁄2 squares of movement. This rule means you must have at least 2 squares of movement left to enter your first square diagonally, and every 2 squares you move diagonally uses up 3 squares of movement.

Charge: To charge, you choose a target that is at least 10 feet away from you. You move up to half your speed to a position where that target is within your reach, and then you make a melee attack against it. After the attack, your turn ends.

The Effects of Being Stable. A stable creature doesn’t make death rolls, even though it has 0 hit points, but it does remain unconscious. The creature stops being stable, and must start making death rolls again, if it takes any damage. A stable creature that is not healed regains 1 hit point after 1d4 hours.

Longer Casting Times. Certain spells require more time to cast: minutes or even hours. If you take damage while you are casting a spell that requires more than a single action or reaction, you must succeed on a Constitution saving throw to continue casting the spell. The DC equals half the damage you just took. If you take damage from multiple sources, such as from an arrow and a dragon’s breath, you make a saving throw against each source of damage separately. If you fail the save, the spell fails, but it is not expended. If you want to cast the spell again, you must start over.

Session 12

Day 58

The next day, the Starkhold army, which is now encircling the town of Ashfield, launches it's first attacks. It manages to break a hole in the south-western wall, but our heroes quickly arrive and make the difference in a long and drawn-out battle, which ends when they push back or kill all those who have come through, and order the golems to plug the hole .

Day 59

Later, during the night, Arath and Nevron sneak out of town, in order to magical compel some info from the enemy and also have them destroy as many siege engines and catapults as possible. Unfortunately, they prove very resistant (or lucky) to the magical suggestions of Nevron, and while 4 catapults are destroyed, it is far too little to make a difference. They do however learn a couple of interesting pieces of info. The next night, a magical attack is coming, and after Ashfield, the army's plan is to head east towards Ironville Crossing. They also learn that the enemy knows of the golems and the wand that controls it.

Once back in Ashfield, after getting a fake wand made, to fool the Starkhold army, they go check on Elias, as he has been missing for a couple of days. They suspect he is somehow involved with the magical attack or the acquisition of the wand.

They find the Twins' Church locked and guarded, but Nevron convinces the guards to let them in.

Inside, they find Elias is sitting, naked in the light of 4 candles, with blood flowing from his eyes.

I have been chosen. The Twins have taken an interest in you and chosen me as the method of communication. Now I see.

He then starts to convulse and continues, with an odd voice:

 Four things will define your greatness.

The army in the shadows that wants to rule mankind.

The deadly trio that will cover the world in plague and ruin.

The forgotten one that wants to destroy the world.

And your death at the hands of an ally.

Elias then wakes up…

Someone get me a cigar..

Naturally, the heroes are quite surprised by this, but also skeptical. However when Elias offers to answer any questions they may have in a Zone of Truth, they relax somewhat.

They hurry back to get some sleep, before the supposed magical attack.

Session 11

Day 57

The northern part of Ashfield is under attack, and Navron, Chevron and Arath have been asked by Lord Michael Delacroix to rescue his son, who is trapped up there. Not only is he  his son, but also privy to a lot of information about the town and it's army.

Imbued with Water Breathing by Charming Charlie, the three friends walk across the river floor and emerge in the northern part, which is in chaos. The Starkhold army is getting picked up by boats, while the town is burning. From the screams, lots of people seem to have been imprisoned in the burning buildings. Seems uncharacteristically brutal, considering José Stark's reputation.

Navron, Chevron and Arath pass through the town in disguise, finding Delacroix' town house, which is burning. Arath rescues the son who is inside, trapped beneath burning debris. He is grateful, but has a broken leg and thus movement is slow.

Somehow their cover is broken and they more or less have to fight their way from the house through a burning town to the harbor, which is now almost empty. They jump into a boat and row back to their own forces, wondering why the Starkhold army doesn't attack from the water, but instead seem determined to encircle the town to the south.