Editing Game-Summaries:11/2/2019 Recollections (section)

==Recollections by Rezik==
It all started because of Jeroy and his fascination with the Horn of Valhalla. He keeps muttering about his ancestors - I really don't understand it. He wanted to go back to the Vault of Night, enter the Plane of Night and confront Velah. We knew she was a red dragon of some power, but felt fairly confident in our abilities to at least stir the pot and learn more from her.


We started at the Bogwater Tavern, an old tavern we knew she frequented with Arak. It turns out she hadn't visited in awhile, but she had been there looking for something or someone.


Since that turned into a dead end, we knew we just had to go back to the Vault and start our journey through the portal to the Plane of Night. I teleported us all to the Vault and just outside the portal Jeroy found a small envelope. 


The note had a handwritten message “Velah hasn't taken another mate since she killed Ashardalon. She refuses to sell me another egg, and so you of the Eternal Order owe me one.”


That name Ashardalon was familiar to me. He was known as the father of all red dragons. Looks like Mordenkainnen, wants another dragon egg. (He's probably not too happy now). 


We decided to tuck away the note and continue on. 


As we entered the Plane of Night, we saw a limitless expanse. There was a pathway through the middle leading to a giant dome blocked of by a violet force field. It sounded like Velah was sleeping in the center of the dome.


On the two sides there were two puzzles. Pearl and I went to the right and attempted the puzzle. There were a series of lit tiles that we had to turn on. As we stepped on each, a pattern appeared. At the same time, while we worked on the puzzle, we were continually inundated by Mephits. 


We were able to solve our puzzle, but the other group was suddenly swarmed by Mephits. They worked to solve their puzzle, but not before taking a heavy toll. 


We made our way to the center dome and suddenly, we realized that Velah was no longer sleeping. Instead, she was awake and stalking us. 


As we entered the room and walked up the main area, she quickly attacked me. It seemed like all options for a diplomatic resolution were gone. The battle erupted in earnest now. 


During the battle, we realized that Velah didn't act like a regular red dragon. Our preparations for fire did not help us. Instead, we realized that Velah was actually a psychic gem dragon. 


When we realized this we attempted to stop the battle and negotiate with her. We learned that the dragonshards were her eggs, and that she had been selling them. We attempted to procure some from her, as a gesture of good will - agreeing to purchase some. 


We had hoped that the transaction would lead us to a conversation and alliance; however instead, she told us to kneel to her and that she would not work with us in the upcoming battle. 


Knowing that she could be swayed to our enemies, we gave her one last chance to change her mind and show that she could be interested in joining or even exploring alliance, but instead she rebuffed us. 


We had no alternative, but to keep her from falling to the other side. It was a long battle, but in the end we were victorious. She shouldn't have underestimated us and she should've taken the moment to explore an alliance. Her death is on her actions. 


We explored her hoard to see what had been stored here. As we searched, we found a series of items and gold - I'm sure someone will write out a ledger.  The most interesting piece was within Velah herself. It was her rib, that had become the Horn of Valhalla. 


I'm not excited about how this ended, but am happy that this quest is done. I've learned from our experience with Coin and now Velah; that this evil is becoming part of us and that for us to win, we'll need to do things we didn't expect that we were capable of. It means running headlong into what needs to be done, sometimes, regardless of the ethics or morals. We truly are entering a time where the ends justify the means. 


Items:
* Arcane Scrolls - Earthquake, Anti Magic Field and Enhance Ability 
* Darkwood Shield - Sentient  
* Heavy Steel Shield +3 - Exceptionally well made  
* Wand - Spell similar to Conjure Animals  
* Hide Armor +2 - Sentient  
* Tattoo - Peeled from someone’s flesh 

Wealth:
* 37,000 gold
* 29,000 platinum