Game-Summaries:7/12/2019 Recollections

Recollections by Jeroy

Rezik has taken my dreams and passed them off as reality. We still need to fix the crescent blade and I feel I now can. I have become a wizard. No one believes in me, even Cordite doesn't think I can do this. But I know I can, I have developed incredible powers.

This is Cordite, Jeroy is not well. I found this excerpt from his report of our recent mission. I don't know what is wrong but he is not the same person that went into the underdark. I was around for all of the following events, but from what I was told by Zanna, Kaylorr, and Rezik this is what unfolded yesterday.

The evening after trying to resurrect Halisstra. Jeroy approaches Zanna's room, pushes open the door without knocking. Zanna is looking at trinkets from house black and fighting back tears.

"OhHeyJeroy,Don'tMindMeI'mFine. HowAreYouDoingAfterThatMission. PrettyCrazyRight?" She says fighting to keep her sunny disposition.

"The mission isn't over. Where is the Crescent blade? I can break the curse." He responds coldly. Zanna, confused by the statement, motions to a blade placed on a shelf on her wall. "I'm keeping it her, but we already..." But before she can finish Jeroy summons a mage hand to grab the blade and float it over to himself. Zanna tries to grab the blade from the air but Jeroy creates a shower of sparks into her face. She covers her eyes long enough for Jeroy to make a run down the hallway with the Crescent blade floating beside him in the mage hand.

"JEROY!COMEBACK!" Zanna yells from her door. Rezik and Kaylorr poke their heads out of their rooms.

"What was that about?" Kaylorr asks.

"JeroyJustStoleTheCrescentBladeAndSaidSomethingAboutBreakingTheCurse." Zanna responds.
"Lord Dyrr did that already. I remember because he almost killed Jeroy before he did it. Jeroy should probably remember that." Rezik says as he turns to go back to his room.
"IDon'tThinkHeGotTheMessage. He'sBeenActingWeirdEverSinceWeGotBack." Zanna says.
"Let's see what this is about" Kaylorr says with a heavy sigh as he pulls his cape over his shoulders.
From down the hall a flash of sparks is seen from around the corner. Jeroy yells out "I CAN FIX IT, YOU HAVE TO TRUST ME!" He is then seen running back down the hallway towards the group. Cordite appears chasing after him. "Jeroy! STOP!" She yells.
Jeroy sprints down the hallway back towards Zanna, Kaylorr, and Rezik. The crescent blade floating next to him in stride. He has fire in his eyes and he charges straight for the group. Rezik begins to pull something out of his spell pouch, "I think I can take care of this" he says smugly.
Jeroy flicks his hand and as Rezik pulls his hand from his spell pouch he sees a tarantula in his palm, he pulls back his hand quickly "What the hell?" as he sees Jeroy charge past them. A small piece of iron falls by Rezik's side.
"Since when can he do that?" Kaylorr says to Zanna.
"HalisstraGrantedUsSomeOfTheBard'sSpells." She responds.
Cordite finally catches up to the group. "We have to stop Jeroy. He thinks he's a wizard now and can break the curse on the blade. Something is wrong." She says through gasps for air. "I've never seen him like this."
"Well, the charging and running is kind of on brand. He's probably fine." Rezik says taking a step back to his room.
Zanna grabs his shoulder "He'sUsingMagic. That'sAsOffBrandAsItGetsForHim."
"He keeps saying that's he's a wizard." Cordite adds.
With another heavy sigh Kaylorr turns in the direction Jeroy ran past the group. "Alright let's go."
The group sees Jeroy run out of the keep into the training ground, he looks over his shoulder to see if he is being followed. As he turns around Cordite casts out spike growth in the ground before him, he becomes entangled and trips to the ground as he lets out of loud scream. As he stands back up the group has time to catch up. "Jeroy - what are you doing? Lord Dyrr broke the curse already when…" Rezik says with a level of apathy to the situation. Jeroy cuts Rezik off before he can finish.
"NO! No he didn't and you need to stop lying to everyone. I told you he did in my dream and you went around telling the whole Order as if you were the hero of the day. BUT HE DIDN'T, HE COULDN'T HAVE! Halisstra came to me last night and gave me the power to fix the curse. SHE GAVE IT TO ME! I WILL SAVE HER!" He turns to the Crescent blade next to him, still floating beside him in his mage hand. "DO YOU SEE? I can control the blade without the curse hurting me. I have the ability to save her." The blade dances around Jeroy making elegant cuts and spins.
Zanna takes a cautious step forward towards Jeroy. "JeroyWeDidSaveHer, WeDidBreakTheCurse. YouWereThereAndYouHelped." She says as slowly as she is actually capable of.
"Barely, if it wasn't for me Lord Dyrr would have.." Rezik begins to say under his breath as Zanna uses her mage hand to close his mouth. She turns to him "NotTheTimeRezik!"
"Lord Dyrr did nothing. He didn't venture to save her and hasn't been here to help us break the curse. Halisstra showed me what needs to be done" He takes a deep breath and turns towards the blade. "I CAN DO THIS!"
"Jeroy we did…"Kaylorr begins.
Jeroy turns back to the group as he cuts him off with a barbaric scream, he enters a rage (1) as the sword falls to the ground behind him. He veins bulge from his chest, neck, and face. He is filled with a rage those have never seen before. "STOP DOUBTING ME!" He screams back as he extends his arms towards the group with his fingers outstretched. But nothing happens. Jeroy looks quickly to his hands, clenches his fists and extends them again with another barbaric scream but nothing happens. Jeroy in shock stares at his hands and turn back to see the Crescent blade on the ground behind him, he extends his hand to the blade to lift it with mage hand but nothing moves. He falls to his knees over the blade, his shoulders sulk around him and he begins to let out a small whimper.
"I'm not okay." He says softly as the group approaches. Zanna takes back the Crescent blade and sheaths it on her belt. "WeKnowJeroy. WeCanHelp." She says.

Recollections by Rezik

Halisstra is gone, but not totally gone. We've learned that she's been turned into the Lady Penitent by Lolth. She's in immense pain, covered in poison but unable to die. Lolth has been using her to hunt down and kill priests of Vhaeraun and Eilistraee. Our friends have decided to help bring her back - if that's even possible.

We all met up - Ford, Jeroy, Tallulah, and Zanna. It would start with Tel. We'd have to speak with him and see what we could learn - our thinking being that maybe we could convince him to come with us.

When we found Tel, he wasn't too happy about our plans. He thought we were crazy (which is a terrifying thought). He told us we would need to find the Sword of Eilistraee - the Crescent Blade. He believed the blade had been cursed, which is what was keeping Halisstra as the Lady Penitent. Tel thought that by breaking the curse, we could free Halisstra—potentially.

We asked him how we could find the sword. He seemed to shudder and then answered that Wendonai had it. We don't really know much about Wendonai, but he seems to scare Tel - so that tells us enough.

We were finally able to convince Tel to join us and guide us to the entrance to the Demon Web Pits, which is where Wendonai keeps his lair and hopefully the Crescent Blade.

We started by raiding the Vault. We knew it would be a difficult journey and fight, we needed to be prepared.

Leaving for the Underdark

Once we were ready, we teleported to the Nightshade Kingdom and made our way through the Well of Souls. Jeroy gave up a memory for payment to pass through the Kingdom. It was something about his dad. Didn't seem very important, he can tell the story.

As we reach the Well of Souls, we jump through it and enter the Underdark. Tel starts to guide us towards the Demon Web and tells us a little more about our journey.

Note: Tel lets me know that I can actually teach Gramph how to Polymorph herself. I teach her how to cast the spell and now she can take the shape of a 9 year old girl. I feel bad for anyone that decides to unsuspectingly pick on her.

Joining a New Religion?

It turns out that we'll have to pass through the Vast Oblivion, an area owned by Karazikar. Karazikar is a powerful beholder that has started his own religion and has been gaining power. Apparently we have to pass through the Vast Oblivium because I burned down some spider bridge last time we came through here - I'll try to be more careful next time - maybe - probably not.

As we passed through a cave, we noticed that the cave had a bunch of eyes chalked on them. Ford and Zanna let us know that this is usually a message to let people know that this area is claimed - in this instance by Karazikar. When we exit the cave, we come up to the bridge that crosses a limitless chasm. Tel let's us know that this is Karazikar's Maw - that Karazikar himself carved this out.

We start to cross the bridge when suddenly a person that seems human appears on the other side. He begins floating towards us, with his cape billowing. He has ten eyes tattooed on his head and is holding a large staff that seems to have been fashioned out of a beholder stalk.

He keeps us from passing beyond the bridge until we promise to give our life in service to Karazikar. We decide to let the man know we're interested in joining the religion - at which point he begins to yell "KARAZIKAR WE HAVE NEW SUPPLICANTS!". As he's yelling, we decide to continue on. He didn't seem too keen on following us - we find out why in a few moments.

Nice to Meet You Karazikar

Once we reach the other side of the bridge, we walked through a cave and enter a giant room. When we enter the room, we suddenly notice a giant Beholder descending on us from above - Karazikar had appeared.

Note: Be wary of what Ford tells you.

Ford takes the lead in our conversation with Karazikar. Convincing him that we have information about something called the "Maze Engine," but that we need to get to Halisstra for all the info. That seemed to work, and Karazikar allowed us to pass, assuming we promised to return with information about this "Maze Engine."

As we continued on to the Demon Web Pits, we asked Tel about the "Maze Engine." He seemed to only know about the legends around it. Apparently the demon lords are creating the maze engine which traps people, but may be for something more; the theory is that the maze engine can alter reality.

Note: Learn more about the Maze Engine

After walking through the Underdark for a few more hours, we finally reach a cavern that seemed to glow red. Tel let us know that this was where we needed to be. When we entered the cavern, we noticed that there was a shaft leading down. We descended into the cavern and found that we had come to a giant expanse. As we reached the expanse, we heard a loud voice, "who DARES enter my domain?"

Wendonai the Balrog

We had found ourselves face to face with Wendonai. We knew why Tel was afraid of him now. Wendonai was a balrog. Ford answered Wendonai's question. He tried to convince Wendonai that we had come with information about a threat - that Karazikar was coming to attack Wendonai.

Note: Don't say a deities' name unless you want them to hear what you say - no matter how little power they actually have.

As we were talking to Wendonai, Karazikar appeared above us shouting - "You liars!". Ford took this moment to reinforce his ruse, making it extremely believable that Karazikar had just come to attack Wendonai.

Wendonai turned on Karazikar and with our help we were able to dispatch Karazikar.

We had hoped that once Karazikar was downed, we would be able to negotiate with Wendonai, but that didn't happen. Wendonai quickly turned on us. It was an extremely difficult battle.

When we thought we were just about to finish it, Wendonai pulled out the Crescent Blade. Suddenly the fight became that much more difficult - we started being assaulted with spells like Power Word: Kill and Finger of Death. The blade truly is a magnificent artifact.

In the end, we were victorious. Tallulah had to be revived and each of us were badly battered, but we were able to get out of the cavern with the blade.

Removing the Curse

We attempted to dispel the curse on the blade, but we couldn't. It seems like the spells Tel thought would work, didn't. We decided to take the blade back to the keep and figure out our next steps from there.

Our return was uneventful until we reached the keep. Tel informed us that we would be expecting a guest that could help. That guest would be Dyrr.

After exchanging pleasantries, Tel convinces Dyrr to break the curse on the blade. Dyrr picks it up and lets us know that he believes the curse is Orcus' work - Lolth seems to have a new ally.

Note: Lolth and Orcus working together, research this.

Dyrr casts a Wish spell to break the curse, draining him entirely, and leading the blade to shatter and reform. The spell left Dyrr extremely weakened, but it seemed like it worked and the curse was broken.

The Strange Dream

That night something strange happened - I dreamt. Halisstra imparted her last memory as a mortal, showing us how Lolth had tricked her into killing priests of Eilistraee and in the process she ended up killing Eilistraee herself.

It was in that moment that Corellon appeared and forgave Halisstra, and all of the Drow and opened the doors of Arvandor to the dark elves.

Corellon then sat down at a table across from Lolth, taking Eilistraee's seat in the game of Sava she and Lolth were already playing.

The next morning in the Great Hall, an apparition of Halisstra appeared. It looked like her, but somehow different. She began to thank us for our help, her voice sounded musical, like a chorus speaking in harmonious unison.

She then granted us a boon, sharing some of her power with us. It was in this moment that I realized, Halisstra had ascended into Eilistraee's place and she was now the new goddess of song & dance.