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• Restored and rested, the party returns back to Castle Darkmoon
• The party finds an unholy room (with the symbol of Sarenthar, evil god of healing, viciousness, and trolls) on the floor
• Ari sees a pedestal with an evil book upon it
• Calling upon her goddess, she asks if touching it would do any good; the goddess tries to speak to her faithful cleric, but the evil that emanates from the room, prevents the entire messages from reaching Ari
• By touching the book, she had managed to cleanse the unholy room; however, the consequence her goddess had tried to warn her of, was that, those souls who died in this room and had no body to return to, would be stuck forever in her mind
• The plus side, Bodrag’s soul returned to his body, restoring his life
• The horrors within Castle Darkmoon continue to plague the players as they entered a Guest Room within the castle and discovered a Cloaker within the room, that had taken up residence, appearing to be a cloak on a hanger
• After the defeat of the Cloaker, the party moved on and eventually found Omen, chained to a wall, his once dark flesh, now turned white
• He was alive, but unconscious, seemingly drained of most of his life
• The party notices that all the mirrors in this magnificent room are shattered, and manage to figure out that this is Prince Darkmoon’s room.
• The door suddenly slams shut, and a misty form enters the room and takes the shape of Prince Darkmoon himself
• The party also notices a strange glowing stone is in this room (that is not the Water Stone)
• The party fights with Prince Darkmoon, and the battle is long and hard, as Darkmoon seemingly heals from many of the wounds he receives
• The party finally defeats Darkmoon, and Tenjii goes to loot the treasure chest at the foot of the bed, only to discover it’s a mimic
• The party fights, and defeats the mimic
• The party finds the Water Stone on the dead body of Prince Darkmoon and takes it
• They also take the mysterious glowing stone in his room, which sends the castle, sinking once again into the swamp
• The party, rather than running down the stairs, realizes their only way out is through the window, and each of them jumps clear as the castle sinks into the mud
• Just before it sinks, they see the female spirit from the fountain on top, sad, that her body was not discovered, and magically sealed, from preventing even her soul to escape into Ari’s mind, like the others had, and that she remains bound to cursed castle
• The party also discovered that the small town, outside of Castle Darkmoon, that they had taken refuge in, was nothing more than a part of the very ghost town and village that had once been a part of Castle Darkmoon; and with Castle Darkmoon, sunken back into the swamps, the town too, also vanished; for it was never truly there to begin with; merely spirits, trapped by the evil of Castle Darkmoon

• With the third stone recovered, their liberated slave, who had taken a liking to traveling with them, nick named by the party as Free, suddenly seemed much more coherent and excited. He spoke of his eagerness to gather the fourth and final stone – the Earth stone
• The party traveled west, further into the swamp, seeking the Lizard People, who once possessed the Earth stone
• The party found itself attacked by a argos; with hundreds of mouths and eyes, and eventually managed to defeat the unusual creature; the voices in Ari’s head continued to scream until the creature was defeated
• After some difficult traveling in the swamp, it became progressively more and more difficult to move, and the party sought a dry place to make camp
• The Ranger left to find some dryer land, but became disoriented in the unusual swamp and found a small stream, where shimmering crystals, that gave off a prismatic effect seemed to pour out from the mouth of a cave; the river, perhaps gave life to unusually large mushrooms that stood nearly six feet tall, on both sides of the shore
• Meanwhile, the rest of the party had managed to find a very small dry piece of land, to try and make a camp; however, they soon spotted ten figures rapidly moving towards them
• Bodrag fired his crossbow twice, and struck whatever it was that was coming towards them, which only hurried their advance
• It was no long before they found themselves under attack by Bullywogs; all of them focusing their attack on the greatest (physical) threat present, which was Bodrag
• These did not seem like the simple Bullywogs, that most spoke of; they seemed much stronger, much more lethal
• Though they had managed to do considerable damage to Bodrag, they were eventually forced to flee
• Meanwhile, Argo discovered that the mushrooms around the lake were not simply mushrooms, but Myconid, which warned him of the dangers within the cave itself. With the help of the Myconid, Argo was able to return to the rest of the party and tell them what he found
• The party moved to the mouth of the cave, where they took a rest. During Luna’s watch, one of the stones revealed itself as a Galeb Duhr, and like the Myconid, gave her the same warning of the dangers within the cave; but the Earth Stone they sought was also within the cave
• After a night’s rest, the party moved inside the cave and walked up a short incline where there was a massive underground lake; with a small stone island in the center
• Luna sent her bird, River to scout the interior and as she flew, she lost contact and her connection to River was suddenly sundered; even as Omen sent his owl to the center, and saw it land – then it too, lost connection to Omen
• The party split up with Argo and Tenjii going left, Omen and Bodrag going right, and Ari and Luna remaining at the center
• A creature reared up on the right hand side, turning Argo to stone; Tenjii used her boots of speed and fled, warning Luna and Ari of the creature in the lake, then making her way around to Bodrag and Omen, to warn them and tell Omen, who had the ability to reverse such effects to come with her to undo what’s been done to Argo
• As they ran back, the creature surfaced and managed to catch Luna in its gaze, and turned her to stone as well
• Omen reversed the effect on Argo, then ran back – and while doing so, spotted a line that went from the wall to the island in the center
• Omen reversed the effect on Luna, who then used her spiritual connection with nature to summon the spirit of a giant lizard to attack the creature in the lake
• While the creature in the lake was preoccupied, the party moved to the line and (with some difficulty with Bodrag) managed to make it to the center of the island
• It was there, they found both River and Omen’s owl had been turned to stone; once again, using the ancient rune magic, Omen reversed its effects
• In the very center of the island, stairs led down to a shimmering doorway
• Passing through the doorway rendered Argo, Tenjii and Omen unconscious; after some time they were able to be awakened
• They were in a small cavern, all of it’s stones, walls, everything was purple; even the small lake ahead of them, had purple water
• Omen realized that they were in a different dimension now; and the voices in Ari’s head warned her of danger
• While the party investigated the small cavern that they were seemingly trapped in, Bodrag made his way to the water and noticed that the Earth Stone was out in the lake, on a podium
• He moved slowly, using his sword to stab at the stone and water, but as he got close; something seized his mind and directed him to attack Tenjii
• He moved quickly and before the others could realize what had happened, his sword cut deep into Tenjii
• Ari used a Hold Person to stop him, and Omen added a Sleep spell, which rendered him unconscious, and severed the bond of whatever had held him, when he was awakened
• Omen used a Spider Climb spell and began scaling the wall towards the Earth Stone, while Tenjii used her roguish ability that allowed her to mimic the Spider Climb
• As they made their way, Omen’s mind was seized, and he suddenly stopped mid climb; believing he was back at Guardstone, having just arrived, free of being a slave of the Mind Rippers
• Luna used her magic to raise the stone in the water, revealing an enormous, but sinister cat-fish looking creature known as an Aboleth
• The party managed to defeat the Aboleth and Tenjii was able to recover the Earth Stone
• When she returned to shore, Free suddenly appeared before them
• His eyes are alive and shining; and the once deranged man, now stands before you, youthful, strong and hopeful. “You have acquired the fourth and final stone. It is time I show you what you have been after, and how you will shape the future of the world.”He snaps his fingers, and you seem to be standing in a room with no ceiling, walls, or even floor – as if you were standing in the heavens themselves, with darkness and stars all around you. “You have gathered the four stones. Now, I will tell you who I am. I am not this man,” he gestures to himself, “that you see before you. Once, long ago, Bargledar, God of the Gnomes, sought to imitate Jarisfargen, God of the Dwarves, skill using Jarisfargen’s Forge, without permission from Jarisfargen. Bargledar’s lack of knowledge and skill, broke a piece of the Great Star, and sent it plunging to the world. Bargledar, fearful of being reprimanded for his error, touched gnomes with the desire to ‘recover all gems’ and also granted them with the wisdom and desire to great inventions, so that one day, when the fractured fallen star was gathered together, that they could one day, fly it to the heavens and repair the Great Star.” Free paused for a moment, “The fractured jewel from the Great Star struck with such force that it slammed deep into a mountain and was recovered by the Dark Elves, already powerful in the ways of Dark Ritualistic Magic. They used their magic to extract the magic from it; ripping it apart into four stones of nature – Earth, Wind, Fire, Water – the very elements required to make life. They realized then, that they had tapped into something of the Gods – and used their magical energies to channel the elements of life to form a being that they could speak to and learn from – to unlock greater magic.”Free paused for a moment, then removed his shirt, revealing four gaps in his chest. “I am that person they created,” Free finally said. “Those stones, all belong in me. When I refused to tell the Mages the secret of the gods, I was tortured. They tortured me relentlessly; and when I felt I was about to finally break, I knew the only way to save the secret of the gods, was to shatter my own mind, with what little power I had. Once they knew that they could get nothing more from me, they released me in the Underworld, assuming, in my condition I would die. Little did they know, I could not die. When killed, I would rise again, days later, in the place I had died, my mind worse for it, each time. As I understand it, when the Mind Flayers seized the home of the Dark Elves, some of the Mages grabbed the stones and teleported away. However, such powerful magic, drew powerful enemies, and soon, the stones fell out of the possession of the Dark Elves, and were scattered about the world.”

  “One eventually ended up among the Cloud Giant, the Air Stone; one ended up with the Fire Giants, the Fire Stone; one ended up with the human vampire in the cursed, Castle Darkmoon, deep in the swamps, the Water Stone; and the final stone, the Earth Stone, was acquired by the dimensional Abolelth creature.”

  “Now, with all four stones together, with me, I can be reborn whole. I can be saved. I can be whole. But, there is more. You have met the Ashen Elf, and his ancient magic, dating further back than any remember. Long ago, Dragons roamed the world – but the gods, fearful of their powerful, tricked and banished them to another dimension sealing the door behind them. The Ashen Elf discovered that dimension and learned how to use the magic of the Dragons, to make himself impervious, immortal and unstoppable. Allow me to show you the future…”

  The stars fade away, and the room is consumed in darkness. From atop a blackened hill, you see the world before you – a great war. On the opposing hill, the Ashen Elf, commands an army of undead that relentlessly attack and kill the opposing armies of light. And those from the armies of light who fall in battle, the Ashen Elf rises them and commands them, adding their corpses to his increasing army. The stars are gone from the heaven. The moon is red.

  “There is no way to defeat him, because he uses the power of the Dragon magic, siphoning it and commanding it, all to himself,” Free explains. “If we use Jarisfargen’s Forge to merge the stones, and put them within me – I can be taken to the Great Star, and with the power of the unified Great Star, open the portal to the Dragon’s prison, breaking the Ashen Elf’s connection to the Dragon’s magic. But doing so will liberate Dragons into the world. Not all the Dragons are aligned with good. Many serve an evil purpose, and will bring death and destruction of their own. But, for a brief time, they will be united in destroying the Ashen Elf’s army, and the Ashen Elf himself.”

  Realizing there was no true choice, you decided that you would need to restore the Great Star and help destroy the Ashen Elf and his undead army.

  Standing before Jarisfargen’s Forge, Free explained, “Bodrag, you will need to fix the Great Forge. Luna, I will need you to use your connection to nature itself, to cleanse the four stones from the black magics of the Dark Elves,” Free cast a side glance at Omen, “No offense meant,” he amended, then continued, “For you, Omen, must be the one to use your magics to restore the Forge’s magical abilities. Argo, as a human, you are the most diverse people in all the land. I need that balance, and desire of Mankind, to be imbued into the stones, to restore their balance, once Luna has cleansed them. Ariana, I will need you to bless the Great Forge. And you, little Tenjii, will take me – once whole – to the Great Star.”

  Working as told, when the Great Forge is fully restored – the four stones placed within the Forge – Free becomes a being of pure white light, and the last words you hear him whisper is, “I… am … Free.”

  There is a blinding white flash.

  You are all back at Guardstone, and it’s been years since you last left. Time has passed by. The Great War is over, and you are spared being a part of it. But as you listen to those in the tavern, you hear tales of a doorway opening in the heavens after a bright white light, and the mystical dragons pouring out from the skies, eviscerating the Ashen Elf and his undead army with magic and breath weapons. Tales have spread about dragons also laying claim to some lands, throughout the world.

  The world has been saved from a dark fate.

  But there undoubtedly new adventures awaiting those brave enough to take them.