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• Adrian Silverstrength (Human Paladin)
• Morsus Firebeard (Hill Dwarf Cleric)
• Sephrenia (High Elf Cleric)
• Ragnaroc (Aasimar Warlock) – Not Present
• Don Kannin (Half-Elf Ranger)
• Korra (Air Genasi Rogue)

Current NPCs traveling with the party:

• Pren Flintrock
• Gor Hammerstine
• Bran Homeforge
• Dran Homeforge

Connected Adventures: Adventure 14, Adventure 15, Adventure 16, Adventure 17, Adventure 18, Adventure 19, Adventure 20, Adventure 21, Adventure 22, Adventure 23, Adventure 24, Adventure 25, Adventure 26 and Adventure 27.

• The party review the book they found in the Great Library
  • Read: The DM had an image for them to transcribe but couldn’t find it – not sure if I forgot to save it, or saved it somewhere other than my D&D folder – so I recreated it for this session and just said they took it with them

• Having worked on translations before, Adrian and Sephrenia are able to decipher the book

• The party develops a key for decoding the Drow scriptures using this ancient dialect

• Morsus recalls that there was news that High Priestess was having the Drow capture dwarves to help forge the adamantine (Natural 20 on History Check) and figures out that the Elder Fire Elemental must be used for melting down the adamantine – and that the Elder Elemental Air might be used for keeping the fires going, while the Elder Elemental Water may be used for cooling – and that the Elder Earth Elemental for sniffing Adamantine and perhaps used as the “hammer” to forge the adamantine
• The party speaks with Krom and his son Arem, before settling down for the night

• The following morning, it seems Ragnaroc has yet again gone catatonic and speaking in an unknown tongue
• Krom offers to watch after him as the party agrees to go with Arem and his soldiers to scout ahead

• Arem warns the party that there is great danger down here
• He goes on to explain he thanks them for their aid against the Water Elemental, but the dangers that await make the Water Elemental pale in comparison
• After an hour of venturing forward, without warning – something lashes at Sephrenia, ensnaring her around her ankle and pulling her off her feet, with another ensnaring Korra
• The monster reveals itself as a Roper

• Sephrenia is able to use her elven grace to slide out of it, using Acrobatics
• Korra however, is not able to escape the tentacles – and it manages to land a bite, dealing serious damage (26 damage!)
• Sephrenia quickly casts a heal on Korra, who is clearly bleeding out
• Adrian quickly rushes up to the Roper – attacking the tentacle that’s got Korra grappled – his first attack misses, but the second hits – but not dealing enough damage to free Korra from the tentacle – using his bonus action to cast Sanctuary on Korra to try and force the beast to attack another target
• Three of the four Azer manage to hit the Roper, doing some damage to it
• Morsus blasts it with Scorching Ray, damaging the tentacle that Adrian had hit, which did enough damage to free Korra
• Korra scampers away, and manages to draw her bow and fire a shot, missing the Roper
• The Roper lashes out again, once again grabbing Sephrenia within its tentacles – but this time she’s not able to break free and he’s able to pull her close and bite her (landing some hard hitting damage – 25 points of damage!)
• Another tentacle lashed out and ensnared Korra who manages to escape using Acrobatics, moving 60′ – out of its range
• Sephrenia also uses Acrobatics to escape the clutches of the Roper, also moving back 60′
• Adrian hits it once, dealing some damage – and then casts Shield of Faith on himself, magically enhancing his armor by 2 more
• The Roper lashes out again, this time ensnaring Adrian and Morsus, neither of which is able to pull free – it does not manage to bite Adrian (thanks to his Shield of Faith) but it lands a large bite on Morsus (for 20 damage!)
• Morsus manages to land Faerie Fire on the Roper, which now grants Advantage on all hits against the Roper
• Now a safe distance away, Korra fires a Critical Hit that triggers as a Sneak Attack since both Adrian and Morsus are within range of the creature delivering 16 points of damage, slaying the Roper!
• The party convinces the Azer, that they’re in need of a long rest
• As they’re resting, they’re awaken by the sound of Pren’s voice shouting, “Hurry up! They’re up here somewhere!” and coming through – Pren and another Azer.
• Pren explains that while he was napping, the other three dwarves (Gor, Bran and Dran) left him there – and when he awoke he was all alone
• Pren assumes that they may have been bothered being by their old kingdom (which they believe to be haunted) and returned to the new kingdom – but it’s odd that they had left him alone
• Morsus’ concern is that the other three were allied with the King (who was also currently claiming to have a truce with the Drow) – and that they may have left Pren, because he currently sits with the Blackoak faction (which opposes the King indirectly, due to the King’s truce with the Drow – it’s actually the truce they oppose, but the King’s been convinced it’s him they oppose, and they mean to dethrone him and claim the throne as their own)
• Pren and Arem talk about all that’s been going on – after the dragon attack on the kingdom (Emereth attacked their old kingdom 50 years ago, roughly) – the Azer returned several years later to see if the dwarves had returned – and were surprised they had not.
• In the last year, a Drow alchemist entered their realm and captured an Elder Fire Elemental and brought it back through – the Azer gave chase and have been fighting an onslaught of Water Elementals – they’re sure, that despite news they got that Magmen were allied with the Drow – that something – or someone – else was behind this
• After the long rest, they proceed – and without warning – Sephrenia is grabbed by a creature who comes out of the stone
• The creature reveals itself, as Sephrenia is able to use Acrobatics to escape

• It’s appearance startles Adrian, who for a brief moment thinks it’s a Roper (Critical Fail on Initiative Roll)
• Arem and Pren shout that it’s a Xorn and that it feeds on precious gems
• Sephrenia reveals that she has gems but she refuses to feed the Xorn, who may leave after being fed
• So a fight breaks out – and between Korra and Don’s critical strikes, the Xorn is defeated
• Don decides – if it feeds on precious gems – it may have some in its stomach. He reaches into its mouth, and avoids getting sick by the odorous gut – and manages to recover three gems, worth 60 gold pieces each.
• The party finally reaches the old kingdom’s main gate – and Pren warns that there’s two Gargoyles that they set up to prevent most people from entering – he, however, can’t recall the password
• Morsus gives him Guidance and explains he has faith in Pren – and Pren manages to recalls the password – Flame and fire – high and low, Let us pass or we can’t go!

• Opening the doors to the great hall, they see twelve Magmen who just seem to be running in circles and laughing (clearly not intelligent enough to be commanding Water Elementals)

• They hardly seem interested, or threatened by the party – so Don fires an arrow and strikes – employing his Hail of Thorns – killing one – which explodes and damaging the others around it – rather than attack – they seem concerned that one of their kind was killed – and choose to try and flee – Don fires another arrow, killing another – causing another explosion – with the Magmen screaming in horror

• The remaining Magmen run into the throne room and the party follows – and instantly spot a large figure sitting on the throne
• The party gathers the final component of their poison quest – ash of Magmen!
• Pren immediately recognizes the person -“Brez Hallenfire, you have a lot of nerve sitting on that throne! We may be enemies – but if you’ve allied yourself with the Drow – not even your father would stoop to such levels – he would be ashamed of you.”

• Brez Hallenfire stands, and retorts in a deep, thundering voice, “My father may lead the Fire Giants down here in the Shadow Vale – but he is old the old way – the Ordning has failed. The High Priestess of the Drow will bring about a new age, and I will be at her side to bring death and destruction to all who oppose her.”
• Pren proclaims that Brez is foolish if he believes that the High Drow Priestess will honor any deal she’s made with him once she no longer has use of him
• This angers Brez who charges forward!

• Pren and the Azer charge Brez and meet him half way
• Sephrenia blasts Brez with Ray of Frost and lands a critical hit, delivering 22 points of damage!
• This immediately catches Brez’s attention, who now takes a few quick strides to reach Sephrenia
• Morsus uses his bat familiar to Bestow Curse on Brez, forcing him to make Wisdom savings throws
• Adrian, realizing they have a big fight ahead of them, begins using his Channel Divinity and after a few moments casts Sanctuary on Sephrenia to try and prevent Brez from striking at her
• The rush of the Fire Giant’s approach and causes the wind to shift, so Don’s arrow misfires, striking Sephrenia in the back (Critical Fail on the Attack Roll and since it’s not from an enemy, the Sanctuary doesn’t apply)
• Don’s second shot, which he also fired a second after, also misfires (Back to back CRITICAL FAIL!) this time as the arrow releases – it nicks across his wrist, causing himself to bleed
• Brez clears the Curse this round, and attempts to attack Sephrenia – but fails his Wisdom save to attack her (due to Sanctuary) and decides to attack Adrian – and manages to hit Adrian for some damage on the first strike, but misses the second time!
• As his bonus action, he begins slamming his sword against his shield – the effect unknown at the moment
• Because attacking will ruin the Sanctuary spell – she casts Bless on Adrian, Morsus and Korra
• She then casts Healing Word on Adrian, restoring some of his health
• Feeling energized, Adrian strikes Brez with a Critical Hit, then expends his Divine Smite dealing 25 damage!
• Then casts Shield of Faith on himself
• Don fires another shot – and manages to hit Brez, but his following shot misfires and hits Sephrenia (again) in the back, once again, disregarding Sanctuary since the attack did not come from an enemy
• Brez manages to shake off the Curse again, and brings his great sword down – he misses with his first attack, but the second attack hits Adrian for some damage
• At that moment – four Duergar show up – two from each side of the throne room – and as they rush the party – they suddenly enlarge!
• Morsus – startled – summons Spiritual Hammer, but as he moves it to strike, he accidentally strikes Korra knocking her out of the shadows (Critical Fail)
• Morsus does not know the exact origin of Duergar – but has heard various stories – from Dwarves who had gone mad; to Dwarves who were captured and enslaved by Drow; to Dwarves captured by Drow and experimented on; among many other stories, their origins shrouded in dark mysteries – much like most of the Shadow Vale’s residents
• Korra, apparently still shaken by being hit by the Spiritual Hammer, attempts to stab Brez, but Morsus steps in front of her and gets stabbed by Korra (Critical Fail) – she decides to pull out the dagger which injects the Drow poison – but because of his Dwarven Nature being resistant to poison, he’s able to shake off its effects (Success Save)
• Realizing that the Curse is hampering his attacks – he knows he needs to survive a few more rounds to shake off its effects – and commands the Duergar to use the Help action with one another to try and take down Adrian
• This allows the Duergar to manage to land some strikes against Adrian
• Korra decides to keep her distance and fires her bow – the arrow flying through the crowd and hits Don standing in the back (Critical Fail)
• Sephrenia – as the rounds go by – casts Aid and Prayer of Healing to keep the party’s health up
• Adrian finally delivers a killing blow on Brez – and both he and Morsus manage to dodge out of the way as Brez falls forward – however, Pren, Amer and the other three Azer fail to get out of the way and take some minor damage as the giant falls on them
• The Duergar fall quickly, afterwards
• Sephrenia, Adrian and Don take a War Pick, looting it from the Duergar
• As the party is catching their breath – the amulet on Morsus’ neck begins pulsating – and his mind rushes – and suddenly he hears the High Priestess’ voice whisper, “Where are you…”
• And this time, attacking his intelligence and wearing him down – she learns that he’s in the old great hall – and smiles and ends the connection for now.
• The party learns that it’s been Brez Hallenfire, the Fire Giant Prince, who has been using the elementals to attack the Azer, based on the High Priestess’ command
• Amer thanks the party and sends the Azer, who came with Pren back to the encampment to summon his father
• He offers a Hammer of Return – by crushing a gem in his hand – which creates a small, two inch hammer, which upon being thrown on the ground will let the Azer know that the party is in need of their assistance – but it only has one charge.
• Amer explains that the party can rest here – the runner he sent to fetch his father and the others should be back in several hours…..