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Dacys – Noble Dragonborn Monk (Amiee)
Urthez – Half-Orc Folk Hero Rogue (Charles)
Twig – Half-Orc Soldier Barbarian (Jake)
Zelona – Noble Half-Elf Paladin (Tam)
Kai – Tiefling Sage Bard (Sami)
Brolimir – Wood Elf Sage Druid (Matt)
While going through Ridgecrest, the party sees an old man who seems more than little deranged. He curses at them in some long, forgotten tongue, and teleports away, leaving behind his back. Brolimir investigated the old man’s belongings, only to have the old man appear, and yell that they were thieves – then touching Brolimir’s arm, muttered an ancient curse of Forgetfulness, which broke Brolimir’s concentration when he tried to cast spells. Getting advice from Marlove Mageblood, who runs a magician’s shop in Upper Ridgecrest, they were able to get information that the madman was Ian Banewood, who was an apprentice to an ancient wizard, who practiced questionable magic, by the name of Jauris Longstaff. Jauris was at one time, a King’s Mage, giving him unlimited resources and access. Jauris was also one of the few mages to align himself with the ancient elf that simply became known as The Ashen Elf, that would go on to wage a “war at any cost” against his most hated enemy – the orcs (specifically, of The Broken Hand tribe, who had grown to massive proportions). Marlov went on to explain that Jauris had a “hide out” about a week’s travel at a place that had become simply known as Stoneguard, for the massive statue that stood throughout the ages. Marlov said, if there was a way to reverse Ian’s spell, it was probably going to be at Jauris’ base. The party returned to Mayor Gillan Blackfoot and explained the situation, and the mayor loaned them a wagon and mules for their week long journey.
Along the way to Stoneguard, the party encountered several creatures; most notably a rampaging Hill Giant (that they avoided), as well as a young, white dragon patrolling the skies. The party eventually arrived at Stoneguard, and found the secret entrance at the statue’s feet, but found it closed and locked behind them, with no visible way to open it from the inside. Down below, they found a throne, with the skeletal remains of Jauris. They moved the throne and discovered a portal beneath it. Kai used her ethereal vision to peer inside the portal; where she saw a scroll. The party tried to get it, but found that the portal was guarded by a spell that caused numbing, cold damage to anything that reached inside. Finally, Dacys, as a dragonborn of the silver dragon line, was immune to cold based attacks; stuck her arm inside and managed to reach the scroll and pull it free; though she was immune to cold, she still suffered slightly due to the long, forgotten, ancient magic that protected the scroll. The party moved inside, where they fought some stirge that had taken up residence within the forgotten halls. Eventually, the party entered the last room, where there was a coffin – Jauris’ resting place, had he failed to release his spirit into the statue (however, he seemed to perish in the attempt to do so and died on the throne beneath the statue). Inside, the party found some quaint items; but also found a key beneath the pillow. Removing the bedding, they found another compartment that was locked. Using the key from beneath the pillow they unlocked it and found a staff with a hand (open palmed). Returning back to the door, they located a small hole that the staff fit in; and doing so, closed the first on the staff and opened the door, allowing the party to escape. An uneventful week back to Ridgecrest, and Marlov attempted to decipher the scroll and found that it was in an ancient language she was not aware of. But, noted, that Jauris was allies with another mage by the name of Boris Den, who had also thrown in his allegiance with The Ashen Elf, and was a mage that everyone avoided; and that he was, perhaps more powerful, and more unstable than Jauris ever was; and that perhaps Boris has a volume of books that could help translate the ancient language on the scroll to undo the spell of Forgetfulness that had been cast on Brolimir. Marlov also added that there were reports coming in, that Boris was seen with a rich, young woman from a near by town named Airey Moonstone, that had been seen with Boris and that ironically, Boris’ fortress known as The Tower of Westbrook, which was just south of Ridgecrest, across the massive lake of Westbrook had recently (according to reports) exploded. Brolimir took this time to go to the tavern, where he met an elf named Greenfern, who explained that he was from Fern Dale, until an evil, green dragon named Emerth had come and drove him and his people from there. Greenfern, like all the Elves of Ferndale, have tattoos of green ferns, next to their eyes; this had been the same tribe of elves that the party had seen enslaved by the humans at the other city, on their way to recover the dopplegangers that the Mayor of Ridgecrest had sent them to fetch.