Party: Qualinost
Vodren-Human Cleric
Ryai-Elf Spellblade
Shim-Human Artificer
Bomba-Gnome Monk
Broud- Half-Ogre Cleric
The party returns to where they fought the Dragolin, with the Drider leading. The party asks for his name, and he replies that it is forfeit. From then on, the party calls him Forfeit.
As they continue, they notice the path they took initially is covered in ropes. Set up after they left by the kobolds, the party dismantles the traps while failing to grab the Sirrion flame. They follow Forfeit’s directions to the territory of the shadow people. The group keeps an eye out for diamonds to be used by Vodren while catching Foreit up on the world above. As Shim notices a shining rock, large rock traps descend upon the party, with Bomba and Gary the Gorilla getting caught under them. The party gets separated momentarily while a voice calls out in their minds, telling them to leave. The party informs them of their plight, trying to assure the shadow people that they mean them no harm and need to pass through to save lives. The shadow people tell them that they need to discuss the matter with their people but allow them to reunite with each other.
Forfeit leaves, saying he can’t risk being so close to the shadow people. As the party waits for the shadow people, they try to figure out more about their situation. Ryai tries to review the ritual again and how it works, Shim investigates the traps, Vodren sends Gary out to scout behind them, and Bomba tries to connect with her master and find the purpose of the caves.
Ryai learns that only an elven noble can do the ritual.
Shim sees that the trap was triggered using Brightcores.
Bomba realizes that the darkness was put there for elves to be able to reflect and truly be in the dark. She proceeds to try and understand how to work in the darkness but can’t quite grasp it.
Vodren waits for something to happen to Gary or the spell to break.
The wait continues, and Ryai grows antsy. He confides in Broud about how he worries that he’s in a losing scenario. He thought he was okay with being outcasted, but now, he is staring down the possibility of it scaring him. Broud reminds him that elves can be redeemed, too. If he gets outcasted here, he can be let back in by “redeeming” himself, too. It doesn’t bring the comfort Ryai sought but leans on him.
The party hears a scream, and Vodren feels his spell pop. He performs a ritual to contact Gary in the beyond, and Gary tells him that a monster in the caves killed the two elven scouts, and he, too, was killed by one. Fearing that it’s one of the death-hand mushrooms that Forfeit warned them about, they call for the shadow people. One appears, and once they realize one is not near, they ask them to continue waiting. Ryai snaps and asks them to hurry up. Vodren and Broud try to calm him down and ask him what they can do for him. He admits to still worrying about his family, and Broud reassures him that his uncle is a capable man with a sense for danger.
Bomba tries to contact the ghosts of the scouts who died, and her mentor, Zyl, brings them forward, allowing them to talk. They tell them that the Qualinesti people are mostly in the dark about what's happening. They ask what will shake the people's faith in Paladithel and tell them to prove the ritual won't work. They ask the party to save their home before returning to the ethereal.
The party is left in silence.
Eventually, the Shadow people return and allow them into their lands. They guide them through and have them gather in a meeting hall. Vodren describes how the ritual should be performed there, and the Shadow people offer assistance. They take the shortcut and find the ledge Forfiet described. They can see the clerics caged up and Paladithel yelling at the kobolds and looking for something that was lost. Around the corner, they hear the shuffling of beasts. Ryai calls out to them, and they see a patrol of kobolds riding weasels. They hide, and the kobolds pass by, heading towards the shadow people’s home. The two shadow folk take off after the patrol, leaving the party alone. They look over the ledge and see that Paladithel has lost a holy symbol, not noticing the kender messing with a holy symbol. Vodren summons him up, and he shows off the symbol to the group, being that a symbol of Morgian. When they ask him about the other symbols, he describes them as all associated with clerics of evil. The party’s confidence is shaken. Broud and Vodren seek guidance from their gods and find that a green mist corrupts them.
The kender tells them about the skeleton of a green dragon responsible for snuffing out the light and the evil cloud around it. The kender asks Bomba what they’re doing and tells him about the eggs in Pax Tharkis. This gets an odd reaction from the kender, flashing copper eyes. Vodren notices Ryai’s unusual behavior and tries to comfort him with a hug, promising to always be there for him.
Ryai snaps back, asking where he’ll be in 50 years from now, explaining the pain of banishment comes from watching everything you love wither and die.
Shim gets upset with their scenario. The connection with the dagger associated with a green dragon snaps, and he demands they go after the dragon, corrupting his allies. He makes a deal with the kender, Jimmy-fix-it, and the group changes course to go after the ghost dragon. Jimmy-fix-it steals the rest of the symbols and takes off.
The shadow people rejoin them as they go after the dragon, avoiding a pile of bat guano and convincing two elves to let them pass to deal with the dragon and arrive at the pit its bones lie in. At the top, a long creature called a Grik makes its home. The Shadow people lead it off, and Vodren is snatched by another smaller one. They quickly kill the smaller creature and are left with the empty pit and the dragon's voice taunting them.
The party struggles to try and find the creature and begins to wonder if it can be killed. They learn it possesses its breath weapon, essentially a poison elemental. They struggle to find it when a kobold is found. Bomba takes after it, and tries to make sure it doesn’t tell anyone they’re there, trading her weapons. It tells her Paladithel is on his way there to find them. The dragon tells them it’s on their side with wanting them to free the clerics, even offering Bomba her fang to go and free them. With them wasting time and the dragon taunting them and not fighting, Broud calls to leave, but Shim refuses. Shim threatens to destroy the dagger which finally draws the ghost dragon out from hiding.
Broud and Shim fail to make a dent in the dagger, but with his prowess with his bombs Shim blows the ghost sky high, taking severe damage himself in the process.
Trapped and the party feeling tapped, they decide to try and make it back to the home of the Shadow people sneaking through the Kobold camp. They decide to call a duel with Paladithel to try and drag him out and confront him. Broud writes the letter and Ryai seals it with his family seal.
They successfully sneak through the camp and make their way back to the Shadow people’s home and finally get some rest. The elders inform Shim that to destroy the dagger they are going to need a weapon made of Mithril. The next morning they are lead to the surface and enter the basement of a building. Ryai recognizes it as his basement and is immediately perturb that he’s been living on top of all that for years.
They find the house is silent and empty. Vodren keeps watch while the rest look for any evidence of a struggle. Ryai finds nothing upstairs with Broud other than a note left by his father in his study telling him not to worry about him.
Shim and Bomba however find that there was a fight in the kitchen, with Inevitable hiding under the counter. Ryai asks what Inevitable saw and tells them that the maid struggled with a person in silver and was dragged away. They raid the house looking for anything to help the while Shim investigates the dagger further. He learns what it’s made of and that once submerged in holy water it reveals something. Bomba takes off to the temple to get some while Vodren and Ryai look for visions. Vodren gets the vision of two wolf packs fighting while the forest around them burns. Ryai however sees the light of Solinari and is told he is on the right path.
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