Fane of the Fire Lord

Autumncrest 29

  • JD cast a divination ritual to verify what needed to be done to solve the puzzle at hand. It confirmed the group's latest answers, which ended up not summoning more elementals but instead moving a hidden stone slab in the ruins to reveal a dark shaft descending into the earth.
  • The party descended the shaft and came upon a large cavern with a stone bridge that crossed a deep chasm filled with lava far below. They were struck with a vision of a small gold dragon fighting a group of evil pilgrims who'd come seeking the Fane. All were slain in the battle.
  • Shortly after the vision it was clear that the pilgrims remained in the cavern, having become Undead. The party clashed with them and won with little effort.
  • A worked passage led from the cavern. It brought the party to a small room which closed up on them. The exit door was locked, which brought the PCs to a panic as they realized they had no thief. And then they busted out with no problems.
  • The final chamber was the Fane's sanctuary. It was a large room with a raised platform in the center, pillars supporting the ceiling, a floor set with red, yellow, and orange tiles, and two small marble slabs (black with veins of red), each with a large rune engraved on the top. The walls were festooned with bas-reliefs of scenes showing destruction by fire - elementals, archons, and demons of fire, along with human fanatics, burning cities, villages, and woodlands. On the far wall was a mosaic of a black inverted pyramid floating over magma in the caldera of a volcano. The room was also very warm, such that great physical exertion, such as melee combat, could have been harmful.
  • Proceeding to the back wall, the party discovered it could pivot. Behind it lay a treasure chamber, containing numerous coins, a variety of gems, some magic, and the second piece of the Rod.
  • The party vacated the room with the treasure, surprised that there was no threat to stop them. One wonders why, say, an immolith and fire archons didn't attack while fire traps exploded around them. It shall likely remain a mystery.
  • After a short rest, JD used a ritual and summoned a number of giant eagles to fly them back to Ilmara.

Autumncrest 28

  • The party ventured forth into the Pale Forest to seek out the Fane of the Fire Lord.
  • The forest was very eerie; there were few if any animal noises, figures seem to lurk deep in the trees, and the sky darkened the deeper the party ventured in.
  • They encountered the Slayer's Rock on the trail.
    • A large rock outcropping, about 18 feet high, thrusting out of the ground like a large spearhead.
    • Niches dot the rock, and roughly 4 of every 5 is occupied by a humanoid skull (most are human, about 10% are elven or eladrin, and a handful are dragonborn, tiefling, or orc).
    • Some of the skulls are very old and yellowed. In front of the rock is a large slab of stone, roughly hewn to a rectangular shape. The top of the slab is stained reddish-brown.There is no moss or any plant life on the rock, the slab, or within ten feet or so of this tableau - the ground is hard-packed earth.
  • Venturing on, the group came uponthe Druid's Grove.
    • A Large grove about 30 yards in diameter. Inside is a circle of standing stones. Near the edge is a small hut; it appears to be made from the intertwined branches of a trio of large trees, with gaps filled in with stones and wood, and thatching on top. A small stream flows through on the western side. The hut is on the north side of the grove.
    • Encountered the grove's druid, Elduin Briargleam (male elven druid) and his two wolves.
  • Continuing on, the party entered a clearing where it appeared three women had been slain. Moving in to help, harpies set upon them and the "dead" women rose up to attack as well (revealing themselves to be dryads). The party was victorious, but noted that this was unusual behavior for Fey creatures. They later surmised that this was a result of the disturbances in the Feywild caused by the Garden of Graves.
  • The party finally Arrived at a ruined keep which apparently concealed the fane. They found a raised platform in the remains of the old hall, with six knight statues and a pedastal.
    • Phrases damaged by weathering could be seen carved into the knight's breastplates in Common, with a phrase on the pedastal in Primordial.
    • A hand-shaped indentation was on the top of the pedastal.
  • While the rest of the group tried to decipher the statues' messages, Quinn stuck his hand in the indentation. Immediately six elementals appeared and attacked.
  • The elementals were defeated in a costly battle and the party turned back to the statues.
  • The group continued to decipher the statues when they were approached by a stranger, a paladin of the Triumvirate of Light named Garet. He had been sent to help the cause of House Argentus.
  • Believing they had deciphered the riddle of the statues, the party tried the pedestal again. Unfortunately, they weren't entirely correct as four elementals appeared this time. A lengthy battle ensued; the heroes were victorious again but almost at the cost of Biren's life (due in part to a carelessly placed spell by Quinn). They rested for the night as the two fights had greatly depleted their resources.

Autumncrest 25-27, 1104

  • The party set off for the Undead-infested ruined town of Carsus, to the west of Ilmara, which would lead to the source of the Rod segment.
  • They snuck, dashed, and dodged through town to avoid the Undead and make it to the one sanctuary in the ruined town - the "Dead Man's Inn".
  • About 100' from the inn, they were set upon by a group of skeletons, skull lords, a reaper, and an eye of shadow (beholder).
  • After a fairly easy battle (the eye became less a threat and more a nuisance, a dragonborn fighter emerged from the inn and beckoned the party to enter.
  • Terius decided to head back to Ilmara to investigate Aldric's disappearance; coincidentally, Brandis, an inquisitor of the Dyad, happened along.
  • The party met with the current inhabitants of the inn:
    • Roderic of Carrickstead (male human rogue) - Jovial, dashing, handsome
    • Iladrila Oakstar (female elf sorcerer) and her bodyguard Vanuk (male half-orc fighter)
      • A sorceress from Corathmyr.
      • She had been leading an expedition into the Pale Forest looking for a ruined wizard's tower with a group of mercenaries. They abandoned her and Vanuk while camped for the night, and the two had no choice but to return to the Inn. She had used a sending ritual to contact friends in Corathmyr to come and escort her from Carsus.
    • Roark (male human warlord), Xin (male dragonborn fighter), Rashara Dakhani (female human warlock - fey pact), and Karrek Blackforge (male dwarf runepriest)
      • Adventuring group; arrived three days prior
      • Came to Carsus to plunder a wizard's crypt they learned of while in Zeldora
      • Rashara (CHA 17) took a liking to Quinn.
    • Esmond Borrick (male human fighter)
      • Arrived a few days previously in a party with four other adventurers to plunder an old temple of Savia on the north end of town.
      • The party was slaughtered in the temple; Esmond was the only was to survive.
      • He managed to make it back to the Inn two days ago; he collapsed as soon as Roark's group helped him back in.
      • They managed to make him comfortable; he was unconscious but blurted out things; some were incoherent, others fragments like "the fanged darkness comes!" and "the blue fire...so cold!"
      • The next morning he came to and seemed normal but his memory had been affected. He recalled coming to the inn with his companions and leaving for the temple, but after that, nothing.
      • Hadn't figured out what he wants to do next. Roark offered to escort him out of the town when his group leaves, though he (Esmond) hadn't committed to that yet. He spends the days wandering the courtyard and the walls of the inn, seemingly in a daze though he was lucid if approached. He survived on the supplies of his group that they left at the inn.

Autumncrest 17-22, 1104

  • The party delved into Ardal's crypt.
  • Over the course of five or six days, the party went into the crypt and were forced to flee repeatedly.
  • After facing and slaying various guardians and Undead, including a vampire lord, zombie hulks, and battlewights, the party finally faced off against the necromancer who ruled the tomb.
  • The party was finally victorious, killing the necromancer and recovering the map they sought.

Autumncrest 16, 1104 (Autumnal Equinox)