The party travel to
Tammarik to spend their loot and meet their contact who will tell them where
to go to next. Luckily it turns out they are heading to
Riavod since many of the party (including Freya) had assumed that was their
destination and had already made plans on that basis.
First, however, they have to deal with the
Cult of the Long Night base in the city. The party decide on a
dual-pronged approach and break into the base via the top storey and the sewers in a coordinated
attack under the cover of darkness. An appropriate use of 'Silence' and stealth means that the assassins
and cult members are picked off one by one. Only one of the cultists managed to escape but since he used
a teleportation crystal to teleport to M'lady's tower the party is confident that he was killed or captured.
On the body of another of the assassins the party find the last of the Malkoran rings which Dwain takes
for safekeeping until it can be destroyed.
Leaving the City the party travel upriver by boat to
Tashal where they buy horses for their onward journey to Kargan. While crossing
the Sagathavuld the party meet a group of
Vistani who invite them to share a camp for the night. The highlight
of the evening for some is a Vistani fortune-teller using her skills on the party. She refuses to say
anything about Dwain because 'he has a grumpy dwarf inside him', Medalric 'is destined to meet a dragon who
knows he is coming', Gale is told to beware 'a many-eyed creature', Rumpkin is told 'the jewel that you seek
will not be recovered until the rightful ruler of Cambria sits on the throne', Firmon is told 'a dangerous
enemy seeks you - it will not go well if he finds you' and Freya's future she refuses to foretell saying
it is not appropriate for her to use her skills on a 'naiquiri'. Osriga and Waethryth are identified as heroes.
Osriga she foretells will 'return to the North' and 'be an even greater hero' while Waethryth will be
'one of the greatest of her kind'. The party are somewhat miffed that they aren't referred to as 'heroes';
the Vistani seem to refer to them as 'dairenax'. The Vistani confirm the existence of the
Castle of the Ravens
but are doubtful the party will be able to travel there until hearing about the book and the map changes their minds. They refuse
to say anything about the nature of the castle's occupants.
The party reach Buhr Ermanarikis and head up the road to
Lest. After a time a little way off the road they see the 'broken tree' that signifies
the way to the Castle. After some investigation the party come to realise that the tree is actually marking
the position of a portal of some kind. The other side of the portal the landscape is much the same although
less verdant and the sun appears to be dimmer in the sky. As the party progress down the track suddenly
a flock of ravens approach. They scan the party then return to the battlements of the castle now visible on
the skyline. Nearing the castle it would appear to have seen better days. They knock on the door and the ravens
who had been cawing loudly become silent. A seemingly human woman opens the doors and asks their business. When
they explain about the book she motions them to come in and indicates their leader, Taspar Hatchhill, will talk
to them.
Taspar explains that they use the book as a 'lure' to get adventurers to visit the castle. The inhabitants
of the castle are librarians and curators who preserve rare books and magical items, sometimes stealing
these items from those who would abuse them. Earlier in the year they were presented with a book telling the story
of a bard who joined a secret magical society and fought bravely for their cause only to be cursed with
an incurable disease by an evil wizard he had bested. His colleagues put him in a safe environment where his
disease would not progress and promised to find a cure in the form of a magical dagger. The book came
with such a dagger as described in its pages. They read the book and filed it but recently they discovered
that a complete village had appeared from nowhere in a nearby forest and the 'lord of the manor' appeared
to be the bard identified in the book. They went back to the castle to fetch the dagger but on returning
to the village observed a many-eyed monstrosity floating on the village green and the villagers seeming none
too concerned.
Obviously all is not right in the village and Taspar hopes the party will investigate and cure the bard. In return
their seer will foretell which magic items in their hoard would be the most useful as gifts to the party.
The party investigate the village and find the villagers too cheerful to be true. They invite the party to a
celebration at the manor house that evening. The party don't wait but go straight to the manor house and
confont the bard asking him if it is true he needs a cure. The bard denies he was ever ill but the
party suspect he may be charmed as he seems all too like the other villagers in demeanour. The party leave
but promptly break into the manor house via its second storey. There they find a series of paintings with
what appears to be extradimensional spaces behind them. In the bard's bedroom there are some notes
indicating that the bard has become disillusioned with the wait for a cure and tolerates the presence
of the beholder, which has just arrived in the village, because it might be able to release him from his 'prison'.
A painting of the bard himself, Quill, hangs in the bedroom but has been covered in a thin film of slime.
The extradimensional spaces behind the other paintings all appear to be connected in a random sort of way
so after carefully ignoring the contents of a feast and fighting off some medusas the party manage
to get to Quill's prison and release him. He is very suspicious of the party at first but Freya talks him round into
letting her stab him with the magical dagger. As she does so Quill instantly disappears as do the manor house
and village and the party are left standing in the forest. There is no sign of the beholder. The party
return to castle and are all granted a 'Boots of Winterland' type enchantment on part of their kit as a reward.
Journeying on to Lest the party board Osriga's ship 'The North Wind' and sail to Riavod. There they meet their contact who informs them that they need to ascertain the identity of Penda's lover. The party attack
the Cult of the Long Nights headquarters in the city and discover documents there that refer to 'the Countess'
as a former target. Recalling that their friend Daelhaelin had noble blood they arrange a meeting with
her father to discuss the matter. Her father meets them in a village tavern not far from the city and listens
to their story gravely including Freya's claim that she speaks for the Queen of the Fey. He says he needs some
time to think the issue through and leaves them in the tavern with his purse behind the bar as yet still reasonably
full.
By the time the party meet with Daelhaelin's father again four days later
the party are pretty much convinced that the Countess they are looking for is the mysterious
Countess of the North and have obtained a jewellery box belonging to her and a toy 'Sword of Erin' which may have belonged to her child. Daelhaelin's father confirms this and that the Countess did have a child with Penda. He offers them Daelhaelin as a guide to go into the North to find the Countess. They are to leave right away and he has requisitioned an army quartermaster's wagon full of mundane equipment to provision them for a long journey.
After travelling by boat to Pardvan the party purchase horses and travel north
cross country. On their way north they are halted by a man in robes named Raelin, calling himself 'Servant of the Master of Fates', who pronounces their doom.
He tells them that he has already searched for the Countess and she is not in Sankhar
so she is probably dead. He then goes on to prophesy what a complete fool's errand they are on. If the Countess
is alive the party will lead him to her, if she has had a child the party will be instrumental in allowing him
to trap the child, if the child survives the trap one of the party will betray the
child and if the betrayal does not lead to the child's death, the child will succesfully be kidnapped by Raelin. The party are just about to respond with both barrels when it becomes clear he is not really there but
is just a projected image.
The party next come across a Logath encampment which provides them
with hospitality for the night. In the morning the Logath explain that they fear a sacred pool, normally guarded by
a unicorn, may have been contaminated with evil (mainly on account of the ominous red lightning that keeps flashing
in the vicinity).
The party find the pool area guarded by an encampment of fierce looking barbarians and at the pool itself there
appears to be some sort of occult ceremony in progress that requires loads of dead animals to be thrown
into the water. The party attack the cultists just as a black unicorn emerges from the waters and gores a cultist.
Most of the party is unsure as to whether this means the unicorn is good or evil but Freya and Daelhaelin don't
like the look of the red energy surrounding its feet and give it both barrels. Both the cultists and the unicorn are defeated but as the unicorn loses consciousness a bolt of white light strikes it and it regains the normal features of
a good unicorn. The contamination in the pool immediately begins to clear. The party clear out the barbarian
encampment and then return to the road where their Logath friends had been holding their horses to give the nomad tribesmen the good news.
At the insistence of Freya the party's next stop is the Castle of the Wolf,
a location only visited by the Vistani when in dire need. In the
gloomy land surrounding the castle the party are attacked by shadows, sapping the strength of some party members.
At the castle Freya demands a meeting with the owner, the Count, and forcefully demands that he release his ward,
a pale child called Circe into her custody. The Count objects but gives in knowing that Freya has the backing
of the powers of the Feywild. The party stay the night and leave with the child in the morning.
A few days later the party are attacked by a warband of gnolls who the party appreciate cannot be allowed to continue
on their way to harass the Logath. The warband are severely burnt by fireballs at range and the party have little
difficulty mopping up the survivors.
Eventually after many day's journey Daelhaelin guides the party to the foot of a tall mountain, standing out
from the plain, the Haldraka. At the foot of the plain is a small village which has the distinction of being
the nearest settlement to the main bases of the Gnolls. The party seek directions at the local tavern for ways
up the mountain but are told they must consult the Seer who will tell them whether they have the Dragon's permission.
The Seer is a middle-aged Logath woman who is enjoying an evening out with her friends. She tells them they have
the Dragon's permission but will need to buy small wooden tokens with brightly painted dragons on them to avoid
slipping on the dangerous path. Although these tokens are a bargain at a mere 5gp not all the party are convinced. She also tells them they are pursued by a group of 100 men approaching from the west.
About half way up the mountain they come to a high meadow where a goatherd, Isky, is tending to her flock of goats. She welcomes them and after some prompting seems to recognise Daelhaelin as someone she played with as a child. She invites them back to her cottage and begins to pack to leave. She says she is the daughter of the Seer
they met in the village. Dwain offers Isky the Malkoran rings in her possession which she puts them in a 'safe' in her cottage for her mother to deal with while extracting some mithril armour and a sword which might be the Sword of Erin. She also says she will wait for the pursuing men to arrive before leaving and pours some
water in a large shallow bowl in order to scry on their arrival in the village below. The party see in the bowl
the Seer warning Raelin not to lead his men up the mountain as they don't have the Dragon's permission and they
should fear the Dragon's Breath. Raelin replies he knows that there is no dragon on the mountain and he
refuses to buy any of the dragon tokens although several of his men do when his back is turned.
Raelin sends a projection of himself to demand the party surrender Isky. Isky meets him herself and repeats her
mother's warning. When he turns up in person with his men Isky points to the 'Dragon's Breath', a heavy fog descending down the mountain like an avalanche. She then runs back to the cottage and the party leave by the back door. Isky tells them to all hold hands and they jump off the precipice only to find out that the fog supports them
and they can run down the cliff face. In all the excitement, the jewellery box and the toy sword have not been left,
Gale, being a suspicious sort, having not handed them over. At the bottom of the mountain they find their horses, the villagers having presumably moved them on instructions from the Seer. They later find out that Raelin lost a quarter of his men descending the mountain in the fog including one of his Red Asp lieutenants.
The party ride due west and camp on the plains but that night the projection of Raelin appears in their camp
and triggers secret programming from Firmon's past. Unable to help himself he attacks Isky but her mithril armour saves her and the rest of the party manage to overcome him. Luckily the shock of being knocked unconscious allows Firmon an
opportunity to regain control of himself. On the second night camping Isky distributes gifts to the party from her
mother and then drops the bombshell that Raelin and his remaining three lieutenants are all deadly rakshasas.