The Lament of Dragons and the Descent Into Darkness Written by: Christian McCoy aka Silverfyre All rights reserved.
Many days have passed since my last entry into this journal and for that, my dear conscience, I apologize. Life has changed dramatically since I have last graced these pages with my thoughts. The fair city of Arabel, located inside the borders of the recovering nation of Cormyr, is now my home and I have finally accomplished one of my life long dreams. I, with help from the Lordess Ariel Castaspell (who I will tell you about in great detail later), have built a grand church and university to Mystra. All are of course welcome within it’s hallowed halls to learn and send their praise to the Goddess of Magic. This city is one of the most accepting I have ever visited and have decided, through various reasons, to call it home for the time being. Life has indeed improved drastically since the time of Alasandria’s death. I still miss her dearly but life has to move forward as Mystra herself has told me countless times. I can no longer sacrifice every waking moment to mourn her death. I must now celebrate her life and move on with mine, yet always keep her in my heart.
Lordess Ariel Castaspell is the one that taught me that life would forever go on even after we, and the ones we love are gone. Ariel has indeed become part of my life and also the holder of my heart. I meet her on a cold spring morning earlier this year and I could see that this woman was indeed a rarity. She is devoted to Mystra and magic completely. We are one and the same. It was with her help and guidance that my life once again took direction and the university to Mystra was completely. We have been through so much together in the past nine months. Our love is beginning and will continue to grow with the guidance of a gentle hand and care taking. Only time will tell if our union is indeed blessed by Mystra.
I have sensed a disturbance in the Weave itself. I prayed to Mystra for guidance and a disturbing event has begun to unfold. The story she told me was one that I have heard quite a few times in my travels. I shall now tell you that story as well my dearest friend:
Almost three hundred years, two humans made a bid for power that almost cost the world its innocence. A dark mage by the name of Dahrel Deathstone and his wife Irina Deathstone put together a plan that had the potential to put Faerun under their control forever. Dahrel Deathstone has many different aliases that have been heard throughout the centuries. They include the names Jaleeb Dahrel, Garrett, Deathstone, Irin Darkstone, and Dahrel Silvertree. The plan consisted of the two mages gating in a hundred black dragons, sending several of the egotistical creatures to different strategic locations and have them wait until it was the right time to strike. The right time would be when the lands of Faerun were in turmoil. The two mages would then send some of their other draconic minions, disguised as elves, humans and other humanoid races, to help begin wars in the various countries of Faerun. The disguised dragons would attempt to overthrow the leaders of each respectable race and cause as much confusion and chaos as possible. By causing such deception and chaos, Dahrel hoped to create a rebellion among the races and plunge all of the races of Faerun into civil war. When the time was right, Dahrel would then send a message to half of the waiting black dragon force and have them destroy various strategic targets throughout the southern half of Faerun. These targets included elven cities, dwarven strongholds and of course every major city south of Suzail. While this was going on, the dragons would then capture the respected leaders of each race and take them back to Dahrel’s fortress. Irina would enact the same plan in the northern lands of Faerun at the exact same moment. It would be there that the last phase of his plan would take place. Some choice black dragons would then assume the roles of the leaders and take their place among the people, being puppets that Dahrel could utterly control. Take heed that black dragons are the most egotistical of all draconic beings and are very hard to control. Dahrel devised a plan after summoning these creatures. He would use some of his magics to place a geas spell among the dragons and then parley with them in an attempt to keep them in line. They would gain control of the regions whose leaders they would assume the role of. Irina and Dahrel would make every one of the major decisions. It seems as though all was falling into place perfectly and that the lands of Faerun would soon be under their control. That was until…
After the first ten dragons had been summoned, Mystra herself felt a disturbance in the Weave for such great amounts of dark conjuration magic were being used for evil purposes. The Goddess of Magic called forth some of her chosen, the guardians of her ways and magic itself. She called upon the arch mage Elminster, the Queen of Aglarond The Simbul, and the two high wizards of Waterdeep, Laeril and Kelben Blackstaff. The four Chosen of Mystra pinpointed the location of Dahrel’s stronghold in the depths of the Desert Mouth Mountains, near the mines of Tethymar. The Chosen decided to destroy the source of the recent gating and then move onto dealing with the black dragons that had already been gated in. Upon their arrival, the Chosen descended six miles into the mountain fortress and defeated the minions of the Deathstones. After many fierce battles, the Chosen finally came upon the cause and were surprised to learn that the source of these gate openings was only one person…a human woman named Irina. They did not know that her husband Dahrel was actually the mastermind behind the whole plan for world domination. Dahrel could not help her for the wards on his own fortress prevented him from leaving. Nevertheless Dahrel had to watch through the Soulseer Stone that was placed around his beloved’s neck as she was struck down by the Chosen’s spells and strength. Bloodied and near death, Irina grasped the stone and whispered her dying words to her husband, “Do not let my death and our dreams go unjustified.” It was then that Irina died and so did the plans for the black dragon take over…whatever became of Dahrel no one knows.
Quite the interesting tale no? This Dahrel Deathstone has to be the one behind these recent attacks. Nevertheless, whatever or whoever has been gating in these monstrous black dragons needs to be stopped and I think that it is time for my long retirement to end and for me to once again battle the minions of darkness who seek to destroy all that the Light has created. I shall see if I can find more on these occurrences.
Unfortunately the number of black dragons in this area has increased dramatically since my last entry two weeks ago. I have consulted Mystra once again on the subject and she has only granted me a limited bit of knowledge. I am to travel to the lands of Turmish in the south and see if this is the true place from which the black dragons are emanating. I have been told to seek out a dragon slayer of Torm by the name of Katara Bloodstone who is also a member of the adventuring party that finally destroyed the threat of Dragon Mountain a year ago. I believe the name of that party was the Red Dragon Company. Quite the fitting name if you ask this humble writer’s opinion. By asking around the city, I was pointed towards a bar that I have come to frequent every now and again. It is named “Into the Dragon’s Lair” and is propertied by two half dragons who were once adventurers themselves and used their fortunes to create this fine establishment. The bar itself is four stories high and quite elegant. The first floor is the main bar area, with gambling tables and the sitting area occupying a good portion of the floor. The entire establishment is done in a draconic motif and resembles the classic view of a dragon’s lair. All of the walls are done to resemble natural cave walls that are studded with false gems and coins. Quite unique and creative of the proprietors of this fine establishment. The top two floors contain grand rooms and balconies for guests and employees alike. Quite cozy albeit a little expensive for the average townsman. The basement level is amazingly delightful. Down the stone steps is an entire floor devoted to a pool, in which patrons can enjoy the waters and their drinks alike. The waitresses usually enjoy the waters a bit too much if you ask me. They wonder about without their tops on and this sometimes causes some problems with “over eager” patrons. I am sure the ladies can handle themselves though and so thus, I do not interject. Beauty should never be covered up in my own opinion. Now allow me to tell you a bit about the owners of this bar, tavern, and gambling hall. One is a half gold that goes by the name of Blaze and has been knighted by the Princess Regent of this nation. He is a rather tall gentleman who always has an aura of indifference and neutrality about him. Quite the easygoing fellow. And from the way he moves, quite the accomplished swordsman. The other bar owner is a half green dragon sorcerer who goes by the title Sir Danon Emeraldstar. He is also the leader of the Emeraldstar Magistrate, a school of sorcery in Arabel. He is a rather sarcastic whelp who has a fondness for pranks and degrading people who do not see eye to eye with him. A pity really that such a powerful individual has to be so…chaotic. He also unfortunately has a grudge against humans. Danon will learn the errors of his ways in due time. The two half dragons adventured together and from my own keen observations are quite close. Brothers in arms so to speak. Another interesting fact is that Sir Emeraldstar is married to a half fiend demon slayer of Ilmater. I have only meet the Lady Lanka Emeraldstar twice and both times only in passing. An intriguing individual to say the least. I hope to make myself more known to her in the near future. There are a few more people who are usually present within “Into the Dragon’s Lair” when I visit there that I wish to tell you about. One is a beautiful elven woman of the gray bloodline who goes by the name of Sable. She is also Sir Blaze’s wife and mother of his twin children. I do not know their names but I am sure they shall both grow up to be champions of their chosen causes. Lady Sable also shares my fondness for rubies, which I thought I should write about for some odd reason. I do offer such tidbits from time to time my dear conscience. Her brother, Aramis, is one of the best bartenders I have come to know in my years of going to inns and roadside taverns. A kind hearted individual and professional sculptor, Aramis is a wonderful conversationalist and I have discussed many a thing with this servant of Corelleon Larethian. Sir Balthasar Bloodstone, the head chef at this wondrous establishment, is also the father of the Dragon slayer I am seeking. He is also the local high priest of Selune. I never expected a male to be the authority of Selune in this city but he does it rather well and with a kind guiding hand. One might think that with such diverse personalities aboard that the balance might be tipped. Luckily a Paladin by the name of Sir Mick Vendor is also one of the caretakers of this tavern. He is a wise man with a strong sword arm, although I fear he is a bit too strict to some of the other employees. But if he were not then who would be? Danon…? Surely not. Another oddity of this place is the presence of two firbolgs who act as the bodyguards and bouncers. I believe they are brothers and have a unique fascination with some game called “Horsy Toss.” Maybe I shall inquire what that is at a later date. There are so many different personalities and characters within this place I could write another fifty pages alone on them. Perhaps I will at a later date but for now I shall continue on with my search for the dragon slayer named Katara Bloodstone.
Katara or Kat as her friends call her is the type of woman who every man would desire. She is devoted to her cause and her beliefs as a dragon slayer of Torm. Endless loyal and beautiful in both body and mind. She has the discipline of the toughest solider and the sword and strength to match. I think I shall become quite fond of her. Sir Balthasar is surely proud of his daughter. Her own finds mirror mine almost perfectly. Kat has learned that this person who is gating in these dragons goes by several different aliases and she has found the location of one of them. The name she gave me was Dahrel Silvertree and describes him as a dwarven blacksmith in the town of Alagoan. Alagoan is a city that is in the lands of Turmish so thus we now have a lead. Kat told me that she had already gathered a party to go forth and destroy the threat that was befalling these beautiful lands. I of course offered to come along and she humbly accepted. I look forward to meeting my future party members and plan on contacting a few friends myself…
Unfortunately my beloved Ariel must stay behind and watch over the university and her duties as one of the leaders of the War Wizards and thus cannot accompany me on my journal to Turmish. Another though will do so in her stead. I recently meet a drow priestess of the goodly goddess Eilistraee. She goes by the name of Kessa Besnell and is as kind and gentle as her goddess is. Her people, a small contingency of drow worshippers of Eilistraee, have recently come to Arabel and established a church to their goddess. She and her church are also a part of the alliance of goodly faiths in Arabel that I have established. Kessa took to this cause with no hesitation and I look forward to seeing her full capabilities in the battle that we are all about to fight.
That evening was spent reforging an old friend that I had lost many years ago. The “Lament of Dragons” was a sword that I had received from a traveling priest of Bahamat for the services I had done for her. The long sword was lost unfortunately in a fire giant’s liar and vanished into the lava pits of that foul place. By using my own powers that were granted to me by Mystra, I have reforged that long lost blade and augmented it’s powers greatly. We will need such a weapon in the days to come. For now I shall use the blade but I have a feeling that it will be better suited for the hands of Katara.
I must say that I have never meet a more motley crew of adventurers in all my life. Allow me to introduce them in turn to you my dear journal and eternal listener. I have mentioned our leader Katara before and so thus you are already acquainted with this flawless soul. Lady Sable, Blaze’s wife, has decided to join this small group and has proven herself to be an experienced adventurer in the past and will do so on this journey, at least that is how I feel. She is of the roguish variety from what I have seen. Her heavily enchanted short sword is never far from her side and it has been dubbed “Athena” which I believe is the name of a close friend of hers. Sable and Ari’s sister and a personal friend of Danon’s, Brianna, has decided to also part in this adventure. She is quite the beauty and carries the same features as her brother and sister. I can see why Danon has taken a liking to her. Her personality can only be described as wild. Brianna, or Bri to her friends and myself, is a wild soul who can never be tamed and is the most flirtous elf I have ever known. Her constant banter and jokes are very humorous at times and very personal at times as well. I believe her favorite one is one that she has with Sir Mick, the Paladin I mentioned earlier. She will tell him to “Touch my butt” and Mick, being a devoted husband and married man, refuses and turns a stern gaze upon the chaotic prankster Brianna. She is also a sorceress and Danon’s first and only apprentice. I can only hope that she remains focused enough to help us accomplish our goal. Another chaotic individual that I hope pulls himself together in a time of crisis is the half orc druid and woodsman who goes by the name Shadovar or as he is more widely known, Plant. This fellow is a hulky brute of a man and is never far from his trusted great axe. His connection with the goddess Mielikki and nature itself in undeniable. Shadovar is honestly a plant creature. I have never known a druid to physically become a plant but this true servant of nature has done as such. He also has a fondness for dwarven ale and drinks it by the barrel each time I have seen him. A gentle person at time…I have yet to see him in battle but I can sense that this half plant half orc has the very fury of nature inside of him. The bastard sword is a hard weapon to master yet the human warrior named Faye has done so. She is of an average built woman but is made of tougher stuff than dragons. Her fiery red hair seems to define her personality for she is a rough and tumble sort of woman who enjoys stabbing out with her tongue as much as her sword. Shadovar and Faye seem to have some sort of rivalry, friendly of course, between each other. It is rather amusing to watch…I just hope those two do not end up hurting each other…too much that is. Shadovar, Kat, Faye, and Brianna are all members of the Red Dragon Company and have adventured together in the past, as I have stated before. I was pleased to know that a Purple Dragon knight by the name of Leon “Dragon Breath” was to join our adventuring company as an official representative of the Crown. He is a stern gentleman who is lead by his own personal code of honor and his love for his country. A true knight and servant of Torm. His skill with the great sword is renowned throughout these lands and his duty to the Crown is flawless. I have high expectations of this man and I know that he will go far above them. With Kat as our leader, we have all come together to slay the black dragons that are infesting this country and the world of Faerun. A mismatched yet fine group of adventurers. I will be happy to call them all friends and look forward to the many tales that we will weave together.
We have decided to head to the capital city of Suzail and take Dragon Breath’s galleon that has been named the “Purple Dragon of Torm.” We departed early in the morning on a late autumn day and easily made our way to the beautiful and busy city of Suzail. Many people come and live in this beautiful city yet there is still an aura of sadness about the place. Cormyr is still rebuilding after the war that beset them a few years ago and the loss of their beloved King Azoun the IV still weighs heavy in their hearts. I can only hope that this nation will once again become the strongest in Faerun. Dragon Breath lead us to a port side inn named “The Mermaid’s Caress.” It was a typical establishment that was more suited for seamen than wandering adventurers. We decided to take on a crew to help us journey by sea to the lands of Turmish. The crew’s leader, a salty old human by the name of Jones, informed us that it would be a ten day journey with the assistance of my magic. A gust of wind spell can work wonders for those who need the power of the wind to move them along. Perhaps I should have been a ship’s mage? A good question for a later date. The ship that Dragon Breath owned was one of the most beautiful pieces of craftsmanship I had ever laid eyes upon. Only the schooners of the Elven Navy could compare to the fine craftsmanship and seaworthiness of this vessel so adeptly named the “Purple Dragon of Torm.” We had secured enough provisions to begin our journey to the lands of Turmish and in the morning, we departed the port of Suzail and headed into the wild waters of the Sea of Fallen Stars.
We were enjoying two days of clear skies and smooth sailing when trouble finally found us. And it came in the form of two mature black dragons and a giant kraken. It was nighttime, almost midnight when they approached our ship. Brianna, Kessa and myself were engaged in a lighthearted conversation about past adventures when one of the crew cried out in surprise. A giant tentacle was posed to strike the galleon and time seemed to stand still as the tentacle fell down upon our vessel. The deck shook violently and I barely found my footing. Luckily for us, the hull held fast. A few beams splintered but the ship was in otherwise good condition. The cry to arms went up and swords were drawn. The crew took to manning the sails and steering while we battled the creatures. Brianna shouted out a word of warning as she spotted the two black dragons swooping down towards us. Kat, without uttering a word, took flight after the creatures. Shadovar and the others were soon on deck, ready to face the challenge of our foes. Shadovar quickly cast a flesh to stone spell and turned one of the dragons into an over glorified statue and sent it plummeting into the azure depths of the ocean. The raging druid then literally leapt overboard and plunged his axe into one of the kraken’s tentacles and continued to punish the monster by biting the foul creature. Brianna focused on the kraken as well, hitting it repeatedly with lightning spells. Poor Shadovar felt some of the aftermath of those very same spells while he was grappling with the kraken. Sable and Faye slashed repeatedly at the kraken’s tentacles as the creature continued its assault on the ship. Dragon Breath shouted out orders to the crew and joined the fray with Faye and Sable. Kessa, ever the wonder, walked..yes walked…on the water’s surface and battled the creature with her Eilistraee given bastard sword. I soon gave chase to the last remaining black dragon and helped Kat defeat the foul beast. Soon the battle was over as quickly as it had begun. The kraken was soon destroyed and everyone was pulled safely aboard. We did not lose a single hand during that fierce battle and I now definitely can say that I feel safe with my life in the hands of my companions.
The next five days passed without any event worth mentioning. I did however get to know my companions a little better. Bri was an avid card player and beat me several times over in poker. Shadovar had been raised by a human druid and his human mother yet had spent many a day with some dwarven friends and that is how he developed his appreciation for fine dwarven ale. Sable cares deeply for her family and is quite the witty woman. I enjoy her presence deeply and admire her sense of devotion. I have heard rumors that she was once a darker person but such things are only rumors to me. Kat is rather the silent type, devoted to her craft and the destruction of all evil dragons. I took it upon myself to offer her “Lament of Dragons” and she humbly accepted. The blade was meant for her and her alone and I am happy to pass it onto someone who will use it wisely. Dragon Breath is a stern and cautious man who is entirely consumed by honor and his love of the nation of Cormyr. He seems to also enjoy his bottle of fire brandy. Quite the strong drink…too strong for my light palate. Faye and Shadovar continue to banter with each other on an hourly basis and I find those two to be the much needed comical relief around here. Kessa watches the sea in wanderlust, seeing something in it that eludes me. When I asked her about it, she merely smiled and asked if I had ever danced upon the water as she had. I answered yes but it was through the use of magic. She nodded and continued to look out over the water. She is an enigma to me. The drow always have been. Some of them are corrupted by their evil spider queen, Lolth while others such as Kessa are kind hearted free spirits, as untamed as their surface kin. The sea at nighttime is one of the most enchanting things in the world. It is like watching two skies at once, each a mirror image of the other. When the waters are raging the night sky looks like it is in turmoil, lost in the primal dance of the cosmos. How wonderful it is to see such a sight again.
The peaceful nature of our journey was shattered early this afternoon as yet another dragon made an appearance. This time it came out of the sea and was a deep dragon, an evil subterranean race of dragon rarely found above the surface. It also brought along some friends: Half dragon kuo tauns. Almost two dozen of them assaulted our ship and we once again took the initiative. Within seconds we had dispatched the kuo taun without much of a problem. The dragon was another story. Kat managed to fell the beast finally after much battle. “Lament of Dragons” struck hard and soon the dragon exploded into a rain of ash as Kat slew the beast and destroyed its soul forever. I enjoy watching her fight yet I wish we could all live a peaceful existence without having to take up arms against a threat such as the one we are facing.
A few more days passed and finally the call we had all being waiting for was sounded. “land Ho!” Jones called as the rocky lands of Turmish came into view. We guided the ship into a naturally formed harbor and finally set foot upon the lands of Turmish. The crew was paid handsomely to remain aboard the ship and await our return here. Jones was left in charge and we headed a short distance away to the small hamlet of Starmantle. This small human community is what one would expect of a typical fishing and farming town. Not many people and just enough buildings to house them all. We entered the town quietly, with Kessa’s true features under an illusionary disguise so that we could avoid an incident. Surprisingly enough it was not Kessa’s looks that started a problem but Shadovar’s. The human innkeeper did not take kindly to the presence of a half orc in his bar and would not serve him. I spoke to the bar keep and he soon, grudgingly allowed Shadovar, who mind you is not one of the most patient people I have had the pleasure of knowing, to stay and drink. Soon the party retired for the evening and some of us, myself included, stayed up and just had a few drinks and told tales of our past adventures. It seems that Sable and her family had a hard childhood. Faye and Shadovar had a drinking contest and both hit the floor at about the same time, even though I think Faye was the one who hit the floor last. I have grown quite fond of my traveling companions and now set my eyes on the future and the evil we are about to face.
The morning greeted us with warm rays of sunlight and dew covered ground. It was a beautiful morning yet one could cut the tension with a dagger. We all knew something was going to happen today, something bad. We set out hugging the coastline and soon our realization of finding something dreadful came true. Shadovar noticed some sort of shipwreck off the coastline, its mast just peaking out of the water. Kessa and I decided to investigate the shipwreck and see if there were any survivors, as doubtful as it was. The shipwreck was devoid of life and had happened rather recently. We did manage to locate a cache of treasure and brought the golden chest we had found in the ship’s hold back up to the surface and to our awaiting group. Brianna was quick to search the chest for any sort of unpleasantries and upon locating none, opened the chest. Glittering gold and jewels greeted our eyes. Suddenly, Bri taped the end of the chest and a secret panel opened and fell to the ground, along with twelve rings. Each one was crafted of the most precious of metals and inlaid with symbols. Upon closer inspection I realized that they were symbols of gnomish royalty. Shadovar called out at that moment and said that he had located some tracks while we were all flabbergasting at the treasure trove. Kessa nodded to the hulking barbarian and identified them as gnome tracks. So there had been some survivors after all…we prayed that they were in good health and spirits as we set out on the trail to locate the missing gnome nobles.
I wish my vision were stricken from me because of the vile sight that I had to gaze upon. The three of us who were tracking the gnomes were the first to see five of them hanging from the trees, stripped of their clothing as well as their flesh. They were in various states of disfigurement and I could not help but become nauseous at the sight. Sable suggested that we cut them down and Dragon Breath did so. We gave them a proper burial and moved on. It was then that Shadovar showed his first sign of the rage welling inside of him. He did not say a word to anyone and continued on ahead, his well-worn axe handle clutched tightly. We had no choice but to follow him after we buried the gnomes. I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach as to the fates of the other gnomes.
Unfortunately I was I was right to have a feeling of dread inside of me. We came across another site of sacrifice and murder. Three more gnomes, each one more disfigured than the next, hung from the cider trees that towered around us. Shadovar did not even stop. Kessa stopped him with a calming effect but even that was not enough to get the murderous rage out of his eyes. The half orc wanted vengeance and until that thirst was sated, nothing could calm him down. Dragon breath cut down the corpses and we gave them a proper burial like we had done with the last group. With a glance to Sable, who was ready to destroy whatever had done this as well, I continued tracking the fiends that had done these vile deeds. We had to look no further than a quarter mile away. We came upon yet another group of skinned gnomes hanging from the trees but seen something else among their shattered remains. Some sort of half orc half-dragon beast was pinned to a tree trunk, a spear through his chest. Shadovar wasted no time taking the creature’s head and placing it on his belt. A repulsive show of force but I was not about to comment on it. Shadovar must have noticed something we did not for he suddenly turned and charged into the foliage. His battle cry filled our ears and we gave chase, blades in hand and grim determination in our hearts. Faye was the first to see what had befallen our large friend. Shadovar had just narrowly avoided falling into a pit filled with dragon teeth, each one strategically placed so that one could not avoid hitting one if one fell into the pit. Two gnomes lay pierced by the dragon teeth, their small bodies twitching in agony and their screams of pain filling our ears. Sorrow and anger overwhelmed me at the moment and I started to make my way down. At that moment we were ambushed by several of those half orc half dragon beasts we had seen earlier. They stood over ten feet tall and were covered in black scales and heavy black fur. Each one was armed with throwing axes, each one bloodied with the blood of the gnome captives. Shadovar turned and cried out as an axe thudded into his back. This did not slow the barbarian’s rage as he turned on his attacker and began hacking him apart with his heavy great axe. Katara did not speak a word as her twin blades appeared in her hands and went to work on the nearest enemy, sending it to join the one Shadovar had just hacked apart. Sable and Brianna moved with great stealth and soon two more of the beasts lay dead at our feet. Silverfury tasted blood for the first time in a long time as I plunged my most prized possession (Besides my beloved Arial of course…) into one of the beast’s hearts, sending it to the Nine Hells were it belonged. Faye and Dragon Breath fell the last of the beasts when we noticed that the screams of agony that were coming from the two entrapped gnomes were now silent. I could not help but become speechless at our actions. We were so blinded by rage that we did not take the time to save those two innocent souls. I will forever atone for my actions and can only hope that their souls and Mystra forever us. An eye for an eye leaves the world blind…how true it is.
The mountains loomed closer as we continued on, following the coastline in search of the town of Alagoun. Everyone is quite somber due to the incident with the gnomes we faced earlier. We did not have much time to sit and reflect on the past events for the roar of a dragon suddenly shattered the silence of our thoughts. Looking up we say the outline of a large red dragon flying towards us, its claws outstretched and red orbs glistening menacingly. I was amazed at what happened next. Kessa, with her arms outstretched and voice singing praise to Eilistraee, looked up at the diving dragon and whispered in the ancient language of the Elves. The red dragon was suddenly wrapped in pure silver and blue flames and roared out in agony. It soon plummeted to the ground where it burned to ashes in the holy flames. Kat had taught Shadovar how to be a dragon slayer so I can understand what happened next. The two of them, not having gotten a chance to even attack the dragon, stormed off towards the mountains, seeing something we apparently had not. The rest of us conversed on their actions for a moment before following them up into the mountains.
Kat and Shadovar must have unleashed their anger on the three red dragon hatchlings they had found within a cave for when we arrived the three hatchlings had been dispatched in a rather savage fashion. Shadovar was pulling his axe from one of the hatchling’s heads while Katara was taking a one of a deceased hatchling’s claws. The rest of us explored the cave complex and soon stumbled upon every adventurer’s dream. A dragon’s hoard. An entire cavern filled with gold and gems. We spent the rest of the evening gathering up these riches and decided to retire for the evening. I called up Mordenkein’s Mansion and we slept well that evening in the luxury of a magical mansion.
The morning unfolded with a rather unique occurrence. Several bugbears had stumbled into the former dragon lair that we used to set up camp and were picking through the remains of the red dragon hatchlings. Everyone reached for a weapon but I had seen enough bloodshed for one day. I simply use the magic graced to me by Mystra to send the creatures away and allow us to be on our way. They were not radiating an evil aura about them so why should I slay them if they were merely looking for food? After this we teleported back to our starting point and headed off into the opposite direction for the town we were searching for was not the way we thought it was when we first began. Six hours and twenty miles later we came upon the home of some sandworms, which were using illusions of halflings to lure in unsuspecting prey. Quite cunning of them. Shadovar summoned up a lava pool that entombed them in the sand now turned glass beachfront. He later used his druidic abilities upon some goblins that were roasting a pig and punishing two other goblins by hanging them from palm trees and poking them with sharpened sticks. Shadovar did something I do not approve of but who am I to dictate other people’s behavior towards goblins? He approached them openly and tried to intimidate them into giving him their dinner, which was a roasted pig. When this did not prevail he conjured forth a swarm of fire elementals and roasted the goblins instead. With a huge grin on his craggy face the barbarian returned to our group and was greeted by a round of cheers from everyone…except Kessa and myself. I did not find any amusement in the encounter. I remained silent on the matter. We had a larger task to accomplish. After another hour’s travel we came upon something that I would rather not discuss but will for the sake of keeping an accurate account of the adventure. We were suddenly attacked by some sort of patchwork dragon golem. It landed on the shoreline, spraying all of us with sand. The beast was quite the challenge for us for our spells could not harm it and our blades had a hard time piercing its thick skin. Sable was the one who landed the killing blow, her prized Athena sword cutting deep into the abomination’s side. She must have disrupted the magic that kept the creature together and I commend her for a well-done victory. The rest of the day was uneventful and we let out a sigh of relief as we came upon the town of Alagoun. We had finally reached a safe haven…or so we thought.
Alagoun is a small town, very typical of the small hamlets one stumbles upon while touring Faerun. Four watchtowers, each one facing one of the four points on a compass, surrounded the city despite the lack of a wall around the perimeter of the small town. We entered the town quietly and soon seen that the town was all but deserted. The only real activity was in the tavern, which was named the “Whispering Wind.” The barkeep was rather solemn and related a tale of horror that we feared to hear. The town had been under the siege of the draconic menace for well over four months now and most of the residents were either dead or had left the city in search of a safe haven. Upon our request for more information the barkeep told us to visit the village wise man that was named Greko. We vouched to do this in the morning and purchased lodging for the evening. Some of us unfortunately, myself included, could not wait until morning and decided to take a walk and see if we could find any information about the dwarven blacksmith we had come here to see.
Dragon Breath, Katara, Brianna and myself searched the city for an hour before something found us. Katara stopped suddenly and told us that there was a dragon in the area. She had seen some movement a few feet away in the shadows of an alleyway. Dragon Breath and Brianna went around the other side of the alley while Kat and I went straight to where we saw the movement. As we were coming around the alley Kat cried out and we found ourselves staring straight up at a perched black dragon. From the size of him he was not very old but his powerful talons had Kat in their grasp. She had freed her swords just as I got around the beast and used Silverfury to take his tail from him, throwing him off balance. Dragon Breath’s greatsword, an intelligent blade named “Nightfall”, took both of the dragon’s wings while Brianna’s fireball spell struck it fully in the belly. Kat’s blades shined in the moonlight as she cut the evil dragon’s throat open, spilling its foul blood onto the flagstone street. The beast died quickly and Kat was soon freed. She was unharmed as well for her chain mail had protected her adequately. Calling everyone together we headed back to the tavern to awaken our other party members. Upon getting everyone together, including a very grumpy and half drunk Shadovar who I quickly sobered up via magic, the group decided to make an example out of this dragon and to go see the local constable who was located at the center of town. We departed the inn and made our way past several gawking civilians who looked in awe at the remains of the black dragon we were carrying along with us. Shadovar knocked on the constable’s door and soon this portly gentleman wearing leather armor and carrying a short sword answered the door. We exchanged greetings and soon explained our situation. Once again Shadovar showed his lack of social skills as he insulted the man for not doing a very good job and as we showed him the dragon remains, Shadovar decided to yell out “Dragon!” and the poor constable ran back into his house screaming. Shadovar further continued his attack upon the man’s nerves by…ahem, showing him his backside through one of the tower windows. It was in the least sense worth a chuckle but I still do not appreciate him playing with the poor constable’s wits like that. We headed back to the inn; weary from the recent battle and in much need of some well deserved rest.
In the morning, we paid a call to the local wise man Greko. His residence was a rather dilapidated hut that stood on the outskirts of Alagoun. It was through great reluctance that the seer finally let us in after making sure that we were of good intentions through his door. Shadovar’s social skills once again shone through as soon as we seen the mystic. He was in a full suit of plate armor that stood over seven feet tall but the voice of Greko was coming from the stomach of the armor. Shadovar pulled the top part of the armor off and exposed Greko for what he really was: A small elderly gnome with bifocal glasses perched on a beaklike nose. Dragon Breath convinced him to tell us what he knew through a masterful use of diplomacy. The following is taken word per word of what the seer told us as he gazed into a crystal ball of azure color:
“Follow the dwarven armorer who goes by the name of Dahrel Silvertree. He is a fraud and seeks only vengeance for his lost wife. He seeks total domination of the world through draconic ways. Seek him out and put an end to his evil ways.”
I made sure to pay Greko for his services by giving him one of the two Amulets of the Plane I possessed on my person at the time. We soon left the little shack the seer called home and went to pay the dwarf named Dahrel Silvertree a much-needed visit.
While we were in Greko’s hut, I had moved Sable’s hand aside. She had grabbed Greko and told him to please tell her what he knew. Greko’s reaction was of course not favorably to our cause so I gently pushed her hand aside to prevent further aggravation to the seer whose knowledge we needed. Sable pulled me aside afterwards and demanded that I never lay a hand upon her again. I merely apologized and we left it at that. I took no offense to the situation but I now wonder at her past. What would make that woman feel offended by my touch? Perhaps it hints at something awful in her past…one day perhaps I shall ask her but for now we have more important tasks to take care of.
Dahrel’s shop was one that contained works of wonder. We entered the shop and browsed around, taking in the armor that crowded this small shop and forge. One thing I noticed that bothered me was the fact that no of this armor was under the age of two hundred years old. Didn’t this dwarf make new armor? The shopkeeper told me that Dahrel only makes new armor through special order and that the armorer was currently out. If we wanted to see him we would have to return another time. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I was looking at this raven-haired human man and I focused for a moment, reading his aura. Nothing but darkness. He was of evil intentions and Dragon Breath and Kessa soon reached the same conclusion and we ushered the rest of the group out. Brianna proposed that we watch the shop from across the street at this nice little dwarven pub named the “Shining Hammer.” Shadovar was the first one inside followed by Faye and the two of them, typically, started to drink heavily upon Dwarven Ale. Amusing really but we need to be vigilant at the moment. The rest of us sat outside the tavern and kept a watch over the “Flaming Anvil”. It was not until late afternoon that we saw something suspicious. Some of our group have been blessed with the gift of true seeing and it was through this gift that we seen something rather interesting. A large black dragon, polymorphed into a dark featured human, walked into the armory and closed the door behind him. I called forth the rest of our small party and whispered words to Mystra, asking for the spell that I needed. She gifted me with the spell of etherealness and I utilized the spell to shift our party onto the Ethereal Plane. We were in essence now ghosts to the physical world. I believe Faye found the experience rather disturbing and I could not help but smile amusingly at this. We made our way into the shop, unseen by the people inside. The dragon was asking to see the “master” and said that he needed more minions to help strengthen his forces in the northern quadrant. The shop keeps told him that they would show him where the master was and started to leave the shop, locking it on the way out. We headed back to the small tavern and re-entered the physical world. After using a moment to orientate ourselves, we shadowed the evil humans and the dragon to a tree not too far off from the town. To my magic sensitive eyes I could see the aura of teleportation magic about it. We watched as the four stepped into the tree and the magical aura flared up, meaning that the teleportation magic had just been used to spirit the four away to some other location on Faerun. After some quick nods we all followed them into the tree and teleported after them, determined to get to the bottom of this draconic threat.
Teleporting is one of those magical effects I will never get use to. When you teleport you are surrounded by this cold darkness and you find yourself falling endlessly. It seems to last forever but ends rather quickly. You then find your vision returning and often find your stomach swimming. I never will get use to that feeling and that is why I rarely use such magic. I found myself starring down a hill to this stony valley that was below us. A demonic face was set into one of the nearby mountain walls, towering over fifty feet tall. Set into the stone face, were two smaller doors that I could see from this distance and pointed out to my fellow adventurers. Suddenly a stone guardian pulled itself from the doorway and descended upon us. The stone guardian stood almost thirty feet tall and moved with the speed and grace of a hunting cat. Before we could prepare ourselves for battle, Shadovar stepped forth and yelled out a call to his goddess, Mielikki. She answered his call for the stone guardian, being made of the earth itself, was suddenly turned into its basic element of mud and soft earth. We barely had a moment to caught our breath because the stone guardian began to reform again. Shadovar once again called upon his druidic abilities and called down a cyclone of water, scattering the reforming stone guardian and drenching us in water and mud. He was grinning after we regained our footing and began laughing. We all got a good chuckle out of the incident despite the bruises we now all carried from that little experience. After regaining our wits we headed towards the doors and Brianna and Sable checked it over for traps and the like. Sable found one and removed it without much trouble. It was some sort of sonic device that would no doubt do some heavy damage to our ears as well as our bodies. She dispatched of the trap and Brianna unlocked the door. We then took our first steps into what might very well be our final resting place.
The smell of death and decay is everywhere in this foul stronghold. I am now writing you from the safety of Mordenkein’s mansion, which I have placed in one of the caverns we found later on in this vile place. Allow me tell you of some of the horrors that we have come upon while searching for the cause of all of this. The first room we came upon was actually a long corridor and had been altered with magic to appear to be a dead end. Quite clever but we were able to see through it and continued on into what appeared to be some sort of dance hall. The entire room was filled with the sound of a lone mandolin playing eerily from the ceiling, suspended in mid air by a levitation spell. Fifty formally clothed figures moved about gracefully, dancing to the music. As we quietly moved into the room the aura of undeath filled my vision and we could now see that the dancers were in fact ghouls. Kessa, Dragon Breath and myself quickly turned the foul undead by channel the divine powers of our respected gods and goddesses into the room. Most of the ghouls were turned to dust in a matter of moments. Such is the glory of the goodly gods. The rest were quickly dispatched of and given proper burial rights. Dragon Breath retrieved the mandolin and allowed me study it for a moment. It had a bizarre enchantment upon it. It would play whenever there were undead in the vicinity. Quite the useful item when venturing into a necromancer’s stronghold. Our paladin companion kept the mandolin and we used it as some sort of undead alarm while we continued on into the complex. We soon came upon a natural cavern and stood on a ledge that overlooked the area from fifty feet up. Below us was a river with six mud huts along the riverbed. Several dozen slaads were present as well as a young adult black dragon that was in the guise of a slaad. They all carried axes and did not seem to notice our presence as of yet. I pulled a wand of chain lightning and used it to great affect from my vantage point high above the cavern floor. The others made their way down and went into melee battle with the remaining slaads. There had been two dozen of them before my wand was used and now less than a quarter of that number remained. Sable took the head of one of them while Faye smashed one in the face with her sword hilt before plunging the blade through it’s left eye. Shadovar used his druidic abilities yet again to transform himself into a phoenix and spread an inferno across the entire area, torching everything in sight. Luckily for us we all had some sort of protection versus the element of fire. Kat landed the final blow on the dragon along with Dragon Breath and Kessa. Brianna provided some additional arcane support while the rest engaged in melee combat. She is quite the sorceress and perhaps I shall offer to teach her a few things after this adventure is over with. After taking some of the more valuable items from our fallen foes, we reached the mouth of the river and continued down the narrow corridor that the water came out of. Once inside we were greeted with the sight of a cavern full of glistening diamonds. Shadovar used a meld into stone spell to help pop out the diamonds while any one with a dagger, excluding Kat, Dragon Breath and myself, helped take the diamonds out. Quite the find even though I preferred to see such beauty in its natural state and not used to buy a glass of ale or a new sword. Woe to those who miss such a sight. But enough of my own personal preferences and allow me to continue the story that I should be telling you. After passing through the former diamond studded chamber we came to a spiked black iron portcullis. Brianna studied the portcullis for a moment and took out one of the diamonds we had recently acquired. She placed it inside a small depression she had found on the tunnel wall and lo and behold, the portcullis went upward and opened a way for us. A great observation and deduction made on the part of our party’s wild sorceress and opportunist. The next room we came upon housed six wonders of the ages and some of the best guardians in all the realms, helmed horrors. I myself have constructed a few of these and use them to protect my own personal chambers but these ones were augmented further than my own. Our blades and spells made short work of the guardians and we pushed forward through that chamber on into the next. Sounds of steel on stone and metal on metal rang in our ears as we came upon the next chamber. It was here that whoever constructed the helmed horrors did so. Twelve half complete helmed horrors lay scattered about the floor, along with many pieces of armor. I called upon my arcane magics and used a reverse gravity spell to send the entire contents of the room crashing into the ceiling and followed up with a wall of force spell to keep them suspended there. I did this because we could now travel to the other side of the room and avoid being attacked by the helmed horrors, even though disassembled would still be a nuisance. Brianna opened the next set of double doors and the smell of undead filled our nostrils as we walked into the room. The sounds of metal on metal once again greeted our ears for seven ju ju zombies and several wights were making weapons over several forges. We had stumbled upon an undead workshop for weapons and armor. The holy power of Mystra and Eilistraee quickly reduced the wights to dust but we could not turn the dreaded ju ju zombies. Battle ensued and our blades cut the zombies down and holy water finished the act and made sure that they would never rise again. We found a few exceptional pieces of weaponry and added them to our growing party treasure. We continued on into some sort of burial hall. Fourteen coffins, each with a painting of the deceased hanging above it, lined the walls of this great hall. Some sort of slide was at the end of the chamber and lead up. We detected no undead within this chamber so we left the coffins alone and decided not to disturb their eternal rest. I do wonder who these people were in life but that is not what was on my mind at the moment. What was up that shaft was. I used a gaseous form spell to go up the shaft and into the next chamber. I wish I hadn’t of. It was an experiment room and torture chamber. Sharp blades glistened in the weak torch light and the flames revealed several dragon heads, scales and claws scattered about the blood-splattered chamber. A fifteen-foot long gold dragon tail was suspended from the ceiling and I could not help but feel sickened by the sight of such a goodly creature’s demise. I called the party up into the room and warned them of the sights in here. Dragon Breath and Kat paid their respects to the gold dragon and I disintegrated the remains and gave him last rites. I honestly wished that I had never seen what lie within the adjoining room for it made my very soul retch in disgust. The entire room was devoted to the torture and demise of other intelligent beings. And some of those beings still remained. Two halflings were hanging from the ceiling with barbed hooks hanging from their shoulders and with their throats torn out. A human had been stretched from ceiling to floor by leather straps that were hooked through his eyes and feet. He had literally been pulled apart. Four elves hung chained to the wall with their stomachs, intestines, and spines ripped through their lower torso. A female dwarf, with her eyes, nose, and ears bitten off by some sort of beast, lay in a stockade near the doors that lead out of this room and up to the north. A bloodied chain mail glove with razors attached to the fingers lay in a pool of blood at the center of the room. It must have been used as a torture device on these poor souls. I immolate the entire room after we headed into the next chamber and prayed that such a wrong would soon be rectified. The next chamber held similar horrors but all of these tortured souls had had their eyes burned out by some sort of acid and had slash marks all over their dismembered forms. Several dragon corpses, all of them young adults, lay about in this room as well in various forms of disfigurement. The remains of a gold were also in the room and his tail was missing. It must have been the one whose tail we came across earlier. The doors that lead out of this room were covered in the scales of a gold dragon and Dragon Breath and Kat nodded their heads in disbelief. Dahrel, if that is indeed whom we are dealing with, is a sick bastard to say the least. After returning these corpses to the earth from which they came, we continued on through the golden scale covered doors and into yet another torture chamber. We passed through this chamber and into some sort of dining hall. Eight giant sized throne like chairs, made entire of gold and gems, stood around a dark mahogany wood table. Each chair had two gems, each with the bust of an animal or some monster, on it. There were reliefs of a boar, dragon, lion, minotaur, troll, horse, and a giant. Each one was made of different gems such as topaz and rubies. A large stone fireplace also stands in this room. Curiosity is indeed the bane of humans for Dragon Breath touched one of the gems and a giant razorback boar appeared. Faye and him quickly downed the beast and I warned them to not to touch anymore of the gems as I dispelled the magic about them. As soon as the last bit of magic faded in the gems the table seemed to disappear and a black portal appeared in its place. The portal took us nowhere and we returned back to the dining hall. Brianna, ever the keen observer, found a secret door behind the fireplace and we ducked through a small opening to get to the next area of this dark stronghold. We came into a treasury. Piles of gold and platinum lay all about the floor. A few of us reached down to pocket a bit of the treasure when the coins suddenly swirled together and formed some sort of dragon! I dubbed it a gem dragon and for once, the treasure hoard fought the party who sought to take it! Quite ironic. Several flame based spells helped slow the beast down a bit but our weapons were not doing much damage to the gem dragon. Brianna then came up with a brilliant idea and used a spell of misplaced objects upon the dragon. The coins erupted into a shower of riches and the gem dragon was no more. I applauded her brilliant idea and we collected the treasure. We left the treasury room via another pair of double doors and entered another series of natural caverns. The first one was massive and the bones of horses and humanoids lay scattered about the chamber. Several wormlike openings lead out of this chamber and into other natural caves. But before we could explore those caverns we had to deal with the resident of this cave. Atop a glittering hoard of wealth stood a great deep dragon. The serpentine beast roared and reared up, unleashing its breath weapon. Corrosive gas struck most of us and I felt pain for the first time in a long time as some of my skin bubbled up and was burned. I cried out in pain and drew Silverfury and Tarin. The blades struck home and cut deep into the dragon’s hide. Brianna and Kessa unleashed spells that blinded and wounded the dragon while Kat and Shadovar landed blow after blow on the dragon’s right side. Dragon Breath and Faye teamed up and flanked the dragon on the left. It soon succumbed to our attacks and died screeching out in Draconic. I did not caught what the dragon said before it died but it was no doubt a curse upon us for defeating it. The hoard was ours and Brianna and I used some of our magic to reduce the treasure and place it into our bags of holding. We headed towards the central hole after Kessa and I healed the party of any wounds we had received. The next chamber was some sort of training chamber and contained a very accurate map of Faerun etched on the walls. Two young black dragons and four red dragons were in the room, studying the map. Corpses of several humans and elves lay sprawled about the room as well. This must have been the area where these hatchlings ate and slept as well. The hatchlings soon joined the corpses of those they had feasted up. By searching the room we found a small portal that lead down fewer than one of the human corpses. After giving the corpses last rites as we had done in the past we continued down the portal and appeared in a very unusual room. An illusion spell made this large room seem to be covered in wooden planks but in truth we were standing on a wall of force that suspended us over a bottomless pit. A single invisible ten-foot column stood at the center of this room. I pointed it out to the those of us who did not have the gift of true seeing and we all levitated up to the column and this is where I summoned the mansion so that we could rest our weary bodies and minds for the evening. I have finished writing for the time being and shall tell you of our continuing adventures tomorrow but for now I need some much needed rest. Good night my dear conscience. May tomorrow bring the end of this evil.
How to really start this entry without giving away the conclusion of our adventure? You know that I have survived because I am written this. Did the others? Was the evil destroyed? Shall I just come out and tell you the ending of this story without going into details? No of course not. You know that I have always been the kind of individual who enjoys suspense and a climatic ending. So please dear conscience relax and allow me to tell the remainder of my tale without telling you the finale before the rest of the story is finished. Our morning began with a hardy breakfast and some lighthearted bantering between Faye and Shadovar. It was rather comical when Faye sent the barbarian’s face into his oatmeal. Then again Shadovar’s revenge came in the form of eggs down Faye’s pants and that in itself was rather entertaining. I will never tire of those twos’ antics. We emerged from the mansion rested and ready to defeat the evil that surrounded us. Our party headed through the invisible doorway that lay atop the invisible column. The doorway brought us into a teleportation device and we were teleported into a large natural cavern filled with well over two hundred stalactites and stalagmites. I was alone in the room behind one of the large stalactites but I could hear the others calling out for each other. No sooner had I begun looking for my companions, danger decided to rear its ugly head and drop in upon us. Literally. The ceiling began to lower and from the looks of things, it would crush us all in the span of ten minutes. I called out for my friends and we soon found each other and regrouped at the center of the chamber. Sable shouted out over the grinding of stone on stone that she had seen some panels located at the top of some of the descending stalagmites. We quickly paired off and headed towards some of the panels. Kessa and I levitated up to one of the panels and pulled it open and scrambled inside. We had just shut the door when the ceiling met the floor. Talk about good timing. We regrouped and found ourselves inside the ceiling. An open corridor lay before us so we hurried through before the ceiling could raise all the way back up. The corridor led us into some sort of funeral hall. There were about forty coffins in all, twenty on each side. At regular intervals along the ceiling were five foot black globes and I could sense some magical draining force within them. Suddenly Dragon Breath’s mandolin began to play, meaning that undead were present. Blades were quickly drawn as we continued down the corridor cautiously, passing under one of the ebony globes. I felt a slight tug on my mind and then it faded. I paused for a moment and realized that the globe we had just passed over had tried to remove my magic from me but had failed. Checking with my companions I found that they had not been so lucky. I turned back and found myself staring into the red eyes of some sort of undead abomination. The creature was a patchwork humanoid with mismatched limbs and features. It was absolutely revolting. Six of them erupted from the coffins along the right way and I quickly yelled out a prayer to Mystra, sending two of the creatures back into their respected coffins. Shadovar slammed his axe into one of the creatures, tearing its head from its body. Sable and Brianna worked in a team trying to take down one of the undead abominations with their shortswords. Kessa, Faye and Dragon Breath wasted no time finishing off the remaining three. I thought for a moment and realized that these globes would return our magic eventually. I told the others to wait for a moment and they did as such. Brianna was one of the first to get her spells back and I asked for to help me send a sphere of disintegration down the hall way and take out the rest of those coffins. She complied with a grin of satisfaction and we summoned forth twin balls of green energy that bounced down the hallway, turning everything it their paths to dust. As we crossed the corridor we felt our magics fade entirely and reappear after about thirty minutes. We waited during that time and rested. What a way to begin the morning.
I honestly can say that I have seen everything now. The next chamber proved as such. Our journey was bringing us further and further into this mountain complex and we came upon a set of sixty feet tall double dragons. The doors could not be opened except by those of draconic blood. We had to use one of the severed red dragonheads that Kat had taken as a trophy to open the door and then our eyes came upon a sight I shall not soon forget. The next two chambers held the same two sights albeit with different colored dragons. Each dragon was or had been engaged in sexual acts with a female orc. Yes you read that right. A dragon was mating with an orc. We did not ask questions until after we had slain the two beasts through sword and spell. Kat had killed both dragons this time and I can’t help but be amazed at the power of this woman. If I were an evil dragon I certainly would tremble at the mere mention of her name. After Kat collected some trophies from the fallen dragons we headed through a pair of black iron double doors and in the next three rooms there was a hatchery. Half dragon half orcs stood around tending to the thirty somewhat eggs, greataxes and shields in hand. Brianna destroyed the first two rooms by disarming the sonic explosive traps that we upon the doors and tossing them down into the rockery. It looked like an omelet gone badly after she was finished. I can’t help but remember the look on her face when she did that and laugh for hours upon end. The last room was destroyed nicely with some well-placed lightning bolts. Not much of value was found inside these caverns so my companions and I began our ascent up some stone stairs that lead into some sort of armory. The doors and walls were adorned with the symbol of Cyric and a large black iron cauldron stood at the center of the room. As soon as we entered the room the weapons animated and began to whirl about. A shortsword cut deep into Sable’s arm and I quickly enacted a wall of force, which helped to contain all of the weapons. I had everyone leave the room while I released the wall of force and allowed the blades to continue trying to strike me. They could not of course because Mystra protects her chosen servants. I drew the magic out of the cauldron, which was the main focus point that allowed the weapons to become animated, and the weapons then fell to the ground, unleashing a terrible screeching noise. I emerged from the room unscathed. My companions were slightly impressed and I was happy to have helped dispatch of such a death trap. The next room we came upon was almost exactly as the last one but it held armor that animated and began attacking us. I took the initiative once again and dispelled the magic that held the animating properties in place, once again a black iron cauldron. How very typical of a necromancer of Cyric. Speaking of Cyric, the room to the left of us held a few of his clerics who were busy making some sort of dragon control potion in an alchemic lab. I tried to capture one alive but it appears that my companions do not take well to evil clerics. Not that I honestly can say I blame them. I just wish we could have gotten some more information out of them before sending them to meet their dark god. Shadovar did a rather unpleasant act by placing a wand of lightning up one of the priest’s behinds and triggering the wand several times over. Such savagery. A door led to the north and it was there that we came upon some sort of study and observation area. Leather couches, dark wood tables, and lavish decorations filled this large windowed chamber. And at the center of this chamber stood a large iron golem who was under the effects of a blur spell. It activated as soon as our party entered the room and once again forced us into battle. Our spells did little to harm it and the fireball I unleashed even healed it! Such a foe we faced. The battle took well over an hour to complete. Despite the many slashes we had put into the beast we had barely dented it…that was until Shadovar drew out a heavy flail and began beating the golem upside the head repeatedly. Our combined might along with Sable’s vorpal sword and Shadovar’s repeated pummeling finally fell the construct and allowed us to continue on in our quest. We looked out through the windows and came upon quite the unusually sight. Both of the windows overlooked smaller rooms, each one a holding pen of sorts. The one of to the left was filled with a dozen orcs who were busy going about some sort of daily routine, playing dice, cooking or something of the sort. The room of to the right held a half a dozen stone giants sitting in a circle. They looked as if they were praying or meditating. We descended through the window, which ended up being a wall of force that I dispelled, down to the orcs and sent them to meet Gruumsh. They did have an aura of evil about them so I did not ask questions. We came into some sort of library but it was devoid of books, held only one bookshelf and body parts from various humanoids lay scattered about the marble floor. Brianna, using her ever-keen senses, moved to the side of the bookcase and studied it for a moment. She called Kat and Shadovar over to help her move the bookcase. With much grunting and straining the three managed to move the heavy bookcase aside and revealed a trap door and a stairwell leading down. We descended the stairs and came into some sort of teleportation chamber. Five black marble tiles, each one inscribed with a different letter that spelled out the word “IRINA”, dominated this chamber. Each tile radiated teleportation magic. Each of us decided that perhaps we should finish exploring the rest of this floor before moving onto one of those tiles. Only the gods know where they would take us so we returned to the study and observation room. I dispelled the wall of force around the right side window and we descended into the room with the stone giants, blades drawn. I do not know if we attacked first or if they did. The battle is a blur to me because something did not feel right about engaging these creatures in battle. Two had fallen and Shadovar had used a meld into stone spell to vanish into one of them before I realized what was wrong. They were not evil. Stone giants follow a more neutral philosophy in life and these ones were no exception. I called upon the calming magics that Mystra had granted me to use in situations such as this and stopped the battle. Everyone’s eyes were upon me as I spoke up. I yelled out to my companions that the giants were not evil and that they were captives. The stone giants nodded in turn and demanded that we bring back their fallen comrades who had died by our own hands. Shadovar erupted forth from one of them at that moment, the stone giant’s heart in his hands. The giant looked dumbfounded as he fell dead onto the stone floor. One of the female stone giants let loose a cry of sorrow as her son fell. Shadovar, oblivious to the situation, stepped forth to strike down the rest of them. I swept my gaze towards him, channeling calming magic into his being. His rage faltered and the barbarian stopped, confused for the moment as to what was going on. I pulled forth a wand of true resurrection and called the fallen stone giants’ spirits back to their now healed bodies. As soon as they returned to this plane, I stood forth in front of the tallest of them and offered up our apologies. He merely grunted and I asked him what they were doing here. He told me that they had been a hunting party that had been captured some weeks ago and that they had been kept in this room since their arrival to this dreaded place. They had seen a dwarven man along with a human female who called herself Irina. I nodded and turned my thoughts back to my companions. We came to the conclusion that perhaps Irina was still alive or this was one of the guises of Dahrel Deathstone. Only time would tell the true story. We asked the stone giants how to get out of here and the leader told me that he remembered the way that they were brought in. We levitated the group of stone giants up to the observation area and they lead us back to the teleportation room. The stone giants immediately went to the center tile and teleported away. I looked back at my companions who seemed a little doubtful that this would further our quest. I only stated that I would bare the burden if I were wrong in choosing this path. We stepped onto the tile and found ourselves teleported to some castle bedroom. The sounds of waves crashing and the sight of sunlight streaming through a nearby window told us that we had been teleported back above ground. The giants charged out of the room and we could see that they were leaving the castle and heading back into the mountains, no doubt returning to where they came from. Everyone in the party cast looks of doubt and annoyance my way and I could not help but apologize. I merely told them that I would try to step on the tile again and see if we were teleported back. I did as such as found myself once again in the teleportation chamber. I returned to the castle and told my ever-doubtful friends that it would indeed lead us back to the chamber from whence we came. Upon returning to the chamber Shadovar charged forward to one of the other tiles and stepped onto it, teleporting away from us. His impatience continues to astound me. He returned a moment before Kessa decided to go after him and simply spoke the word kitchen in an excited tone of voice and teleported back to the room from which he just came. Not wanting to be left behind we all followed suit and found ourselves standing in a fully stocked and rather clean kitchen. The sounds of “Plant found food!” roared from a nearby pantry and the crashing of foodstuffs soon followed. A large belch thundered through the kitchen and my companions and I exchanged looks of amusement. Quite predictable Shadovar proved to be during the course of this adventure. We left Shadovar to his devouring of food and checked out the adjoining room which lead into a colossal library that rivaled even Ariel’s. Books upon books filled this room and magic radiated from a few of them. Brianna and I were quick to collect these prized tomes and soon came upon a book entitled The Book of Riches. It was an accounting book of how much the person who owned this stronghold had amounted in wealth. The numbers even made my head spin. What really caught my attention was the symbol of Cyric and the words Dahrel Deathstone written across one of the front pages. It seems that this stronghold was indeed Dahrel Deathstone’s. After we went through the contents of the library Sable fetched the now overstuffed Shadovar and we headed down a long corridor and came to a twin sets of gold and platinum pressed doors on the left and right of us. Brianna opened both sets of doors and we found ourselves staring at a treasure trove of gems and coins. There must have been over five million gold pieces worth of treasure within these two rooms alone! My companions were quick to gather up the wealth but I returned to the library because I thought I had seen something in there before. I looked through one of the bookshelves and saw an odd aura of magic about it. Feeling along the edges of the bookshelf I pulled out one of the many leather bound tomes and found myself staring into an extradimensionial room. I quickly called for the others and Brianna and Sable scouted the opening out. It was some sort of magically darkened chamber. We cautiously set foot into the room and suddenly Dragon Breath drew his blade as the mandolin on his back began to play eerily. Through the use of my true seeing I spotted several nightwalkers, three to be exact. One of them turned its dark head towards us and let loose an unholy cry of battle. Swords were drawn and Shadovar, Dragon Breath, Faye, Kessa, Kat and Sable jumped clear of the landing we were on and began to attack the nightwalker. I stayed in the back supporting my companions with healing spells and arcane magic. Brianna did the same but she also remained in the back for fear of the nightwalkers. She later informed me that she had faced the beasts before and how terrible they were. Suddenly two destrachans appeared from behind the nightwalkers and made their way towards my companions. I was about to let out a shout of warning but felt talons rip through my chain mail and send me crashing to the floor in pain. A shadow mastiff stood over me claws ready to tear me apart. One more had made its way by Brianna and she danced out of its way as it came pouncing towards her. Two more had appeared near Sable and Shadovar, posed to strike. Tarin, the short sword of beloved half sister had given me, thrust upward into the skull of the shadow mastiff and send the beast back to the Nine Hells from whence it came. Brianna sent a lightning bolt into hers, blasting the beast clear off the landing. It was at this moment that I saw Shadovar get hit by the nightwalker he was engaged in melee combat with. His entire left side of his face boiled away and one of his green eyes fell to the floor, sizzling. He cried out in terror and pain and fell to the ground, clutching his face. My spell finally took effect and the second nightwalker disappeared into dust as the ray of disintegration torn its body apart. Brianna’s spell did the same thing to the third nightwalker, sending the creature hollowing back to the Abyss. The combined might of my companions fell the last nightwalker. It was then that the two destrachans descended upon us and let loose a sonic blast that seemed to rattle our very bones. Most us covered our ears in time to avoid being harmed by the sonic blast but Shadovar was not so lucky. The flesh and nerves on his face and arms stripped off and left bare bone in its place. The druid was then beset upon by one of the remaining shadow mastiffs. The beast landed atop the fallen half orc and it was then that Shadovar used his druidic abilities to transform into a brown bear. He tore the mastiff apart in only a few seconds. Sable and Dragon Breath dispatched the dreadful destrachans while Faye took care of the last shadow mastiff. Shadovar’s rage was soon spent and he fell to the ground holding his face and out of breath. Kessa approached our comrade and healed him, his eye restored and flesh renewed. The barbarian reclaimed his fallen axe and silently headed to the next set of black adamantine doors, ready to tear asunder anything that got in his path. A set of black adamantine double doors, engraved with the most elaborate relief of Cyric’s unholy symbol I have laid eyes on, stood before us. I could feel a powerful aura of negative energy coming from this place. Brianna found a rather complex death trap upon the doors and dispelled it rather easily. She opened the doors with her trusty lock picks and we headed in, ready for anything. Six giant onyx globes dominated this room. They were some sort of negative energy generators and seemed to be keeping this room full of negative energy. At the end of the hallway rested a large black stone sarcophagus. Before we could further explore the room a blast of various elemental breath weapons struck us. Most of us were protected against such things but Faye took the brunt of the attack. She fell to the ground, her skin torched and senses stripped from her. Out of the corner of the room stood some sort of draconic hydra. It had ten heads. Two were black, two were blue, two were green, two were red, and the two center heads were from a deep dragon. The beast roared and charged towards us, its mauls wide open and filled with sharp teeth. I quickly called upon a healing spell for Faye and healed her wounds before drawing Silverfury and Tarin, plunging into the fray. Shadovar used a jump spell to carry himself the distance to the dracohydra and slammed his axe deep into one of the deep dragonheads. The other deep dragonhead latched onto his leg, pulling his axe from his grasp. Dragon Breath’s Nightfall sword cut through one of the green head’s throats, spraying blood all over the place. Faye remained in the background recovering from her recent wounds. Sable’s blade loped one of the red dragonheads off and it fell to the ground just as Kessa’s own blade claimed the other. Shadovar soon went flying across the room to join Faye as the last remaining deep dragonhead flung him away. Brianna’s cone of cold spell caught the dracohydra just as my blade struck home along with Kat’s and the beast fell defeated at our feet. I was quick to offer healing to all of my companions before we decided to check the room over more thoroughly this time. Seeing the negative energy orbs I decided to take care of them. I called upon Mystra’s divine radiance to disrupt and utterly dispel the negative energy within this foul crypt. The coffin itself was almost ten feet long and five feet wide. The name Irina was engraved into the coffin itself along with the symbol of Cyric. Shadovar moved the coffin lid aside, despite our protests. Inside was a beautiful woman with dark features who looked peacefully. Her body was been preserved by a gentle repose spell. I had our druid companion close the lid and we left her in peace. No sense disturbing the dead even if they were evil in life. We had come upon a set of black adamantine doors engraved with the symbols of Cyric. The very aura about this door was enough to make me want to swoon. Evil was awaiting us in the chambers beyond. We had no choice but to open the door and face our destiny.
We had found Dahrel. The chamber we entered was some sort of personal casting room, adorned in the symbols of Cyric and scenes that depicted the demise of all that was goodly in Faerun. A pentagram, drawn in the blood of sacrifices, stood to the left of us and was surrounded by thirteen black candles each one burning with a black flame. Six hellcats stood around the room, each posed to pounce upon us as we entered. An ebony orb that stood well over thirteen feet tall was off to the right of us by the dark necromancer and a demonic looking being could be glimpsed within. A large black portal spun silently above Dahrel’s head, leading to some god-forsaken plane. Dahrel himself stood tall and was adorned in the ceremonial robes of a high-ranking Cyric worshipper. He lowered a staff entirely crafted of human bones at us and then time seemed to stand still. We had been caught in the effects of a time stop spell. Dahrel called out to us “Die you pathetic mortal fools!” I watched in horror as the staff went off and the six hellcats leapt towards us. He had been waiting for us and was ready to stop us from interfering with his plans. Lightning, acid, and fire washed over us in wave after wave. A rain of fiery meteors followed suit and we were left stunned and wounded by such powerful magic. My companions and I had almost been killed. I felt Mystra’s divine energy well up inside me and I released it in a wave of healing magic. With our wounds closed and our minds set, we engaged in what might have been our last battle.
The hellcats pounced upon us but we dodged out of the way of their talons. Sable, Kessa, Faye, Kat, Shadovar and Dragon Breath made short work of the hellcats. Kessa cast a dimensional anchor spell to keep anything else from coming in or leaving. Dahrel watched us with a smile upon his face and unleashed another devastating spell from his staff of the necromancer. Death swept through us swiftly and Faye succumbed to it. Her body fell lifeless to the floor yet we pressed on. Dahrel pointed at the large black orb and it shattered, unleashing an infernal upon us. The infernal, one of the strongest demons in all existence, set its sights upon Dragon Breath and ripped into him with black talons. The paladin did not faltered as his sword struck home and tore one of the creature’s arms from its body. I channeled one of my most powerful spells towards the creature and cried out to Mystra for aid. The harm spell struck the creature and stripped it of its powers and might temporarily. It was just enough time for Dragon Breath’s blade to strike home and sent the creature back to the Nine Hells where it belonged. Dahrel sent in another wave of death towards us but we managed to survive it. Brianna then cast a magical vacuum spell and effectively stripped Dahrel of his magic. Mystra herself must have helped in such a casting! It was as if in slow motion as all of our blades struck home and Dahrel was vanquished. His broken body fell to the ground and he died upon those flagstones. I went to Faye’s side and called her spirit back into her body. She coughed a few times and turned her emerald gaze up at me. She thanked me in her usual gruff manner and accepted Dragon Breath’s help up. Kessa and I healed our companions and ourselves before addressing the issue of Dahrel’s staff. It radiated the strongest aura of evil I had ever sensed. Kessa and I nodded to each other and each channeled a hallow spell into the staff. The staff exploded into shards of bone and the unholy power was dispelled…or so we thought. The blackness that escaped from the staff entered the still intact portal and then the portal closed. All was silent for a moment before we heard something…something very big…coming towards us from two rooms over. Kat muttered “Dragon” while we look towards the source of the sound and waited. Suddenly a dracolich, the animated remains of a dragon, burst through the wall and set itself upon us. Shadovar was instantly pinned beneath its great bulk and Kessa was caught in its grasp. I had had enough and so had the rest of my companions. Both Brianna and I distingrated the dracolich’s head while Sable and the others smashed through the thing’s bones, sending it crashing to the ground. We had finally defeated the last of Dahrel’s minions and had put this chapter of Faerun’s dark history to rest. Without another word we left that mountain complex and headed home.
I now write you from the comfort of my own home and within the company of my beloved Ariel. It has been three days since we left Turmish and returned to Arabel. The vast amount of wealth we have accumulated will go to good things I am sure. My own share of the treasure has been donated to the church of Mystra and to the less fortunate. I am glad to have had the chance to once again go out and adventure with good friends. We vanquished one of the vilest necromancers Faerun has ever seen and lived to tell the tale of our deeds. I now call Sable, Katara, Shadovar, Kessa, Faye, Leon Dragon Breath, and Brianna close friends and fellow servants of the Light. I can only hope and pray that one-day we will all go out again and create more tales together. But for now I shall rest and think about the future and what is to become of my life. It is indeed good to be home.
