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Dunmari Frontier - Session 49

The Chalice and the Eyes: in which deals are struck and betrayals unfold

Featuring: Kenzo, Wellby, Delwath, Seeker, Riswynn
In Taelgar: Aug 22, 1748 DR to Aug 24, 1748 DR
On Earth: Thursday Jun 30, 2022
Chardon

The Dunmar Fellowship engages in treacherous negotiations for powerful artifacts and narrowly escapes a deadly ambush.

Session Info

***The party levels Fausto’s tower with the Mace of Terror, Hralgar’s Eyes, and the Binding Stones.

Character advancement: the party reaches level 9 as they flee Chardon, having recovered Hralgar’s Eyes and survived Fausto’s ambush.

Summary

Timeline

Narrative

We start as the party makes their way through the University of Chardon area, to find the scholar Gnaeus, a lecturer associated with Sibyl’s Hall who wrote a book about the people of the Elderwood that mentioned Rai. Interrupting his meager class, they buy him lunch and offer a recommendation about his skill, and he tells his story. Although he has been disgraced for using enchantment magic to learn about the Deno’qai in the forest, he claims what he tells is the truth. From Gnaeus, the party learns about the tribes of the Deno’qai, including the Baz’aku, who trade with the Chardonians in the Chasa River Valley; the reclusive hunters of the Bek’eni, and the Te’kula, who have hidden themselves away to avoid some great evil they will not mention. 

After lunch, the party goes to speak with Roscelia, meeting her for tea at her estate. She introduces them to a friend, Lyra, an archivist at the Great Library, who is interested in stories of adventurers. After introductions and some small talk, they speak about the Chalice of the Runepriest and the Giant’s Eyes, and adventures. Roscelia and Lyra are not particularly fond of Fausto, and give the impression that he spends money freely to buy favor and influence. He is, for example, always outbidding the Great Library to acquire the services of adventurers. Lyra, in particular, is annoyed with him because she sees the Society of the Open Scroll as an amateur explorer’s club that encourages careless adventuring, not a careful and serious academic endeavor like the Great Library. But according to Lyra and Roscelia, probably both Galen, who has the chalice, and Fausto, who has the eyes, can be bargained with. 

The next day, the party splits up for errands: Delwath sells art and buys supplies for the journey to the Elderwood, and Seeker returns to Uflgar’s and reads the book about magic mirrors to try to learn more command words for the Mirror of Soul Trapping. Everyone meets in the late afternoon for Galen’s lecture on the wonders of the elemental planes. It an impressive show, mostly of illusion, but also involving the summoning of a real air elemental under Galen’s control. 

After the show, the party speaks with Galen, who seems disappointed with the Chalice of the Runepriest – despite a clear connection to the outer planes he cannot get it to do anything. He is willing to part with it for a small premium over what he paid the Great Library for it, only 10,000 gp, or perhaps a bit less if the party will throw in some small magical trinket of interest. Eventually, they agree to 8,000 gp plus the Black Light Candle from Agata’s Treasure that gives off darkness when burned. Riswynn will get the money from the Dwarves in the morning and return to Galen to finish the deal.

The party also speaks with Fausto to negotiate for Hralgar’s Eyes. Fausto initially offers that if they go to Illoria with Dee Wildcloak and Dain Goldhammer, and help Servius in his search for treasure there, he will give them the eyes as part of their payment when they return. Although tempted, the party turns this down, and instead trades information (telling Fausto about Grash and the Ring of Undying) and the Pandemonium Scroll from the werewolves. 

The next morning, while Riswynn goes to get money for Galen, the rest of the party goes to meet Fausto with the Pandemonium Scroll, to trade for the eyes, despite some misgivings and suspicion that it may be a trap. Fausto is excited to see them, and leads them up a long staircase to a magical workshop. Here, as soon as he gets the scroll, he, of course, turns on the party. Two glass warriors step out of the stained glass windows to attack, and a lightning creature emerges from a bottle on the table. Fausto disappears, first telling the party that they were foolish to think they could take The Cleansed by surprise, and that none of them were even pure enough to be worth saving anyway. 

The party decides to flee, smashing through the windows and holding off the glasswork and lightning creatures while everyone dashes out with the eyes, a mace, and the gems from the giant’s crown. While Delwath’s attempt to banish Fausto and give them breathing room fails, for a moment it seems like everyone will get out: Kenzo dashes down the walls of the tower and gracefully glides to the ground; Wellby uses the Raven Whistle to fly down; and Delwath and Seeker fly using Delwath’s magic. However, Fausto reemerges and launches a psychic attack on Delwath and Seeker, causing Delwath to lose concentration and both Delwath and Seeker to plummet nearly 200 feet to the ground. The impact knocks both unconscious, although the quick application of potions and healing mud brings them back to flee. 

After a desperate dash to the southern edge of the city, as a commotion arises behind them due to Fausto’s accusations of theft, the party meets Riswynn near the southern wall. She has been hearing echoes from the Chalice of the Runepriest, and urges everyone to grab it - unfortunately, it is only Riswynn that is teleported away by the chalice’s magic. As a backup plan, Seeker teleports to a few hundred feet outside the city with the rest of the party hiding in the Portable Hole, and then polymorphs into a raven to fly further south.

We end as the party catches their breath in a field about ½ mile south of Chardon, hiding by the side of a barn, hoping that no one gave a second thought to the raven that flew here from just outside the gates.