Dark Paths 49

Dark Paths of Riddleport
Session 49
September 7, 2014

Through the Portal

Despite the loss of their two companions, the rest of the Gold Goblin Crew carries on. But first, they have to overcome the aqueous afflictions that have stricken Aragon and Snargash and forced them to remain underwater. Even communicating between the surface of the pool was difficult. After a few moments of contemplation, the sounds of battle carried into the room from the south, followed by a few familiar Elves stumbling into the room. One of the Elves, a friend named Sairalindë, was skilled at the magical arts and was able to help Snargash not begin to choke when he stuck his head out of the water. With the ability to do this, Snargash was able to play some tunes on his flutes that relieved the afflictions, though at quite a great cost as he had already far surpassed his safe threshold of asking his patrons for divine aid. After his casting, Snargash found he had a strong aversion to water of any kind!

Sairalindë told them that the Drow and their Demon allies were rallying behind them and trying to push into this area of the Academy but that in the early moments of the assault, their other companion, Kwava, had fallen and been taken. The trail (of blood) lead through this room and into the next. Sairalindë urges the Crew to follow the trail, stop the Drow masters from completing their foul plan and that she and the other Elves would do their best to keep the pressing forces of evil from following.

The portal

The Crew followed a fairly obvious trail of blood into the next chamber and found they lead up to a large, apparently functioning gate. The two Elves in the group recognized this as a re-purposed Aiudara (ancient Elf-gate), now topped with what appeared to be a chunk of rune covered stone cut from the indestructible Cyphergate as the keystone. The image past the gate revealed a shadowy, but strangely beautiful image of an Elven city in a sylvan setting. 

Ancient Celwynvian

Wasting no time, the Crew passed through the gate and found themselves in a strange place indeed. Though they could see and feel and hear and smell the environment, all of these senses were some how muted or shaded from their full effects. Most disturbing, though, was the sky. The entire sky seemed to swirl into large, grey vortex that seemed to be formed around a giant dark blot in the sky, similar to the one they had first encountered some time ago in Riddleport, but this one was much larger. 

The old Observatory

Almost immediately, a strolling, tall Elf gentleman nearly walked right into them, his attention focused on the activity in the sky. He introduced himself as Ilamin Silverwind. He shared that this city was in fact, Celwynvian and that the date was some 10,000 years earlier than it should have been, indicating a time just before the Starstone fell from the sky and nearly destroyed the entire world. The conversation with this ancient Elf carried on for a while and the Crew gleaned a few bits of important information from him. He told them that he didn't think that the vortex or blot was anything to worry about. They learned that some strange activity had been occurring in the old Observatory on the other side of the city. They also learned that he knew nothing of "dark skinned, white haired Elves" though he mentioned that a Human, Talgoren, living in the city nearby had made some similar comments about "dark elves." Ilmin pointed out the way to his house, which happened to be on the way to the Observatory.

Hideous winged Demons... The Vrock

The Crew set out to find this Talgoren to learn more about what was going on in this strange shadow version of ancient Celwynvian. On the way to Talgoren's house, the Crew was spotted by a pair of hideous winged vulture like demons, called Vrock by the other Elves. As the demons approached, it was quickly apparent that they were very different than other things in this realm. They seemed very solid and real. Though dark and hideous, their colors contrasted sharply with the shadow grey of everything else in this world. 

Fighting the winged Demons!

The battle was on. The demons stopped at a good range and summoned two more of their kind while Aragon charged down the street. Aethel and Guy began firing projectiles at them while Snargash began using his magic, now strangely refreshed, to help his companions. It almost seemed that the battle might take a bad turn when the sky was filled with the roar of a Dragon and the green wings of Razorhorn were seen flapping overhead, but fortunately the beast paid no attention to the fight in the streets and flew away.

Tower, this is Razorhor requesting a fly by.

The battle was tough but with a few good shots and lucky breaks, the Crew was victorious. Aragon had been stunned during the fight and taken a few good hits in addition to being afflicted by some disgusting skin condition that caused little green and purple tendrils to grow from his flesh.

Why's everyone always picking on Aragon?

Talgoren

Pressing on, the Crew arrived at Talgoren's mansion and were drawn inside by an open door, an inviting path and the soft sound of harp music playing. There they found a lounging Human, Talgoren. He was one of the Azlanti, the First Humans, known to inhabit Golarion before the Starfall. He was polite and welcoming. He offered wine and snacks to all, though Aethel and Aragon appeared to be in too much of a hurry to partake in refreshments. He says he too has seen the "dark skinned" Elves, though no one else has listened to him. He also tells that he believes that the strange occurrences in the sky are probably nothing more than backlash from the battle that his people are currently waging against the Aboleth, or Devilfish, as he calls them. Aethel waits impatiently outside, keeping watch and Aragon paces stiffly back and forth near the door until he spots a cooling pie on a silver tray nearby. His mood immediately changes and the normally stoic Elf smiles and almost giddy as he asks for a piece of pie. Though the wine and desserts were only shadowy imitations of the real thing, those who had consumed felt revitalized after the recent battle with the Vrock.

Talgoren confirms that the "dark Elves" have been quite active near the old Observatory and he has seen them trafficking with Demons, Troglodytes and even a Dragon. He packs some treats to go and gives the Crew an extra decanter of wine for the road. After saying goodbyes to this strange Human, the Crew heads off down the street for their next target, the Observatory.

Notes

Finally, we have gotten back to the Dark Paths of Riddleport after a 2 month hiatus. Things go busy, then busier, then even a little busier and I could not get the time to sit down on a Sunday evening to get this game done! But finally, we got to it. By my estimation, we have one more session to go, and that will be next Sunday, and one way or another, this campaign will wrap. Ahh.

Cast of Characters: 

Aethelarian "Aethel" Flitterseed - Noble Elf wizard played by +Daniel White 
Aragon Whisperwind - Elven Bladedancer played by +Arne Jamtgaard 
Guy Greystone - Gnome telekinetic played by +Gren Drake 
Snargash Windblown - Half-Orc monk played by +Amergin O'Kai 
and +Jason Woollard as the DM