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2014-10-09

Dark Paths 50 - The Grand Finale

Dark Paths of Riddleport
Session 50
September 28, 2014


And So It Ends...

In Another Time, long, long ago

The remaining members of the Gold Goblin Crew pressed forward in this ancient shadow of Celwynvian, the Elvish city of Mierani Forest. Their destination was an observatory they had spied from the other side of town with strange lights flashing. After some time, the Crew arrived near their target. They had been stealthy on their approach, avoiding flying demons, a few Drow patrols as well as the occasional flyby from Razorhorn the Green Dragon.


Seems to be getting worse!
All the while, the sky overhead continues to swirl and pulsate as the ominous vortex continues to threaten to seemingly swallow up the entire world. Occasional fireballs streak across the sky, emanating from the vortex. This vortex is reminiscent of the one that appeared over Riddleport right before the meteor came down and struck Devil's Elbow. This vortex is at least 100 times as big, though, indicating something larger and more destructive may be on its way!
Two stoic Elves (not Drow) stood guard at the entrance to the Observatory. An attempt to negotiate with them broke down when Aragon attempted to disarm them. Both Elves simply vanished with the slightest contact from Aragon's blades, thought, making ingress to the building easy enough. 

They group enters the observatory and begin looking for the way up. They encounter much in the way of astronomical displays and even some Elves seemingly trying to figure out what is going on with the strange vortex in the sky. The Elves pay no mind to the Crew and they likewise move through without bothering them.
Flaming undead!

Soon, the Crew encounters the first wave of resistance. In a large room with a huge balcony overlooking the far end, they are accosted by a handful of flaming undead of some type. They prove to be challenging opponents due to the cloud of fire that surrounds each one. Snargash puts his glue spell to good use and many of them are immobilized, making it easy enough to bypass them and press on further into the building.

The center of the observatory holds the way up. Two staircases curve along the inside of this central chamber. The space in between the stairs appears to be a deep, black void filled with stars... some sort of astronomical device. The Crew heads up one set of stairs and finds themselves on the 2nd level, nothing more than a landing for both sets of stairs that continue up to the next level. The strong stench of Troglodyte drifts down from above and Aethel uses his magic to help Guy avoid the debilitating stench they are sure to encounter shortly. Aragon accidentally takes in a huge breath of the foul smell and begins coughing and spitting. Snargash quickly moves to alleviate the effect using his magic. 


As the next landing is approached, Aragon hurries up to find several Troglodytes and a Drow swordsman wielding a greatsword and clad in plate that is crackling with electric energy. The Troglodytes attempt to push Aragon off the nearby balcony as the others move up and engage. Guy puts his psionic abilities to good use peppering the Trogs. The Drow swordsman singles out Aragon and charges in but somehow manages to drop his sword along the way. Eventually he recovers and engages with Aragon. Snargash rushes up and screams in the Drow's face, stunning him momentarily. Aragon springs into action, nearly decapitating the Drow before another Drow appears. The second Drow appears to be some sort of wizard floating at the top of the next flight of stairs. He started flinging fireballs from an ornate staff. After a few moments more of the melee with the Trogs, they were intimidated by Snargash and began a retreat, allowing the focus to shift to the Drow.  Guy is blasted by a fireball, catches on fire and goes unconscious. Fortunately Snargash is close to provide support and Guy is back on his feet in no time!



The dark skinned Elves retreated to the upper level of the observatory and the Crew followed cautiously. The Drow swordsman presented himself and Aragon again engaged. The Drow wizard was flying in the air, up above a giant orrey. The fight rages on between the Gold Goblin Crew and two very powerful and skilled Drow. Eventually the tide is turned when Aragon finally gets the best of the swordsman and Aethel casts a spell producing a blinding flash of light right in the wizards face. Guy continues to fire psionic projectiles at the wizard while Aragon, using his Slippers of Wall Climbing, runs up the side of the giant celestial model. Meanwhile, Aethel uses his magic to reshape the many arms and parts of the orrey, turning it into a gigantic cage around the blinded Drow wizard.

Taking the fight to the roof!
Trapped and blinded, the Drow was quickly dispatched. It was discovered that he wore a purple amulet around his neck that Aethel identified as some sort of magical key or trigger, possibly for the portal leading back to their own "time." 

The Crew quickly backtracked across the strange, out-of-time version of Celwynvian and found the place that they had initially appeared. Aethel activated the portal key and the entire crew was magically transported away..... 

The Drow are finally defeated!

Notes

Finally, we made it! Ahh, it feels good to get to the end of the campaign, despite the fact that we lost a few along the way. There will be a final wrap-up story post just to wrap things up, but that will come a little later. 

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



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