The Chronicles of the Capable Crew

# Part 1

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> ## Table Of Contents
> - #### **[1: Heroes of the Realm](#p3)**
>   - [1.1: Duchess Spinel the Compassionate and Wise](p#3)
>   - [1.2: Nameless](#p4)
>   - [1.3: Duke Notrick, the Strong and Creative](#p6)
>   - [1.4: Duke Janos The Ambitious and Incorrigible](#p7)
> - #### **[2: *Capable Crew* Travel Log](#p9)**
>   - [2.1: Sevana](#p9)
>   - [2.2: Sirius](#p10)
>   - [2.3: Nevar](#p14)
>   - [2.4: ??? The Plane of Water](#p17)
>   - [2.5: Nanook](#p18)
>   - [2.6: Eben](#p22)
>   - [2.7: Notrick's Journey](#p25)
>   - [2.8: Nameless' Journey](#p27)
>   - [2.9: Janos' Journey](#p29)
>   - [2.10: Spinel's Journey](#p32)
>   - [2.11: Nimbus](#p36)
>   - [2.12: ??? The Shadowfell](#p39)
>   - [2.13: ??? Limbo](#p41)
>   - [2.14: Mistro](#p43)
>   - [2.15: Epilog](#p45)
>   - [2.15: Kill Count](#p48)

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# Knight of the Realm: Duchess Spinel the Compassionate and Wise
The hot midday sun beat down on Spinel’s neck, as she pulled the gardening hoe through the soil for the thousandth time. Straightening up to catch her breath, she wiped the sweat from her brow and looked out over the field. Today was the fifth day in a series of farming preparations, and work was in high demand. The family farm was modest but demanded constant attention to be properly maintained and produce the necessary yield to sustain both Spinel and her mother. The local village of Lubdin was the only place to trade for other vital foodstuffs, and she knew how stingy the residents could be, especially when trading with her mother. Irritated at the memory of how the local shopkeeper treated her mother the last time they went into town, Spinel scowled and tossed down her hoe.

She stood there for a moment, trying to enjoy the sun on her skin and focused on the birdsong nearby. Spinel has always enjoyed the oak forests around her home, spending most free time in her childhood wandering amongst the trunks, climbing in the branches, caring for hurt animals and watching them live out their own lives. She sometimes envied the creatures of the woods, even with such short and sometimes violent existences. They were simple; they didn’t care about petty things like prejudice or appearances. Annoyed that she couldn’t get her mind off the ignorance of the locals, Spinel turned her attention back to the remaining untilled dirt ahead of her. Tired of work and fueled by her frustration, Spinel focused her attention outward, reaching down with her mind. She spoke quietly under her breath, asking the earth to do as she wanted. She watched with satisfaction as the dirt began to part, folding itself to her will, into neat rows ready for seeding. She proceeded from there, rapidly completing the remainder of the field in under a minute, which would have taken her several more hours to complete with manual labor. She relaxed and smiled to herself at this small act of rebellion. She looked up, and the grin rapidly faded as she noticed her mother Ruby, watching her from the doorway of their small hovel. Ruby’s expression was stoic; not angry, but with some other emotion that Spinel couldn’t quite place. After a tense moment’s pause, she turned back into the house and tersely called over her shoulder,

“Dinner’s ready.”

Spinel sighed, anticipating the chastising to come. It was a talk she’d heard many times before; the neighbors can’t know, they already disliked us, she had to be more careful, she needed to hide her powers. Ever since she was little, the earth had responded to her. She spent hours near the local stream, imagining fantastic sand castles and mud cities, and giggling with joy as they twisted out of the earth before her. Once her mother found out, she was always trying to prevent her from expressing her powers, knowing that the local village would have no place for them if they knew the extent of her oddness.

Spinel was already treated poorly, teased and taunted about her dark gray skin and occasional blemishes that resembled small gemstones protruding from her skin. These stones became far more prominent during her teenage years, and Spinel took to fabricating her own makeup from clay found in the local streams to cover them up, pretending they were merely acne. Her mother was a normal human like the rest of the village, but Spinel was born out of wedlock, and the villagers treated Ruby with as much distain as they did her strange daughter.

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Spinel plodded towards the house, dusting off the remaining dirt from her dress and propping the gardening hoe against the wall. Walking inside through the small wooden doorframe, her eyes adjusted to the dim interior, revealing the all-too familiar sight of her bed in the corner, dried herbs and meats hanging from the rafters, a small fire in the kitchen area and her mother waiting impatiently at the dinner table. Spinel sat down quietly, and they both started to eat. It was a simple meal of vegetables and dried meat stew, but she appreciated the familiar tastes of home. After finishing the meal in silence, she waited for her mother to speak. After an awkward moment, her mother spoke.

“Spinel, I think you should leave.”

What? Completely caught unaware by this train of thought, Spinel didn’t know have a response. She had already mentally prepared her usual list of apologies and excuses for using her abilities. Before she had any further time to process this, Ruby continued.

“You’ve worked so hard to support me here, and I’m satisfied with the life we’ve built together, but you need to experience more of the world. You have a gift, Spinel. I see so much of your father in you. The people here, they don’t appreciate what you can and will do one day. You can’t suppress your nature, and I’m tired of trying to force you to. It’s not right. I want you to go out into the world, learn all you can, and become the best that you can be. You have enormous potential, and it is squandered here in Lubdin, pushing around dirt. It’s time for you to go out into the world and become something more.”

Initially shocked, Spinel grew teary-eyed as she listened to Ruby’s words. They were true, and she knew it. She had always dreamed of leaving this small, closed-minded town and seeking her fortune out in the world. There was so much to learn, and she would never find it here. She was also curious about her father, the mysterious figure who had swept her mother off her feet twenty years ago before disappearing as rapidly as he had come. Her mother, whom Spinel had lived with and supported her whole life, was now encouraging her to do what she had always dreamed of. And yet, how could she just up and leave, near the beginning of the seeding season? There was more work to be done: the traps had to be reset, the water channels cleared, the grain storage cleaned… Seeing her reluctance, Ruby stood up.

“Spinel, I’ll be alright. You’ve brought me so much happiness these past few years, and I feel like its wrong to hold you here any longer. You are an adult and should be free to make your own choices.”

Any remaining hesitation Spinel held crumbled as this final affirmation from her mother pushed away lingering thoughts. She bolted upright and threw her arms around her mother. In breathless excitement, she stammered out thanks, apologies, and endearments as she began to rush around the cabin, gathering her most important possessions. Her walking staff with a small crystal embedded into the tip, her medicine kit, a few days rations, her meager savings, and her rain cloak were all hastily collected as she prepared to leave. She stood in the doorway, overflowing with excitement, all exhaustion from the hard day’s work completely dissolved.
“I’m leaving now. I’ve been planning where I would go for years; I’ll head to Oakdale, and then up to Frostford after I get more supplies.

I hear they have boats and traders there who know all sorts of things, and I might be able to even travel to Lutetia from there!”

Ruby tried to smile, holding back tears, and nodded in affirmation. Beaming wildly, Spinel charged off down the path, diving headlong into the adventure she had always dreamed of. Walking to the front yard and watching her briskly walk down the road to the main trail, Ruby sighed wistfully and looked off towards the distant swamplands in the Southeast.

“I wish you could be here to see the wonderful person our daughter has become. Crayg, she’s done so well here, and I know she’s destined for great things. Watch over her.”

Ruby stood in silence and watched her daughter disappear around the bend and into the forest beyond Lubdin. After waiting a few more minutes, slightly hopeful to see her returning just as rapidly, she sighed to herself and turned morosely back to her home. There was double the work to be done, to be ready for the fall and winter. Briefly, there was a slight tremor in the distance, emanating from the direction of the swamp. Looking over her shoulder, Ruby saw nothing of interest, and dismissed it. As she took a step forward, she stepped on something hard in the dirt of the yard. Pulling her boot back, she saw a large, glittering ruby embedded in the soft earth, facing up. Picking it up and holding it to her chest, Ruby closed her eyes and smiled again as the tears began to flow.

“Thank you, Crayg.”

## Knight of the Realm: Nameless

The dry wind blowing across the skin of his arm was the first thing he felt.  He shifted a bit, rolling onto his side, not wanting to open his eyes.  The air was chill and arid, blowing unpleasantly across his exposed forearms and down the back on his cloak.  Blearily, he opened his faintly glowing, orange eyes and blinked away the grime coating his face.  Ahead, a bleak and forsaken landscape greeted his gaze. Ash and dust swirled in eddies around his feet, as the air slowly rolled across the empty expanse of gray desolation before him. Twisted, dark forms that might have once been some kind of tree jutted out of the gritty ashen sand, while the dim light of the overcast sky cast an indiscriminate hazy glow that surrounded all that could be seen. The ground alternated between cracked steely dirt and ashy sand, with no vegetation to be seen. In the distance, ragged black shapes swirled on the horizon, turning slowly in a depraved dance over the remains of some other unfortunate creature.

He coughed a bit, noticing the taste of grit in his mouth. He reached up and wiped the inside of his featureless, porcelain mask, cleaning away the residue that had pushed its way in and around the eyeholes and back. Staggering to his feet, he left behind a small humanoid crater in the dirt, surrounded by a ring of scorched earth. Turning slowly, he saw a slightly smoldering scar in the earth, etched deep into the silt behind where he had lain. The progressively widening blemish in the ground stopped at his black-boot clad feet.

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Almost without thinking, he mumbled a word to himself, gestured slightly, and the remaining grime spontaneously lifted off his form and drifted to the ground. After a moment, he looked down at his now clean form, and grimaced in confusion.

“How did I do that?”

Looking around in increasing bewilderment, more questions flooded his mind.

“Where am I? What are those? What is this place? Why was I laying in the dirt...? Who am I?”

This final question was the most disturbing of all. He knew he had a name, and that he should know what it was. For some reason, it just felt…. blocked. A sudden gust of wind cleared the haze somewhat, suddenly unveiling the distant horizon in the direction of the scorched trail. As the fog lifted, he saw the enormous structure for the first time. A gargantuan, obsidian palace sat on the horizon, as out of place as a goblin in a ballroom. Twisting spires of black rock jutted into the air on top, giving it the appearance of some sort of horrific gothic cathedral. As he stared, a quiet, sibilant and female voice drifted into his head.

“Enjoy my gift, child. I’ll be enjoying yours.”

Alarmed, he squinted to try and make out detail. He involuntarily blinked for the first time since awakening. In an instant, the spectacle in front of him vanished, leaving nothing but blackness. A wave of nausea swept over him, and he crumpled to his knees. It felt like the world was spinning around him, and he lost all sense of direction as the nothingness tumbled around him. Then, suddenly, it was bright. 
He was kneeling in the midst of a grassy field, breathing in the smell of fresh plant matter, clean air, and springtime. Completely confused, he slowly and carefully stood to his feet again. Glancing around showed no indication of an end to this expanse of grass, and no obvious landmarks to note. A tremendous rush of wind blew past, causing him to crouch into the grass once again. Looking up, a glittering, golden behemoth labored its way through the sky. Each flap of its wings flattened an acre of grass. He watched the golden dragon head beyond him, rapidly distancing itself as it flew farther and farther away.

Another blink, another flash of darkness, less violent and less prolonged this time, and the dragon disappeared. In its place, a glittering city, with numerous fantastic towers and structures protruded out of the grasslands on the distant horizon. Eyes wide, he looked around him again. While the grasslands seemed similar, he realized he now stood on a well-traveled dirt road, adjacent to a burbling river. Away from the city, the road and river wound into the distance, disappearing into a thin line of green, likely some kind of forest on the edge of the grasslands. While there were no people around, he saw a small sign with two arrows pointing in opposite directions along the road stating “Lutetia: 35 miles” and “Frostford: 145 miles.” Glancing back at the distant city, he turned away and began trudging wearily towards the distant forests. He felt uncomfortable on this open terrain and wanted to get into the shelter of the woods.
    
After an hour of walking, he blinked again. Suddenly, it was nighttime, and he stood on the edge of the pine forest. Panicking slightly, he turned around, to see the wideness of the grasslands behind him. He turned slowly back to the forest and noticed for the first time that the darkness of the night was nearly as bright as day; he was unused to forests being so bright at night. His orange eyes burned as he inspected his surroundings, walking into the darkness. He felt slightly more secure here, as if it were somewhat familiar. He passed another sign pointing forward which stated “Frostford: 50 miles.” Unsure of where else to go, and wanting to seek out civilization, he decided to trudge onward through the night. Eyes wide and unblinking, Nameless thought to himself that he would try to make sense of all that had happened once he had a chance to rest, probably at whatever inn was nearest. He plodded onward into the still darkness of the forest, towards whatever fate had in store for him.

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# Knight of the Realm: Duke Notrick, the Creative and Strong
A proud member of the orc tribe residing in Urk, Notrick grew up as a blacksmith, helping his father every day at the forge to arm and aid his village. His father, Kolle, single-handedly took care of him over the years, teaching him the ways of his people and fostering his creativity. His mother was an unknown figure, absent during his early years. Notrick was always intrigued with the unique properties of different materials after discovering that steel is an alloy of iron and ash, and he decided his main objective was to find the most interesting and unique materials in the world and one day share his experiences with his father.

Notrick initially wanted to leave Urk, but was met with resistance from Chief Oilug. He promised the chief he would return with weaponry and potential trade documentation with the neighboring villages and cities of the Empire. Never a religious person, Notrick's reasoning for being disconnected from religion was that he was never brought up into or taught about any sort of deity or divine power outside of Grummsh, who had little connection to his trade. His father's tools often wear out from the constant use, and he thought he could try to create better utensils in the future.

Notrick set out into the world on his own, forging a path for himself and increasing his skill with a hammer and a blade. He is curious about the world and seeks advice and methods from other master craftsmen and craftswomen. His initial goals were to collect and examine every possible crafting material in the world, and to create an item from each of them. His aim is to one day return to Urk and present to his father a masterpiece weapon of his own creation, demonstrating his growth and bringing prided to the village. Outside of weapons, he also spends time tinkering with simple mechanisms and non-combative tools, such as smithing tools, chains, farming implements, and so on. He also desires to remedy some of the misconceptions about Orcs that people out in the larger world have, and to bring representation to Orc-kind into the broader world. He believes Urk can be much greater than a simple farming village in the Crast Hills, and intends to connect it to the larger trading and commerce of the continent. If possible, he would like to connect it to the Empire of Birrundul, and gain access to the rumored wealth and prosperity that the people who live there enjoy.

Notrick intends to learn about smithing guilds and attempt to befriend the greatest smiths across the land, hopefully one day joining their ranks. Along the way, he is open to learning about other deities and learning about the larger world. As Notrick enters our story, he is already an accomplished warrior, wandering the dense forests of the Verdance, seeking the ruins of an ancient temple rumored to have once produced unique weaponry for its priests and priestesses...

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# Knight of the Realm: Duke Janos The Ambitious and Incorrigible :

The crowded populace was starting to get to Janos. He had endured an involuntary twenty years of relative solitude and had grown accustomed to the silence of confinement. Then, he was thrust back out into the loud and teeming streets without any preparation, forced to reintegrate with the raucous and inconsiderate masses. Granted, so many people hustling about their business was an ongoing commercial opportunity, and Janos, alongside his longtime prison companions Vith and Lyrin, utilized them as well they could. Panhandling on the street produced a functional amount of cash to cover basic expenses. He stood on the street corner, across from a decrepit one-eyed beggar, eyeing the denizens of Lutetia as they pushed past him. Every so often a wealthy merchant or religious figurehead stood out, and Janos tried to think of some way to catch their attention. He particularly enjoyed relieving some of the more opulent citizens of their coin purses while they were distracted, watching Lyrin shoot apples off Vith’s head with his bow or Vith showing off sharpshooting tricks with his gnomish gun. However, he was tired of running the same scams and tricks. His contribution to the money pool involved acrobatic feats and martial arts displays honed during his years in prison. The regulars quickly got bored, and Janos was completely fed up with being overlooked and ignored, especially by those uppity types who had thrown him into the darkness under the city in the first place. The entire system made him sick, and he wanted to get away from it all. 
As he glared out at the public, his thoughts drifted.
A couple weeks back, he had gotten into scuffle with one particularly unhealthy looking individual. The unruly dwarf had far too much hair, sharpened teeth, and a nasty sallow complexion. After being accused of hustling the dwarf in a game of pool, Janos was followed down a back alley and suffered an unpleasant bite from the weird dwarf on his arm. After the wound started to fester and he developed an unnatural craving for raw meat, he sought medical treatment at the cheapest possible medical center: the closest clerical house, one of the dozens of temples to various deities around Lutetia. This one was sandwiched between an abandoned building and a seedy tavern, had boarded-up windows, and the words “Hail Racknar” scrawled in white paint on the front door. Scowling, but all too aware of the measly sixty silver coins he carried in his pouch, Janos had pushed his way in and asked for a cleric.

After a few days of restorative spellcasting and an all-vegetable diet, the older balding halfling who took Janos’ money declared him free of disease, and suggested he avoid getting bit by were-creatures in the future. Thankful, but annoyed at being penniless yet again, Janos requested a discount. Instead, the resulting argument led to the Janos discovering that the Temple of Racknar was merely a front for a “recruitment and investment” organization, promising wealth and happiness to followers of Racknar who could receive payment by recruiting others to do the same.

Racknar was a tolerant deity, open to all ages, genders and races, as long as they were willing to pay the entry fee. Janos was gifted a cheap wire talisman and pushed out the door with a wink and the promise of endless wealth if he brought others to Racknar’s glory.

While he had initially scoffed at the concept, Janos now pulled the talisman out of his tattered robe pocket and gave it another look. Turning it in his hands, he thought about who would be dumb enough to believe in such an asinine scheme. A fake deity? Unlimited wealth as more and more join, and it all comes back to you, if you try hard enough? Nonsense.

Janos reflected on his day and rifled through the two purses he had managed to lift so far. Lyrin had managed to inflict yet another mild head wound to Vith in their most recent display, and that spectacle had been helpful in grabbing a few more than usual. However, the total return was only a few dozen coppers and ten silvers.

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A waste of time, really. He lifted the floppy, wide-brimmed hat off his head and ran his fingers through his perpetually slick black hair. Not wanting to let it go to waste, he rubbed the residual grease into the tips of his long mustachio and twisted them back into points. He needed more money; more money for hair wax, for cologne, for warm beds and nice meals. He wanted a place to call his own, instead of whatever hole in the wall his crew could find. He was tired of listening to Vith’s slithering snores every night as the small kobold tossed and turned, and he was tired of waking up in the middle of the night to see Lyrin’s half-closed eyes staring at him in that weird elvish trance thing he liked to do.

He would never get what he wanted doing this same pointless dance every day.
In the moment, a bit of inspiration came to him. He felt suddenly enlightened; his gaze turned downward once more to the now warm talisman gripped in his hand. These city people, they were too smart to have the wool pulled over their eyes on a scam like this. But the people in the countryside? They might be ignorant of the ways of the city, and just desperate enough to seek aid. There was an entire world out there, ripe for conversion, and willing to part with some of their coin.
Feeling satisfied with himself for the first time in weeks, Janos waited until Vith and Lyrin got tired and joined him. He explained his plan to them, and declared,

“I’m heading east! There are bound to be some country bumpkins who would fall for this nonsense. If I can get enough of them sent back here and that old geezer at the ‘Temple’ can convince them to tithe, I could be a rich man!”

Looking at each other, Vith and Lyrin seemed unperturbed. Lyrin stated,

“Fine by us. Just leave our cut of today’s work before you go.”

Somewhat deflated, Janos divided up what remained of their earnings, and promptly turned to go. Calling back over his shoulder, he said,

“Enjoy your earnings in this city gentlemen! Next you see me, I’ll be a wealthy half-elf. Good luck to you both, and you better not end up back in prison!”

The two friends waved half-heartedly as Janos strode off down the main thoroughfare, before shaking their heads and getting set up for another lackluster performance. Janos continued in a southeastern direction, heading for the main highway that would take him east to Frostford. He felt confident, and excited at the prospect of a change of scenery. He didn’t know why, but he felt surer about this than any of the mediocre ideas he’d come up with recently. He walked alone, but he felt comforted by the warm touch of cheap twisted metal still gripped in his hand. There was money to be made, and he would be the one to find it.

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# The Capable Crew

##### Janos: *Half-Elf Monk/Warlock*
##### Nameless: *Fallen Aasimar Shadow Sorcerer*
##### Spinel: *Earth Genasi Druid/Cleric*
##### Notrick: *Orc Barbarian Blacksmith*

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### 18th of Sevana, 1075 PC:

- Our adventure begins at the Soggy Grindylow Inn in Frostford. The party convened and spoke with the locals. This led them to seek work from the local Viscount, Vicmorn Glorygem. They met the local artisans and denizens of Frostford, including Drud Willowson, and familiarized themselves with the town.
-	After weighing their options, they decided to go to Oakdale at Glorygem's request and investigate trade disruptions.

### 19th and 20th of Sevana:

-   The team traveled along the southern road to Oakdale. They fought off marauding goblins sitting on each other's shoulders in a cloak along the way.
-   Kestrel captured the last goblin, named Kip, in a small barrel and carried him with her for the remainder of the journey.

### 21st of Sevana:

-   After arriving in Oakdale, they spent the day asking around for work and seeking mystery.
-   They eventually found the local innkeeper, who was acting shifty. Investigation led to uncovering that his wife, Rue Peterson, was locked in the basement. She apparently had lost her mind. Engaging with Rue revealed she was possessed by a chain devil.
-	The team cooperated with a strange dwarf named Kussek Runebrew to take down the devil. The ensuing battle banished the Devil and saved Rue.
-   The team found weird items buried under the Flirting Friar Tavern where Rue had been interred. Kussek took one of the items, a book, claiming it was unsafe to remain in their hands. He encouraged them to find him later at the Temple of Erathis in Lutetia.
-	The local townsfolk were initially alarmed by the battle, but the team talked them all down, and peace was restored.

### 22nd - 24th of Sevana:

-   The following morning, they returned to Frostford. The two day journey went uneventfully.
-   They provided proof of slaying the goblins to Vicmorn in the form of several goblin amulets, as well as the goblin Kip in the barrel. Vicmorn didn't want the goblin, so Kestrel released Kip into the woods.
-   Unwilling to let him go free, Seamorc and Janos killed Kip when the rest of the team was distracted. He was buried under a tree outside Frostford and left behind without any further thought.

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### 25th of Sevana:

-   A subsection of the crew explored an abandoned theater to help a drunken playwright named Kurt Von Taterheim. Inside, they found a wrathful ghost and excised it with the local blacksmith Sheila Shlongmeister's help.
-   Investigating nearby, they learned of a Dragonborn entourage leaving the next morning to return to Thaumdural after seeking help from the Viscount. They snooped around and learned some details of difficulty in Thaumdural, the dragonborn homeland.

### 26th of Sevana:

-   The team took the next day to seek out and get rid of local bandits along the roadside. They climbed aboard a carriage heading west, and found and utterly immolated the Tree Rat gang (a group of marauding Weresquirrels).
-   That night, Janos encountered Racknar, the literal embodiment of the made-up deity he had been promoting. It offered him a "gift," and he was granted warlock powers.

### 27th of Sevana:

-   The team returned to Frostford, spoke to Vicmorn, and received a final charge to go aid Thaumdural. They agreed to go, and they took the boat that </br> was waiting for them. The </br> dragonborn captain Orlamorn </br> steered them away from </br> Frostford, up the Frostfall </br> River towards </br> Swarthmore </br> (the home </br> of Seamorc).

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### 28th - 2nd of Sirius:

-   Arrived at Swarthmore after three days of boating
-   Helped defend the village against huge orcish invasion
-   Met Duke Mord Arroway and Seamorc's dad

### 5th of Sirius:

-   Continued on their way, arriving at the base of the mountain after 3 more days of travel
-   Took the day to climb up the path using the elevator and get the tour of the castle
-   Learned about the dilemma plaguing the dragonborn, where none of their eggs are developing past a few weeks
-   Kestrel remembered her past after a triggering sight of the dragonborn egg clusters. She struggled to maintain her composure and find a way to deal with the sudden conflicting goals in her mind.

### 6th of Sirius:

-   The crew started to investigate potential leads on the problem
-   Explored the city, asking around
- 	Met Kogwyn in her Observatory, who warned Janos about the nature of his patron
-   Discovered poison in the water emitting from the Hot Springs
-   Went underground to the gem mines, and found a locked vault door
-	Inside was a puzzle consisting of caverns and a rotary lock. Breaking in revealed a Beholder's cavern. The ensuing fight almost took out a couple members, but they persevered.
-	Kestrel donned a suit of cursed armor, and Spinel acquired a Robe of Stars
-   Afterwards, Spinel turned into a catfish and swam upstream in a small rivulet. 
-	At the end she discovered assassins poisoning the water supply within the mountain

### 7th of Sirius:

-   During the night, Kestrel uses her residual memory loss potion to poison the party's food. She memory wiped most of the party and convinces Janos to run a stealth mission for her to wipe the King's memory, since they had reported on their findings to him the day before.
-	Janos stealthed into the King's Bedchamber, beat him unconscious when he showed signs of waking up, and gave him the memory loss potion
-   The next day, when consulting with a black-eyed King, Prince Emry strode in and asked about the water supply. The King had told him the day before, and Kestrel had failed to cancel out his knowledge.
-   The resulting tension and confusion led </br> to the team investigating around the </br> mountaintop with the help of many </br> dragonborn, before eventually </br> finding a shielded cave </br> entrance on a cliffside.

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-   After working their way in and avoiding traps, they eventually confronted the assassins, killed one, but not before the other (who Kestrel recognized as her adoptive father, Zao) escaped through a gate portal into a distant desert region.
-   Returning to the castle, a small rift was observed over the resting lava pool in the town square. Magmins popped out of this portal and were promptly destroyed.

### 8th of Sirius:

-   The next afternoon, the party decides to return to Frostford for their reward
-   As they prepare, an Ancient Red Dragon appears through the rift, tearing its way through
-	Janos tries to convince it of Racknar's might, but it seemed unimpressed. It demanded their servitude and gave them an hour to bring it their wealth. It proclaimed itself as *Hemdorak*, and vowed revenge upon the wizard who had locked it away eons ago.
-   The team hurriedly evacuates the city, managing to save over half of the population as the dragon poured its wrath upon them. In total, around 700 dragonborn made it out, and the remainder either died or were forced back up to the mountaintop to be slaves for *Hemdorak*.
-   The team rested, defeated, at the base of the mountain in the woods near the Frostfall river. The King had perished in the flight, and Prince Emry was on an advance guard of leaders heading south along the Frostfall river to seek aid.

### 9th of Sirius:

-   The team headed south, spending the day helping and healing damaged dragonborn and their families.
-   Janos gave gifts including spinning tops, and Janos managed to get a dragonborn family of 4 to consider the temple of Racknar. They agreed to seek it out once they reached safety.

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### 10th of Sirius:

-   During the night, Janos witnessed restless dreams in the random dragonborn around him at night, and had unpleasant dreams of his own.
-   In the morning the team tracked a missing dragonborn child into the woods. Along the way, they found another wandering child who seemed to have some sort of destination in mind. They followed it to the base of a gnarled tree with a house in the canopy. 
-   Climbing a ladder to the top resulted in them finding a grotesque hag named Bertha Birtwhistle, preparing a stew containing tender chopped dragonborn. They traded with her to receive the following: a scroll written in Sylvan, instructions to seek power at the Isle of Dread, and to seek guidance in the City of Dis. They proceeded to murder the hag. With an axe.
-   After climbing down, the treehouse uprooted itself and ran off to the west on long spindly root legs.
-   The crew returned to the river and continued south. Around a bend, they encountered Renchax, a female tabaxi archdruid helping a dragonborn family, who invited them back with her into the woods.
-   The team followed Renchax (who morphed into a deer for a time) into the wood. They jumped through a still pond that proved to be a portal to the Feywild.
-   Renchax welcomed them to her hut, deep in a mysterious forest, and answered many of their questions. They learned about Birrü, an ancient wizard who ran around sealing portals on the continent, including this portal to the feywild, trapping Renchax off from the Material Plane. Apparently, he seems to be ruling as the current Emperor Fevagore. Renchax is not a fan of him or his choices, and has only just managed to return.
-   She asked the team to catch a "Bipedal, large lizard-like predator," which seemed to be the last of its kind. The team managed to lure it into an enclosure shaped from stone in the rolling grasslands, having it chase Janos in before sealing it after.
-   In return, Renchax taught Spinel how to wild-shape into a T-Rex, the creature they had captured.
-   Upon returning to the Material Plane, the team went south and encountered a large group of orcs attacking straggling dragonborn. After killing them all, Janos examining the large, bestial horned orc that led them and found a cow skull talisman on it.
-   The team pushed onward to Swarthmore, managing to protect roughly 650 dragonborn out of the 800 who left the mountain. This represents about 40% of the total population who was living on the mountain at that time. The dragonborn all quietly acknowledged them as they passed through into Swarthmore for the night.

### 11th - 12th of Sirius:

-   Racknar came to Janos in a dream and confronted him about telling Hemdorak to go fight him. Racknar seemed irritated that Janos had drawn undue attention to him.
-   The crew sold some items to the local trader and continued on south to bring word to Frostford.
-   They caught some river fish along to way.

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-   Spinel attempted to tame a wild juvenile Behir with fish they had caught. She was nearly successful, but it took the fish and ran away before she was able to convince it.

### 13th of Sirius:

-   The team finally arrived in Frostford in the afternoon. Viscount Glorygem gifted them 2000gp in rewards, 400 to each member. He congratulated the Crew on their contributions to helping the dragonborn refugees, and the refugees all gestured their desire to help. The dragonborn agreed to help build the Crew a place of their own, near the Keep on the hill.
-   Later that day, the team found two bodies, one with a hat and mustache, the other with a cloak and covered in mud. Additionally, the local bar maid Parvanah was being friendly to Janos.
-   The crew went shopping and collected several valuable magic items from the Artisan District. Janos nabbed some thieving gloves from Sheila when she was distracted purchasing the Sunblade from Spinel. 
-   The team made plans for the future and ate dinner at the fancy hotel.

### 14th of Sirius:

-   That night, they were interrupted by another murder report concerning them. They followed the Frost Fighters and examined the bodies. Each of the bodies seemed to resemble a member of the Crew. They returned to their rooms, only to find a fifth victim, chopped up and shoved into a barrel. 
-   The following afternoon they explored, finding more clues and connecting the dots about the victims. Janos decided it was likely a vengeful weresquirrel, out to torment them, and he stated it would be smartest to burn the remaining tokens publicly to draw the attention of their assailant.
-   In the evening, the team barricaded a small area in downtown Frostford and burned the tokens, trying to call out whatever creature may be tormenting them. Barrels began to roll out of dark spaces and crash down upon the players, thrown from the shadows.
-   The villain revealed himself to be Pik, the revenant resurrection of Kip the Goblin, fueled by hatred and the power of Orcus. Fighting ensued, and the party incinerated Pik and watched as his body crumbled to dust.

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### 15th of Sirius:

- The following day the team consulted with Sheila  Shlongmeister. They learned that Pik is a revenant, and will likely follow them forever until they find a way to destroy his vengeful soul or restrain his next host body, as he will continue to steal corpses near them to seek revenge.
- Seamorc and Kestrel decided to leave the party, returning to their respective homes of Swarthmore and Mouduli. Seamorc wished to help his father more, and Kestrel wanted to see if the escaped assassin had made it out alright.
- The three remaining members teleported to Lutetia, into Clearwater Academy, courtesy of Vicmorn's teleportation circle.
- They met Gowron the Eruditious, an Orcish PhD student, and learned about his background and interest in harvesting energy from stray cats.
- They also went to Fevagore Castle and met the Emperor Birru, who explained his true nature and unveiled the history of how Hemdorak ruined everything long ago. The Crew also learned of Four Major threats: Hemdorak, a Phoenix, a Kraken, and an unnamed ooze abomination. Each of these had been sealed away by Birru in the past, but the portals he had once closed with the power of the Lapis Arcanum are now reopening as his power wanes.
- Nameless visited the library and learned about Shar, Selune, angels, and the Shadowfell. Selune lives in perpetual moonlight in the Feywild, while Shar seeks secrets and trades in power in the Shadowfell.
- Janos rolled two natural 20s and convinced the local high priest of Bahamut to send aid and monetary support to the Temple of Racknar after giving delivering many of the sacred texts he had lifted from the Temple of Bahamut in Thamdural before fleeing.
-   Spinel visited the Temple of Melora, and meditated within a natural chamber filled with moss and filtered green light. She spoke with the High Priestess Aneki and passed two trials: the catching of a rabbit and correctly picking the correct plants to provide healing. She ate the food that was prepared with it, and then entered a trance and found herself face to face with the Earth Mother, Melora. 
-   Melora expressed her gratitude to Spinel, and interest in her path, as a defender of the weak and the natural order of things. Melora offered Spinel a gift, which she accepted.
-	Spinel received a level in Cleric, and was gifted the ancient staff Vermillion, the Pillar of Vengeance, as a reward and a symbol of her status as the chosen of Melora.

### 16th of Sirius:

-   The next day, Janos met with Vith and Lyrin again at the Silver Table and learned they were indebted to the Nightwalkers. After, Janos sold various collected items to a black market fence, a gnome named Tabitha. She identified that the eyeball Janos had belongs to a Hag Coven, and is typically shared amongst the Coven's leaders. Through it, the Coven can see what the Crew has been doing all this time.

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-   Nameless investigated further in the Academy and met Professor Pergolor, a firbolg expert on the Shadowfell. He learned about a ritual for communing with Shar, as well as everything he could about the Shadowfell.
-   Janos was attacked by Pik, disguised as a recently deceased pastry lady, and fled to the University to seek aid. Pik was rapidly destroyed by the offended wizards, but the Crew knew he would be back. They decided on a plan to destroy Pik, with the aid of local law enforcement, death row inmates, and Pelor's holy light.

### 17th of Sirius:

-   The team decided to collect the corpse of an executed criminal and tied it down, hoping Pik would choose it. They waited several hours, but noticed that the body twitched when they poked it. They proceeded to blast off his limbs, with the limbless torso struggling all the while to either bite or escape their grasp.
-   After wrangling his limbless body across the city via tree teleportation, they tossed him into the center of the Cathedral of Pelor. They chained Pik to the floor, and harnessed the light of the midday sun, focused through the magnifying ceiling, to incinerate his evilness with Holy Light. These steps eradicated his vengeful spirit forever.
-   The crew then went to the Saintly Sheep to eat, relax, and socialize. They hot-tubbed it a bit, and Janos spent the night with Chuck Huggenkiss and his associates.
-   The team decided to pursue knowledge at the Haunted Expanse in the far west, and they teleported via plants to the village of Lubdin to visit Ruby.
-	Ruby was overjoyed to see her daughter again after several months away, and was more than hospitable to the team.
  
### 18th of Sirius:

-   That morning, Ruby told them about a suspicious village in the woods that spontaneously appeared overnight. Buildings appeared to be random, anachronistic, and the denizens are varied and behave oddly. 
-	Suspecting foul play, the crew traveled into the edges of Cuvel's Slough to seek it out. They found it, and observed a strange assortment of races and animals wandering aimlessly. After attempting to attack one of the edge of the town, Jano's hand squelched through its head. Each building and creature was all part of an Elder Ooblex, one of the four terrible creatures banished by Birru, returning to inflict horrors upon the Prime Material Plane after millennia in exile.
-   The team defeated it after </br>a struggle, and harvested </br>some of its goo. They </br>returned to Lubdin </br>to recuperate for</br> the night.

<img 
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### 19th of Sirius:

-   Nameless acquired cooking and adventuring supplies in town, and moved the ooblex goo into some mason jars.
-   The team left Lubdin, avoiding Ankhegs deep the forest as they slept through the night.

### 20th - 21st of Sirius:

-   The team traveled farther, avoiding any trouble in the woods. At one point, the team crossed the path of some bugbears, who followed them, but avoiding conflict and erased their tracks as they pushed onward towards the Forsaken Keep.

### 22nd of Sirius:

-   The crew reached the Forsaken Keep, deep within the Verdance. Entering the ornate building atop the hill, they met Sumia Silvertail, the blind elven werelioness guardian of the temple to Selune.
-   Walking back outside, they met **Notrick**, a wandering orcish blacksmith seeking novel materials for his smithing experiments. He volunteered to help, suspecting the presence of interesting loot or materials nearby.
-   Investigation inside the nearby ancient tower revealed it was once a trading post with the Shadowfell, complete with a portal.
-   Nameless reached the top of the tower and discovered he could commune with Shar by touching a polished obsidian disc placed vertically at the top of the power. A brief conversation was cryptic, but Shar suggested future cooperation was possible if Notrick brought her Azazel, a powerful Solar angel of Pelor.
-   Investigation in the middle rooms of the tower revealed some artifacts and strange egg-like containers covered in unknown runes. Cracking one open revealed a mass of pinkish crystals, dark smoke, and a rapidly healing undead corpse that attempted to fight. Two of these containers were opened and the undead inside slain.
-   The third canister was opened and the crew waited, attempting to interact with the rejuvenating undead inside. As he stabilized and healed, a tall pale dark-haired human stood before them. After a brief conversation about the year, and instructed them to wait here and staggered off to the roof. After a few moments, he teleported away, taking the obsidian disk with him.
-	Nameless found a Shroud of the Shadowfaller, and Notrick acquired a Sword of Sharpness off of the two corpses.
-   The team decided to sleep it off </br> and return better prepared </br> in the morning. Nameless </br> attuned to the Shroud of </br>the Shadowfaller, </br> and Notrick attuned </br>to his new sword.

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### 23rd of Sirius:

-   When they returned the next morning, they found the remaining two pods had been removed mysteriously.
-   The team decided to leave, heading further west, towards the Haunted Expanse. Sumia Silvertail thanked the crew for helping her purge the darkness from the ancient tower, and agreed to gift the old temple of Selune to Janos (and therefore Racknar) in the future.
-	That night Janos detected an argument in the distance after setting up camp, and found it to be a Dire Troll with multiple heads. The party killed it and a Rot Troll, harvesting a few interesting tidbits in the process.

### 24th of Sirius:

-   The crew woke up bright and early and continued onward through the forests, noticing the downswing in temperatures heralding the change of seasons. Notrick found an ox-like furry creature dead under a tree, and dragged it to a clearing to skin it. He made jerky and mead horns from its carcass in preparation for the desert.

### 25th of Sirius:

-   Nameless disappeared in the morning, fading from existence right as dawn approached as he stared at the Shroud of the Shadowfaller.
-   Confused, the team headed onward, leaving the forests behind, and walking out onto a grassy region of the southern Balmere Plateau.
-   They found a supply depot in the grasslands before the desert, marked with the symbol of the Distillers. Inside, they found entries concerning travel and supplies by several individuals, including a certain Kussek  Runebrew. They took the food and cold weather supplies, before heading into the edge of the desert before setting up camp.

### 26th of Sirius:

-   The team traveled through the desert, rationing food and water, and staying cool. They walked all day, using a molded earthen water jug and the create water spell, to make the journey easier.
-   Eventually they reached the edge of a giant basin in the desert at sunset, noticing the steep downward angle and curious dark hue of the sand.
-   They slid down into the basin before setting up camp for the night. Notrick noticed rhythmic tremors in the sand by using his sword as an acoustic tuning device, but it was too dark to see anything else.

### 27th of Sirius:

-   The group headed further into the basin, towards a distant structure visible near a body of water. They found a depression in the sand, resembling a long and shallow trail stretching in both directions. They crossed it without a problem, but noticed a distant shiny object moving rapidly along it towards them. They eventually were overwhelmed as the object rocketed past them along its path, emitting sonic booms as it went. The noise knocked them over, but the team rushed onward, reaching the edge of the ruins shortly after.

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-   Spinel crossed into the ruins, and a skeletal hand grabbed her foot from the sand as dozens of skeletons rose up all around the crumbling towers.
-   At the same time, Nameless reappeared on the edge of the ruins, materializing from a dark space just in time to help the team. The crew destroyed the army of skeletons and investigated the ruins. They eventually found an odd sinkhole and descended under the sands.
-   Copious exploration revealed several rooms and the occasional cave dwelling monster. They found an ancient chest with references to flooding groundwater and a potion of clairvoyance. Shortly after, the team happened upon a throne room containing two magic undead entities. In the short battle that followed, the male figure fled using magic, and the female turned invisible before being wiped out by Spinel's lightning.
-   The team continued onward, heading into an ancient library. Inside was the male undead who fled, as well as three skeletons and a murderous Boneclaw. After some tense fighting, Notrick was </br> shadow-stepped away into </br> an acid gas-filled room, and </br> a brief moment of panic </br> ended when Nameless </br> heard him scream and </br> ran to the rescue. His </br> firebolt to the explosive </br> acid gas nearly blew </br> them all apart, but </br> it killed the </br> Boneclaw </br> without </br> any further </br> struggle.
-   They </br> continued </br> to explore </br> thoroughly,</br> making their </br> way through </br> various rooms </br> and hallways, </br> picking up </br> random stuff along </br> the way. Eventually the team took a long rest in an old meeting room and gathered a variety of Velki Enclave robes. Nameless cooked some delicious roper steaks from the cave monster they had slain earlier.

### 28th of Sirius:

-   Further exploration revealed a power generation room, with a gargantuan skeleton walking on a giant rolling wheel. Nameless donned a Velki Enclave uniform and intimidated it into ignoring them. Nameless also acquired a few more pink crystals, noting that the dust on the conspicuously empty tables had been recently disturbed.
-   Notrick explored further and uncovered a smithy, collecting Meteorillium ore and some iron. Spinel became a sea snake and explored the underwater regions, with Notrick swimming along and busting doors to assist.

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-   The team explored the rest of the caverns and rooms, collecting scrolls, money, and assorted loot. At one point, they broke into an armory, where they slew four animated armors. They also collected Gauntlets of Ogre Strength as well as a Boomeraxe, Notrick's new secondary weapon.
-   In a submerged region in the far corner of the ruins, Notrick and Nameless managed to find a latch on a submerged iron cylinder. After climbing inside, they discovered it to be an Apparatus of the Crab. After floating out into the waters outside the docks area, they were confronted by a horrific aquatic monstrosity, an Aboleth. After a series of insanely good saving throws, they succeeded in impressing the aboleth, named Wootrositia, and Nameless banished it back to its home Plane of Water per its request. It promised to meet them there if they enter a portal between the islands near Brightshore, or to find it in the abyssal depths if </br> they took longer than a month.

-   Notrick and the others read more books, learning more about the various planes, the City of Dis, and other points of interest. They piloted the Apparatus to the surface, and took off across the desert, back the way they had come.
-   Interested in the sound trains, Spinel built a giant rock wall and managed to derail it, at the same time that Nameless disintegrated it. It crumbled into rust, revealing nothing about its curious fabrication. The team made their way to the edge of the sand basin and made camp.

### 1st and 2nd of Nevar (Day 1 & 2 of the Harvest Festival):

-   Returning through the desert at a slightly different trajectory, the team barely avoiding a confrontation with a massive Purple Sand Worm. They eventually made their way to a second traveler's respite, northwest of the original they had stopped at before making their way into the desert. They collected more supplies and consulted the guest log, noting Kussek  Runebrew's regular attendance. They camped on the edge of the treeline.

### 3rd of Nevar:

-   The party transported via plants to Lutetia after burying their Crab Apparatus under some shrubs and dirt on the edge of the Verdance.
-	They spoke to Birru and explained their progress, sharing what they had investigated and how they had successfully defeated the Ooblex.

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-   Birru answered all the questions they had about the Enclave and its contents. The crew then visited Gowron, asking for advice and giving him the necrotic troll hand, as well as the ooblex goo. He was ecstatic to have new items to experiment with, mixing ooblex goo into the cat's water feeders and placing the troll hand into a chamber. He explained he is currently producing glowing blue energy ingots as a possible power source for airships.
-   The team went shopping at the Clearwater Academy store, collecting some spell scrolls, materials, and potions. Notrick crafted some chains and enhanced his boomeraxe. Nameless spoke with Professor Pergolor, and agreed to deliver his research instrumentation if he ever goes to the Shadowfell.
-   The team visited the Temple of Erathis for the first time, meeting up once again with Kussek Runebrew. Their questioning revealed of the existence of the Distillers, a subset of Erathis followers who "distill" knowledge into palatable nuggets for the people of the continent. They reserve certain knowledge and powerful magics for themselves, judging that content to be too valuable for the public to access. Kussek implored them to bring any further knowledge they acquire to him for monetary reward. While speaking with Kussek, they briefly met a well dressed, dark haired man named Claudius, an apparent member of the inner circle of the Distillers.
-   Janos revisited his temple to Racknar, receiving 3000 gp and observed the rising magical talents of his followers. Osfire Danmo agreed to transfer the followers to the forest temple, and gifted Janos with the Promise of Wealth trait. He made mentions of greater sacrifices and tithes being necessary to continue to support their great benefactor Racknar.
-   Notrick was curious and followed, but had a couple of his tools swiped by random followers. He got mad and intimidated them into returning his supplies.
-   The team reconvened and spent their night at the Saintly Sheep brothel, meeting up with Chuck once again and resting well after two weeks of hard travel.

### 4th of Nevar:

-   The next day, Notrick awoke and went to visit Gowron again, observing the strange, tainted Zyndonium produced by the processing of the necrotic troll hand.
-   Janos left his familiar Hoots in the Silver Table to wait for the arrival of Vith and Lyrin, and then went to the Temple of Kord. There, Notrick and Janos met up and learned about the Pit of Judgement, where quarrels are settled between individuals in sanctioned battles.
-   Notrick observed the fabrication of Kordite in the smithy attached to the temple, and was rejected from his request for tutelage by Master Coldren.
-   Afterwards, they all went to the center of Lutetia to celebrate the Harvest Festival. They engaged in gambling, strength games, and assorted shenanigans. Eventually the team got tired and retired to the Saintly Sheep once again for the evening. Janos tried some Devilsweed, courtesy of Chuck.

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### 5th and 6th of Nevar:

-   The team left early the next morning and teleported via plants back to the location of their Crab Apparatus. From there, they traveled across the Balmere Plateau for the rest of the day, heading for the Golden Crossroads.
-   Janos scouted ahead and detected a tiny village built into the boughs of a giant tree, standing alone in the middle of the grassy plains. He also detected various small bird-like creatures within it. The crew gave it a wide berth. At one point, they alerted a small raven-like creature, but it ran away with no further trouble.

### 7th of Nevar (Last Day of the Harvest Festival):

-	While trekking through the grasslands, Displacer Beasts attacked Nameless as he walked alongside the Apparatus. Needless to say, they were quickly dispatched.

### 8th of Nevar:

-   The crew arrived at the Golden Crossroads in the early afternoon and engaged in basic trade for weapons and goods, observing the large stone statues in the center of the crossroads. At the local inn, the received roasted ox haunches and rumors of bad weather around Brightshore from Kalondra the Broad.
-   They later purchased various curios from Books and Bobbles, including a Mask of Scariness for Notrick. They also visited Rango Ranch and purchased a small stone golem with an umbrella, which Notrick named Stoney.
-   They eventually left the crossroads and traveled a few hours before camping near the Frostford river to the west.

### 9th of Nevar:

-   Another day of travel due west along the road resulted in various traders and boats passing by, going mainly east. The weather was drizzling rain, with the road getting muddier all day.

### 10th of Nevar:

-	With the morning came torrential rain, buffeting wind, and overwhelming thunderstorms. Progressing along the road was more arduous due to the heavy mud and wind. As the team approached the outskirts of Brightshore, they were met by dozens of people heading east. Some were wounded, or being carried, and many seemed to be moving as fast as possible. Small fishing boats overladen with people were fleeing on the river as well. They were all in a hurry and seemed unwilling to stop and chat.

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-   After traveling over a large bridge, they made their way onto Kord's Respite in the now aptly named T.A.N.C. (Tactical Armored Nautical Crab). This is the farthest east island of Brightshore.
-   Outside a tower in the pouring rain, they fought some fish men, defending a girl and a baby wrapped in bandages. The team delivered the girl into the nearby tower, where they met Hitrumi Mudback, another disciple of Kord. He walked them to the nearby temple, to tend to others, and told Notrick to come find him later. He had an ornate kordite glaive, which he appears to know how to use.
-   The team made their way through the next bridge to Fort Lucerno, noting the carnage on their way. They were let in, and found their way to the outpost near the Glittering Gate. There they met Daedrin Maximillion, along with several other important ship captains, including the Lady of the Waves, Wyatt Bentham.
-   After proving their powers to Daedrin in a flashy demonstration, bombing distant fish people invaders, and turning into a TRex, the crew settled in for the night to prepare for the Kraken fight the next morning. Janos stalked Daedrin back to his temporary house that evening, observing his odd behavior at night, meditating without sleep despite being a non-elf.

### 11th of Nevar: Down with the Kraken!

-   Waking early, the team boarded the Felicidade, ship of Captain Wyatt Bentham, and began the engagement. The distant thunderstorm raging between the two islands provided a clear beacon in the pouring rain.
-   A Kraken Priest emerged from the waters halfway there, demanding they turn back. The team engaged it in combat, quickly slaying it and several other enemies before pushing on.
-   Arriving at the heart of the storm around 10am, the team observed a churning whirlpool and thrashing waves. Lightning regularly hit the water and dissipated nearby. After a few moments of tension, a gargantuan shape emerged from the depths. The Kracken had arrived!
-   The ensuing battle saw powerful water and lightning magic from Spinel, devastating necrotic and fire damage from a flying Nameless, close calls, cannonballs and smacking sticks from Janos, and daring eyeball attacks from the back of the kraken itself by Notrick. Notrick dealt the death blow, and Spinel saved Janos from being swallowed whole by pulling the water from the gut of the Kracken out of its mouth, extracting Janos out with it. The gargantuan sea beast sank slowly beneath the waves, giving Notrick enough time to harvest a variety of rare materials from its corpse. Afterwards, the storm slowly dissolved as the Crew climbed aboard the remaining vessels and returned to shore.
-   The team returned to harbor, watching the Felicidade sink from the extreme damage it sustained. Sleeping on the returning journey, Janos had a vision of Racknar being interrogated in a dark room, and Spinel was granted a short vision of a distant young kraken viewing the dark outline of the now slain Kraken from deep within the ocean, sinking slowly, and viewed through a portal of some kind.

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-   The team took a short nap and then </br> joined Daedrin Maximilian in his mansion </br> for food and refreshments. In the bathroom, </br> Janos spoke with Lords Udal and Eltrith, convinced them to deal with him, and traded some illicit substance named Sannish with them. He convinced them to reach out to his associates Vith and Lyrin back in Lutetia and to try to setup some sort of trade arrangement.
-   Notrick recounted the events of the day to Daedrin, who took copious notes and bought a scale off of him. The Crew performed a reenactment of the battle, impressing the nobles as Spinel shaped some dirt to demonstrate the battle progress and Nameless provided lighting and atmosphere.
-   Janos then shared his sample of Sannish with Spinel, and played chess before heading to sleep for the night.

### 12th of Nevar:

-   The crew tree-strode to Lutetia early in the morning, to inform the emperor of their success and restock. Birru gifted them a manor-house (named the Capable Keep) in the northwest region of the city, and employed permanent staff to keep it well stocked and maintained during their travels. They were all granted honorary statuses as Lords and a Lady.
-	Later Notrick met with Gowron and gave him the Kraken blood/ink, hoping to receive a super rare potion later. Notrick also observed some inferior pink crystal zyndonium, derived from the necromantic troll hand. He grew in his bond with Gowron, and mentioned his connections with Daedrin Maximilian.
-   Janos sought out Vith and Lyrin, telling them to keep an eye out for contact from Brighshore, and if they ever find themselves in dire trouble to leave word at the Capable Keep.
-   Nameless and Janos went to visit Tusania Rubysnatcher, the fence for the Nightwalkers, to try and buy blackmarket items. She wasn't hosting that night, and Nameless blasted her door before leaving out of spite.

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-   As they were leaving, Janos noticed they were being watched. He and Nameless teleported to the nearby roof, where Nameless dominated Zedra, a pinkish purple tiefling woman with sawed off horns. She was attempting to flee, but forced to stay. Janos pilfered her pockets and confiscated a Venom Dagger.
-   The ensuing interrogation revealed an entrance to a black market in the sewers below Torogs Crypt. Then, Nameless murdered the helpless tiefling with disintegrate. Her ashes scattered across the roof, and they returned to the Keep to sleep.

### 13th of Nevar:

-  The team met Sally Knobknocker, the maid/cook of the Capable Keep, who is able to deliver food and fresh produce upon request. They also visited Gowron again, dropping off some Kraken Flesh and asked about rubber pads and the Hag Eye.
-   They spent some time outside near the temple to Melora, and Notrick went shopping and forged a variety of simple items. Afterwards, the team treestrode back to Brightshore.
-   There, the team spoke to Hitrumi Mudback and learned his history. He shared a vision given to him by Kord, a vision of Notrick wielding a giant sword, forged from unfathomably powerful materials, defending the realm from an unspeakable evil.
-   Afterwards, they hitchhiked a ride from Captain Dullblade aboard his ship to the region between the two islands off the coast of Brightshore. They towed the TANC behind the ship. Once they arrived, they dove down with and found the massive corpse of the now slain Kraken resting on the seafloor. Nearby, they found a spherical rift underwater. Beyond, they could see only a deep shade of blue. They passed through it, inside the TANC, and found themselves in the Plane of Water.

### ???, the Plane of Water:

-   Ahead of the crew stretched a deep and endless ocean. Surfacing, they an odd bunch of tied together ships and wreckage. Khrasa, the dark-skinned elf captain of this floating city named Flotsam, gave them directions and insight into this new world they'd found themselves in.
-   Floating in the ocean under the night sky filled with alien stars and a dark violet hue, they dove down to seek Wootrositita, the aboleth Nameless had banished almost a month ago.
-   After some investigation near the portal, Wootrositia appeared from the depths and took them to the border of a reef. This journey took (what felt like) many long hours, and they eventually arrived at a waving sea of kelp. Here Wootrositia abandoned them and threatened to make them his mind slaves if they ever met again. Shortly after, the crew encountered a roaming patrol of merfolk and tritons who escorted them inward to the Citadel of One Thousand Pearls.

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### ???, the Citadel of One Thousand Pearls:

-   The crew was treated to a dinner and went shopping, after they established their goals and convinced the Council of Three that they meant no harm to the residents of the reef. Spinel bought a water walk amulet, and Janos got a sickle of fish command.
-   The team learned about the history of the plane, including the events of the Kraken Wars, and how the marid, tritons, and merfolk partnered together to ward off the abominations of the deep. The krakens eventually tried to flee the realm, likely resulting in the one that had found its way to Brightshore.
-   Spinel and Janos begin to feel the withdrawal effects of Sannish they had consumed, but the Hero's Feast they are given fixes them.

### ???, the Isle of Dread:

-   The team slept in moss covered rooms, with waterfalls moving through them. They headed out in the TANC, and were escorted to the edge of the reef by a patrol. A few hours of travel later, they had reached a sandy sunlit shore. They then proceeded out of the shallows onto the Isle of Dread.
-   After sneaking onto the beach, and trying to stealth into the dense jungle near the shore, they were attacked by a pack of blink wolves. After quickly defeating them, the commotion attracted a T-Rex, which Spinel intimidated away by also transforming into the same. She then charged deeper into the forest, with the rest of the team riding on her back.
-   This ruckus attracted the notice of a vengeful young white dragon, which had a beef with the other T-Rex. Assuming Spinel to be its prey, it dove upon the crew in a fury. They fought it and defeated it, harvesting some of its scales and blood in the process.

\pagebreakNum

-   Moving quickly, they ran from an approaching Chimera, and regrouped farther away. Janos scouted ahead, avoiding an ooze, a drow shadowblade, and an undead Gorillion wandering through the dense forests.
-   The team arrived at the base of some giant cliffs, around 200 feet tall. Janos ran up first, using his monk ninja skills, and the rest followed using a confusing combination of earthbending, fabricate, shadow walk, an immovable rod and more.
-   At the top of the cliffs, they found a desolate rocky plateau. Large white columns jutted out at regular intervals, and Spinel noticed they resembled the ribcage of a long-dead giant creature.
-   Mold earth and detect magic revealed the hilt of large sword, embedded in the petrified and buried skull of this creature.
-   Janos cast identify, and in touching the hilt to do so, connected with the spirit contained within the Sword, Fostimagus. This vengeful spirit was once an ancient blacksmith who forged the weapon to avenge his family against a black dragon. Janos fought a psychic battle with Fostimagus, proving his worth, and drew out Dragonsbane from its ancient resting place.
-   Having found the goal of the journey to this plane, the team expedited their retreat down the cliffs. They left the center of the island, fighting a hydra, and stealthing past a medusa, pentadrone, nightmare, and more dangerous creatures.
-   They returned to the T.A.N.C. and swam back to the Citadel to sleep long and hard.
-   After resting, Notrick investigated the city to learn about blacksmithing, and made friends with an old marid named Condro, nicknamed Pud. He shared knowledge with Notrick about some traditional smithing techniques and was gifted two bars of Coralite.
-   The team left the citadel, the reef, the kelp forest, and traveled across the vast expanse of ocean to return to the portal. Janos used his familiar, which he had left behind to stand guard, as a focal point to guide him back.

### 27th of Nevar (Nighttime):

-   The crew returned from the depths to the ocean near Brightshore, next to the corpse of the great kraken. They surfaced, and landed on Brightshore, parking the TANC near the house of Daedrin Maximilian. He came outside and who spoke with them and told them of the time passing. They informed him of their plans and treestrode to Lutetia.
-   They visited with Birru, after they heard a sending message in their heads, and received thanks, advice, and the news that Hemodorak has been encroaching on the lands near Uthorim. He also gifted the Lapis Arcanum to Nameless, entrusting them to keep it safe until it expires and he perishes.
-   The party returned to the Capable Keep, and went to sleep. Without warning, they were ambushed at some point in the night by a dozen hooded assassins. The fight went quickly, but each member was easily stunned and taken captive. They were each teleported below the streets into the sewers.

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-   Nameless escaped, </br> and Janos slipped out of his </br> bonds and dove into the sewage.</br>  As Notrick and Spinel lay bound, a robed figure approached the other two. Introducing herself as Nix, she stated they were to pay them back the Nightwalkers for the loss of their comrade Zehdra, and to do so, they had to steal an Anstruth Harp from Vicmorn Glorygem's personal vault.
-   She tossed a bag of "bits" to them, and told them they had one month to comply. The bits appeared to be a finger, a toe, and the tip of a tail, presumably from Vith, Lyrin, and their bulter Sally.
-   Nameless ran and sought divination help from the High Priest of Bahamut. Once he found their location, he raced to find them, and found the crew as they were leaving the sewers. Janos had stalked Nix as she left, and noted her exit point deep within the sewers.

### 28th of Nevar:

-   The next day, Notrick went to the temple of Kord and offered his finely crafted greatsword as proof of his skill.
-   On the way, he ran into Gowron, who informed him he was well-funded and moving to Squalortown to use private research facilities. He also gave Notrick an inferior zyndonium ingot, while Notrick tossed him two white dragon's teeth.
-   At the temple, Master Coldren approved of the sword, and agreed to collaborate on a project.

### 1st of Nanook - 3rd of Nanook:

-   Together, Notrick and Coldren spent three days forging the Kraken Kiteshield, a masterwork involving Coralite, underwater smithing, enchantment and Kraken Scales.
-   Spinel traveled to the Golden Crossroads and Lutetia seeking potions and wands, and bought a cloak of protection. Notrick swapped the cloak with Janos and wore his sash. Nameless and Janos collaborated and enchanted a +1 Shield for Spinel.
-   At the end of the third day, they treestrode to the base of Mount Strohlcairn and prepared for the assault on the now flaming mountain.

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### 4th of Nanook: Down with Hemdorak!

- Today is the day of the Assault on Thaumdural. </br>The team snuck across the burnt space near the </br>base of the mountain, and continued up the side due to overkill stealth rolls and magic assistance. They ascended into thick dark smoke, lit by some distant red glow.
- Upon reaching the small plateau before the summit, they encountered an elderly dragonborn struggling to carry a sack full of gems to the peak. He informed them of the situation, and encouraged them to seek help from the other remaining captive dragonborn in the caves.
- They snuck their way there, avoiding lava flows, a Salamander, and a fire elemental along the way.
- Once they arrived, the met Ozeana and an Azer named Khordaldrum. Ozeana agreed to help if possible, and the crew climbed to the peak of Mount Strohlcairn to engage Hemdorak in the final battle.
- After an hour or so, Hemodrak returned from his daily excursion to the east, landing upon his pile of loot and noticing the Crew waiting fro him. The ensuing battle was intense. 
- Severl notable moments included blasting Hemdorak with damaging magic from Spinel and Nameless, along with high damage output from the Dragonsbane-wielding Janos. At one point, out of spite, Notrick drank a potion of fire breath and spewed fire into the Hemdorak's face after tanking a direct blast of hellfire himself, accompanying this act with the words "Is that all you’ve got?!" 
- After defeating Hemdorak, the crew looted his hoard, gathering many magic items and catching their breath. Ozeana returned to her people, and rapidly started their flight from the mountain.
- Upon returning to the corpse of Hemdorak, the team witnessed the imposing massive form of Bael, standing over it, flanked by two bearded devils. He informed Janos he was thankful for his work in defeating Hemdorak and for enabling direct access to this region via the City of Brass on the Plane of Fire. He also mentioned that Racknar was no longer someone Janos should worry about, and that Janos now derives his power directly from Bael. He then dismissed the group, and headed back through the portal.
- Notrick approached the corpse of Hemodorak. Determined to extract its heart, he cut and dug his way inside with his sword of sharpness. The inside was still scalding hot, but he managed to cut out the enormous organ.
- Janos wandered across the mountain, having attunded to the fire elemental ring, seeking a fire elemental for his own empowerment. He eventually tracked and found one, commanding it to extinguish itself in a nearby hot spring. He then absorbed its essence within the ring, gaining fire immunity.
- Before going to sleep, Notrick used the scrying orb he had found in the treasure trove to scry upon his hometown. He witnessed his father working on some leather, and a mysterious looming figure which seemed to provoke his father, without a response.

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### 5th of Nanook:
- The next morning, after Spinel had returned the remaining dragonborn to Frostford, the team returned to Lutetia using Nameless's Shroud of the Shadowfaller. The team passed through the temporary dooray without issue, but Nameless had hit with a vision of Shar, as well as an ominous few words. He landed on the other side, fading for a moment, but resolidified. 
- They immediately went to visit Birru, informing him of their success. He congratulated them, awarded them honorary titles and knightdom, and performed a unique spell upon the dragon heart to extract the curious metallic ore infused within it. Birru also shared insights about his old enemies Zeano and his companions.

### 6th and 7th of Nanook:
- Over the next few days, Spinel read the Book of Tome of Clear thought, Nameless learned how to make a broom of flying and extraction spell from Birru, and Notrick crafted a bracelet of dragon scale.
- Janos spent several days tracking shifty people near the sewers, learning about the Nightwalkers and the Magicians Respite. Through speed and distraction, Janos snuck past the magical barrier into the Magician's Respite. He tried to wander in the darkness and learn a bit, but had alerted the security. In the ensuing search, Janos hid within a bush near the exit, attempting to learn the password. It took him two days, but he eventually learned the passphrase of: "Karnjigglyfunjellimckendrius"."

### 8th of Nanook:
-	After those few days of rest and work completed, the crew was ready to investigate further interests. Spinel went to the temple of melora to meditate, and received visions of Ruby, as well as distant jungles, ominous volcanos, and a mysterious desiccating mist.
-	Notrick made tiny armor for his pet Rocky. While, Nameless learned about some individuals who live in the Magicians Respite.
-	Having rested and prepared, the crew went into the sewers, bypassed the locked and illusioned door Janos had identified, and entered the nightwalker’s hideout.

\pagebreakNum

-	They stealthed like crazy, knocking out any bystanders and guards, and eventually entered the chamber where Nix was waiting.
-	Nameless disintegrated Nix while the crew killed most of the thugs, including a basilisk, a minotaur, and a dozen Nightwalkers.
-	They looted various magical items before finding and saving Vith, Lyrin, and Sally. They tied up all the Nightwalkers they hadn't killed and dropped them off with Crimson Cloaks. Their friends were whisked off to the Capable Keep.
-   Returning inside, they gathered blackmail, loot (12,300 gold pieces), a ring of xray and wyvern poison.
-   Janos deactivated several traps and collected a face-mashing curse written on a scrap of paper. Leaving through another exit found the connection to Torog's Crypt. They learned from Vith that there will be fallout, and that there are others in the Nightwalkers. They also hired Vith and Lyrin to perform various tasks for them in the future, and to provide them with income without a need to turn to crime.

### 9th of Nanook:

-   Janos ordered a heavy winter cloak with gold trim and a new hat from Zaragamba's Fineries in the Ivory Plaza in Lutetia. He put down 1200 gold for these items.
-   In the Temple of Kord, Notrick has a vision of Kord forging stars as he gazed upon the giant statue. He felt connected to Kord more than ever before. Notrick learned about the history of Kordite, and began work on a greatsword of epic construction with the help of Master Coldren. This work will take two weeks of work.
-   Nameless began his work on the +2 war mage wand.
-   The Crew recived a summons to the High Court of Lutetia, and they replied  to the meeting that they'd arrive at their earliest convenience. Lyrin agreed to deliver it on their behalf. Janos hired both Vith and Lyrin, giving them some clothes and an emblem. They will require 120 gold a month each.
-   That night, the Bael medallion sent a message to Janos, requested more sacrifices, and demanded better quality than animals sacrifices.

### 10th of Nanook:

- Janos went to the castle and studied the council composition. Notable names were Lars Harrington, Tuva Brighton, Viggo Pierpont, and Claudius Maximilian.
- Notrick and Nameless both worked on their experiments for a couple days. That night, Notrick went to see Gowron in Squalortown. Gowron revealed his experiments to Notrick, showing him his extensive laboratory beneath the lake. Numerous pipes, tubes, crystals, and complex machines connected together. Gowron placed a cat upon a polished black disc in the center of the room, pulled a level, and Notrick watched as the lights went out, leaving only a glowing crystal. On the surface, Janos witnessed an old man's hair raise as he laid against a pillar. Gowron informed Notrick to take care, and to tell no one.
- The team prepared to leave for Ebrea the next day.
- Notrick scryed upon Gowron, and witnessed him speaking with someone using the disc as a focal point. He pleaded for more time, and seemed to receive a week extension.

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### 11th - 18th of Nanook:

- The team treestrode to Brightshore. There they found a bat hiding underneath the crab parked near Daedrin's mansion. They destroyed it as it tried to fly away.
- Daedrin walked out to greet them, and inquired as to their destination. He seemed to be hinding something.
- They met Dockmaster Erik, who sold them a permanent docking location for their crab. They agreed to sail with Captain Kenley Colby, leaving for Crystallia the same day.
- On the ensuing week-long journey, they got to know they crew: Wygga was a wizened old tortle, with a hobby of mediocre tatoos, and Sven was a pugilist goliath, who couldn't lay a finger on Notrick.
- Janos had Wygga draw him a potential tattoo of himself facing Hemdorak, while Spinel watched janos doing ki forms on the deck.

### 19th of Nannook:
- Landed in Crystallia, where they asked for directions from a random tabaxi and explored a bit. Janos found a tattoo artist named Ingvar, who agreed to do his proposed tatoo. He implied it would be magical.
- Madomoisaile Deathbell is the tabaxi owner of the Le Pistachio, where the crew decided to stay. She was helpful in giving directions and explaining the layout of the city.
- Nameless found Rucos, was a leatherworking lizardman who told them the recent history of the area, and how the Tabaxi and lizardfolk have been fleeing Arabangan.

### 20th of Nanook:

- Janos completed his tattoo, which took ~40 hours.He paid for his tattoo with "a piece of his luck" instead the alternative gold, and signed it away to Ingvar, who promptly evaporated. Janos can now breath fire once a day using his tattoo
- Notrick purchased a ring of Feather Falling and tested it by jumping from a pyramid and gently coasting downward.
- Janos then visited the Reznor Embassy, speaking briefly with the receptionist who dismissed his interest in establishing trade.
- He then headed to Apheru, the largest pyramid, and convinced Marquis Hathorisis to speak with him using elvish wine as a bribe. The Marquis was cordial, and informed Janos of the need for alternative energy sources for his airship fleet. If Janos could provide valuable info regarding how to obtain that, or if he could demonstrate viable airship capabilities from the Empire of Birrundul, he would consider discussing trade agreements.
- Back at Le Pistachio, the others hired Gluk, an obese drunkard kobold. The tiny rotund </br> reptile agreed to be their guide</br> through the desert and jungle </br> if they could provide more </br>hard liquor, and if </br>Notrick would </br>carry him.

\pagebreakNum

### 21st to 22nd of Nanook:

- The party woke and left town, heading into the northern stretch of the desert, following the direction of Gluk. The journey was uneventful, and a couple days passed without undue effort.

### 23rd of Nanook:

- On the third day, Gluk noticed a distant "mirage" which turned out to be a set of ruined buildings on a small sandstone plateau. Upon investigating, they crew found a small operational fountain at the center of the ruins.
- Approaching it, a Gynosphinx appeared from behind some rubble and challaneged the team. Lamia (half-human and half-lion people) blocked them in. The Sphinx offered them a riddle, and if they could solve it, one of them could drink from the fountain. Should they fail, they would never be allowed to leave.
- The first riddle was: "You saw me where I never was and where I could not be. And yet within that very place, my face you often see. What am I?" After deliberating, Nameless replied with the correct answer of "Your Reflection."
- Smiling, the Gynosphinx bid him to drink from the well. Upon doing so, the gearlike symbols within the fountain began to spin, and Nameless witnessed a vision of a realm filled with turning cogs, perfect timing, mechanistic wonder, and a buddha-like being of perfect balance, structure, order, and more. His intelligence score went up by two.
- Pleased, the Gynosphinx offered more riddles. If each party member could answer it correctly, they would each get an answer to any question. The following riddles were asked:
	- *What is something that you always have with you but you always leave behind?*
	- *I met a man with a load of wood which was neither straight nor crooked. What kind of wood was it?*
	- *You use a knife to slice my head, yet weep beside me once I've bled. What am I?*
	- *What goes up, but never </br> goes down?*
    
<img
src='https://www.gmbinder.com/images/Y21vpAs.png'
style='position:absolute;bottom:20px;left:50px;width:330px' />

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- The team gave their answers of fingerprints, charcoal, an onion, and age. The Sphinx accepted their answers, despite having other answers in mind, and answered their questions.
- For Notrick, she answered his question of where to find the strongest material in existance by telling him of the plane of Ysgard. She told him of the volcanic oceans below the floating continents, where the bones of an ancient celestial being lie bare. These bones, if collected and put to use, are the hardest material in the multiverse.
- For Nameless, who asked how to defeat Shar, she informed him of what he already knew, as well as informing him that he and his party already possess the means by which to defeat her with might alone. While she is not killable, they may be able to overwhelm her and retreive what was stolen. She could not answer his first question about his past.
- For Janos, she answered his questions about Bael, telling him all that she knew about his role as the General of Mammon and his high-ranking status within the armies of Minauros, the Third Plane of Hell.
- For Spinel, who asked about her father, she told her about Crayg Iolite, the Dao that Ruby once met and fell in love with. He is currently on the Plane of Earth, standing near a chasm, spending each day looking into it and occassionally throwing rocks down into its abyss.
- After answering their questions the team left the ruins with Gluk and continued north through the desert. Four days later, they arrived at the edge of the Tropics, transitioning out of the desert and into the jungle. They camped on the edge, playing chess and gearing up for the next day.

### 27th of Nanook:

- Notrick climbed a tree to scout out potential destinations. Gluk insisted they travel into the jungle, drunk off their stores of spellcasting alcohol.
- They traveled fro a few hours to the northeast before stumbling across dead kobold, which was rapidly absorbed into a Corpse Flower. The ensuing battle attracted the attention of a couple wyverns which attacked from the canopy. After dispatching them, they continued on.
- Eventually Gluk found a path he recognized, and they rushed on to arrive at Xochitl. The ruined city was guarded by a few lizardfolk, who responded only to intimidation by Nameless, despite attempts at bribery.
- Upon entering, they met Chief Coazoeh, the Orange Fang. She welcomed them with hesitation and they discussed many things, especially the nature of the diseases rampaging around the jungle. The Druid's Curse affects mammals, and the Thirst affects them all.
- The Thirst is their name for a great dragon whose breath dries out the victim and leads to eventual death. The Druid's Curse is a plague affecting only mammals and virulent in this region.
- After a bit of celebration, during which Janos partook of a mysterious smoke pipe and hallucinated a myriad of Gluks dancing around his head, Spinel noticed a symbol carved into the rock wall ruins.

\pagebreakNum

### 28th of Nanook:

- The next mornning, the team investigated Xochitl and found numerous symbols reminiscent of the Velki Enclave. Upon casting detect magic and investigating, they found a Spell Scroll of reverse gravity hidden inside a rusty iron box, as well as an Alchemy Jug.
- Althugh they don't know it, Nameless and Notrick had bug bites and are infected by the Druids Curse. They should be feeling the effects strongly on the 4th of Eben.
- The team bid their farewells to Gluk and Xochitl before heading out towards the Maw of Achli, where the dragon is rumored to have first appeared.
- They crossed a river quickly without much struggle.
- The journey was slow going, with dense fog, thick vines, and creepy wildlife watching them the whole way. About a mile from their goal about three in the afternoon, they hit a dense thicket of thorny brambles growing 10 feet high.
- Burning through the thicket, they managed to slowly progress inward through the dense fog and a growing sense of feeling parched.
- Eventually breaking through into a clearing, they Crew found the Maw stretching open before them on the side of a massive cliff. Trepidatiously, they descended. Inside was a large sprawling cavern with columns and stalagtites. Pools of festering water held corpses, and countless insects crawled on the ground. about 200 feet in, they found another symbol of the Velki Enclave engraved into the stone on the floor. There, a distant glow emerged from the gloom, and the Maw slammed mostly shut with a wall of boulders and tightly interwoven brambles. The glow revealed itself to be a smoking acid green eye of a horrific dragon, who dove inward, breathing her horrible gaseous breath.
- The ensuing battle was intense. Nameless cast out numerous fireballs, disintegrates, and a sunburst, while spinel desperately attempted to keep the party healed and alive. Janos did his best to mount the dragon and use the full might of Dragonsbane, but was frequently tossed off of its back. Notrick kept a balance between supporting and protecting the others and dealing damage when he could.
- Syvleth careened about the room, threatening the team and frequently shimmering out of view using her magical camoflauge. She managed to breathe horrendous dessicating gas upon the party 4 separate times. Both Spinel and Janos were knocked unconcious twice each.
- Eventually, as she staggered over to a corner, Nameless managed to hit her with one last fireball. This final spell knocked the hideous beast to the ground, where she crawled forward a bit before collapsing.
- Notrick proceeded to harvest what he could from the beast, while Janos bathed Dragonsbane in its blood. Notrick pulled from Syvleth's chest a withered and blackened heart, with obsidian veins of ore within.
- Janos scouted ahead and found another larger cavern deeper within the earth, down a tunnel. This chamber contained many strange glowing cylinders, with twisted shapes inside. After forming a temporary shelter within the walls using mold earth, the team took a long rest to recover.

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### 1st of Eben:

- The next day, the team looted the mound of gems, gold, and magic items Syvleth had accumulated for herself. They collected 24,000 GP, 6,000 GP worth of uncut gems, a diamond worth 1000 GP, a spell scroll of Glibness, 2 potions of Supreme Healing, a Belt of Stone Giant Strength, and a Tome of Leadership and Influence.
- A long dead corpse held a journal in its lap, and lay in a chair wearing enchanted mage clothing (+2 to AC). The journal revealed to the Crew that this was once a laboratory for some group associated with the Velki Enclave. The Journal had the following words written on the first page:
	- *"Knowledge begets Power. Might forces Understanding. We dissidents reject the archaic foundations of the Enclave, and forge a new path in pursuit of these goals."* - Lierin Dorrel
- Through reading the journal, the crew determined that Syvleth was the result of ancient experimentation centuries ago, but she must have been released by some form of cave-in. The adjacent container was noted in the journal to contain some kind of microorganism that was ultimately a failure for their desires to generate and harvest large amounts of "Essence."
- They left the Maw and treestrode back to Xochitl. They celebrated with the residents, who cheered them on and broke out their best food. In the early evening, they returned to the Maw and headed north, seeking the base of the mountain ranges and the peak </br> of Godsgate.

\pagebreakNum

### 2nd of Eben:

- Traversing the dense jungle was slow </br> going, but eventually they arrived at Ilhuatl. </br> Spying on it from a distance, they discovered </br> huge ziggurats carved from stone, and odd </br> serpentine figures lording over other smaller </br> humanoids. Deciding to potentially return one day, </br> the team skirted around it stealthily, heading towards Godsgate. They camped in the jungle in a small clearing, hiding beneath Nameless' casting of Tiny Hut.

### 3rd of Eben:

- This day consisted of slow travel uphill, leaving behind the worst parts of the jungle behind in favor for more sparse rocky ground. They eventually left the treeline and gradually climbed into the rocky terrain of the Plymede mountain range.
- That night, as they slept, Janos received a message upon his communicator talisman given to him by Bael: “Janos: Why haven’t you been providing regular offerings like the rest of your clan? We are grateful for the portal you secured to establish a connection  to the plane of fire, but you’re way behind the rest of your compatriots in quality souls. They’re averaging a dozen or so daily." After a failed attempt at calming Bael, Bael rescinded Janos' warlock powers. He told Janos if he didn't like it, to take up a complaint within the Halls of Acarice, in the city of Minarous the Sinking, 3rd layer of the plane of Baator. This left Janos considerably stressed.
- Nameless had a dream of himself, sitting in front of a warm fire, shucking corn. A plain looking woman stooped over him, stroking his head, and said "You’re getting so big, my little …" The last word is blocked somehow, the words unintelligable, as the entire vision swirled into blackness. Dancing shadows whirled out of the corners, extinguishing the flames and enveloping him in darkness. A sibilant hiss echoed in his head, along with a flickering vision of two bottomless voids, somehow gazing at him from the shadows. The voids were indignant, and confused, at how he had somehow seen that. They dismissed it however, reinforcing that Nameless has no power without her (Shar) and that he will never develop a sense of self again. She threatened him to forget it.

### 4th of Eben:

- The following day the team managed to navigate to their destination, the patch of the mountain where Spinel's vision from Melora led them. Upon arriving, Spinel cast detect magic and determined a strong source from underground. She dug down, and uncovered a glowing chunk of blue metal, melted into a blob. Notrick lifted it, taking lightning damage but remaining otherwise unscathed.
- Notrick and Spinel treestrode all the way back to Lutetia, to their keep, to deposit it, ignoring the frantic Vith in the frontroom insisting they needed to hear about what had happened in their abscence. They returned the way they came, rejoining Nameless and Janos, and headed for the volcanic crater at the peak of Godsgate. After arriving, they stood back at a distance due to the intense heat. The view of the churning magma caldera was spectacular.

- The crew witnessed several </br> fire giants wandering around the </br> crater's edge, scooping up large </br>quantities of magma and heading down the north side.
- The team teleported back to the Capable Keep, catching up with Vith and Lyrin, and learning about all that had occured over the past couple weeks in their absence.
- First and foremost, Emperor Fevagore (Birru) had died. Nameless checked on the Lapis Arcanum, and determined it had cracked and gone dark.
- There were dozens of letters from the high council demanding an audience and explanations for the outcomes associated with the Crew's destruction of the Nightwalker guild. Janos had Lyrin send a return letter promising to meet within a few weeks.
- Spinel had a letter from her mother Ruby, encouraging her to take care of herself, hoping she is safe, and to please come visit her soon, since she has important things to discuss with her.
- Notrick was wanted at the Temple to Kord, since Master Coldren had something concerning him to talk about.
- There were rumors of an invisible Basilisk in Squalortown, as over 75 stone statues were found in the region.
- There were also rumors of orc tribe activity to the Northeast concerning new chieftains who had taken over by force and are advancing on Lutetia. They’re rumored to be harnessing dark powers to do so.
- There are also rumors of an explosion in the desert, with sand turning to glass from some massive and burning creature encroaching on Modouli.
- Notrick attempted to scry on Gownron, but only saw a vision of darkness and Gowron's dimly glowing staff covered in heavy rocks and rubble.
- Due to the large number of items currently facing the Crew, the team decided to split up to address certain issues that impact them individually before reconvening to tackle the bigger issues. The following pages detail the adventures of each of the heros as they face dangers on their own...

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# Part 2

</div>

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# Notrick:

### 5th of Eben ([Audio](https://youtu.be/UsnRQJxanVM)):
- Notrick started off on his own by going to the Temple of Kord. He met with the Archmandrite, who had a vision of Kord, swinging his hammer, and with each crash he saw hundreds of innocents crushed beneath, turned into sparkling crystals. Kord looked sad, with tears pouring down his face, but continued to pound the crystals into a single blazing white shard. Unsure of its meaning, Notrick left the Pure Kordite in their hands. They made the decision to forge a hammer and anvil from it, as it was once a shard of Kord's original hammer when it was shattered ages ago. They started work on it immediately.
- Notrick had Nameless identify a few things in his inventory, before heading to Clearwater Academy to purchase a few potions.

### 6th -7th of Eben:
- Notrick contributed to the crafting of what came to be known as the Godsforge, and the Hammer was known as Kord's Fist.
- He also collected Rocky, who now knows how to fetch, and made a pocket for him on his chest harness.
- On the end of the 7th, the Archmandrite held a naming ceremony atop the temple. As Notrick wielded Kord's Fist and brought the hammer down, lighting arced from the sky and connected with it, infusing both the hammer and anvil with a electric blue glow inside the glyphs.

### 8th - 13th of Eben:
- Afterwards, Notrick spent the entirety of the following days working on his sword, hammering away and planning with Master Coldren. Each night, the cold winter winds draw his attention to the sky, but he was never sure why.
- After completeing his eighth day of work upon the sword, he returned home as usual. A distant rumbling in the clouds compelled him to climb the highest point nearby, which happened to be the rooftop of the Temple of Pelor.
- After climbing to its highest viewpoint, he looked into the heart of the swirling stormclouds, and watched as blue light coalesced into a bolt of lightning that slammed into the side of the tower he clung to. From the smoldering crater, a Deva arose, standing 8 feet tall and radiating intense blue light. It introduced itself as Sarandiel, a messenger of Kord. The Deva told Notrick that Kord has been watching his progress, and wished to meet him. To do so, he must pass a trial. Notrick accepted, and took the hand of the Deva, falling into nothingness immedately afterward.

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### ???, Ysgard: The Glory Fields

- Notrick slammed down into soft grass. As he stood up, and took his bearings, he was immedately swarmed by hundreds of creatures charging past, yelling and jumping and flying. He grabbed a dwaven in plate armor and asked what was going on. The dwaf, who introduced himself as Samuel, quickly told him to get ready for battle, and that he was on team Blue.
- In the next few moments, the swarms of creatures collided in the center of this grassy plain with another huge mass of creatures, painted in red colors. Notrick, seeing the ensuing battle, drew his Boomeraxe and charged in. In the following minutes, he fought his way through a horde of hostile creatures, slaying giants, warriors, demons, and a young blue dragon before falling to a psionic Githzerai warrior. 
- As he died and his vision faded from his glorious battle, he was suddenly restored, sitting in a throne before a mass of creatures cheering. He sat to the right of the Githzerai, having won second place in the battle for his courage and strength, in the Valiant Halls.
- After the celebrations ended, Notrick found Samuel again and asked for instructions on how to find Kord. He was directed to the edge of Ysgard, to seek Musbelheim below.

### ???, Ysgard, the Floating Lands

- Leaving the Valiant Halls, Notrick wandered across the plains in the direction of the distant horizon, passing mountains and rolling grasslands. Eventually, he arrived at a sudden precipice. Looking down, he saw dozens of massive earthburgs floating amongst clouds.
- Leaping from this height, he descended slowly with his ring of feather falling to the nearest earthburg. Examining the realm around him, he continued downward, angling towards a glowing path of clouds below, where distant lightning seemed to flash occasionally.
- He stopped before his final descent, meditating for a time, and focused on the clouds below. His vision led him beneath, to a lava-filled structure. Occasional lightning arced from it, and seemed to draw him inward. Deciding it to be his destination, he leaped from the last earthburg and descended through the cloud layer into Muspelheim below.

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### ???, Muspelheim, the Forge of Kord

- Notrick landed beneath the dense stormclounds on the edge of massive wrought iron structure, with lava flowing towards the center. Occasional lighting arced from the unseen center. Heading that way, Notrick observed massive iron golems watching his progress; threatening, but otherwise noncombative.
- As he passed the last spire of twisted metal and came within eyesight of the center, he saw the form of a massive, muscular, stout and old man, standing maybe fourty feet tall, hammering away at a massive anvil with an immense hammer. Each swing made the earth sudder, and lightning blasted out with each collision. 
- The figure turned to Notrick and welcomed him to the Forge. The figure turned into lightning and struck the ground before Notrick, resolving into the same figure but short and normal sized, albiet with bright light pouring from his eyes. The figure was Kord, who was pleased to finally meet Notrick, who he had been watching for some time. He informed Notrick that he had concerns about the future, but to be certain that Notrcik was the right orc for learn about it and deal with it, he needed to complete one final task.
- Kord instructed Notrick to seek out Primordial Ossein, which he needed for his current work.
- Dismissing Notrick, Kord grew to his original size and resumed his smithing. A towering fire giant, weilding two massive shields on its back, stomped up to Notrick and instructed him to follow. The giant, named Shuloc, was Kord's assistant, and he would be the one to oversee Notrick's last trial.
- As they walked away from Kord's Forge, the giant told Notrick that he would find the Ossein </br> in the depths of Nifelheim, </br> far away and below </br> Muspelheim. He gave </br> Notrick a magic </br> pickaxe, which he </br> told him would be the </br> only tool able to mine </br> it. Notrick accepted, </br> and as they reached </br> the edge of the </br> stoney plains beyond </br> the forge, Shuloc </br> picked him up </br> and hurled him into</br>  the stormy clouds </br> beyond and below </br> the edge.

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### ???, Nifelheim, the Firey Depths

- Notrick hurdled downward into darkness, mist whipping past him. After some time, the mist grew bright and red, and Notrick landed hard on a precarious rock in an ocean of boiling lava. The heat was immense, and his clothing immediately burst into flame.
- The lava and protruding rock surfaces stretched far away, curling harshly at the horizon. Nifelheim was a long, winding column, like a gargantaun snake, with gravity always pointing down towards the center. Notrick spied a gargantuan leg bone protruding from lava, the color of onyx, and he quickly headed that way.
- Frantically scrambling across the rocks, he arrived at the base of the colossal legbone, and ran into an enraged Salamander. The firey creature attacked him, and he engaged in mortal combat in the depths of the realm as his life burned away.
- He defeated it with few hitpoints left, and immediately began to hack at the bone with his magic pickaxe. With his last few breaths, he managed to dislodge a large piece. He turned and hurled the magic pickaxe into the mist above, in the direction of Muspelheim, praying that it would deliver him.
- His lungs on fire, he was suddenly teleported back to Shuloc, with his giant bone shard in tow, near death. After a short rest, they returned to Kord with the Ossein.
- Kord was very pleased with Notrick, and bestowed upon him his blessing as both a gesture of thanks and an imbuing of power to prepare him for struggles to come. He mentioned a group of interlopers who had come to him, seeking the knowledge of how he channeled his Godly power through his hammer. Kord was about to smite them, but they escaped as soon as they detected his displeasure.
- His mission fulfilled, Notrick was returned via lightning to the Ivory Plaza in Lutetia.

### 14th - 18th of Eben, Lutetia:

- Notrick crashed. Hard. After recovering, he immediately headed to the Temple of Kord to share his journey and resume work on his sword. He labored over it with the aid of Master Coldren, using the Godsforge and Kord's Fist, nearing completion after all this time, utilizing the bones, teeth, and claws of dragons, fur of a blink wolf, and high quality kordite.
- On the 18th, Notrick completed his masterwork. Christening it ***Thunderfury***, he returned to the Capable Keep to practice with it and prepare for the trials ahead with his friends.

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# Nameless:

### 5th - 7th of Eben, Lutetia ([Audio](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTFLYCMkyiM)):

- Nameless spent his first couple days on his own reclining in the sofa in the front room of the Capable Keep, engrossed in his reading of the mystical Tome of Leadership and Influence. He stopped only to sleep for a few hours each day, until he had completed its reading, permanently improving his Charisma.
- He stopped only to aid Janos in his planar travel needs.

### 8th of Eben, Lutetia:

- Finishing the book in the afternoon on the 8th, Nameless went out for a stroll and made his way to the Temple to Erathis. Inside, he sought information about other forgotten or "dead" deities across the planes, learning some sparse information about the father of giants, Annam, and a few others.
- He then made himself a nice dinner and slept long and hard.

### 9th Eben, the Shadowfell:

- Nameless rolled out of bed and wished his way to the Shadowfell. Entering this dark and shadowy realm for the first time since before he started his journey, he found himself in a dusty, grey, ash-covered, decrepit version of his room in the Capable Keep in Lutetia.
- Exploring into what would be in the location of Janos' room in Athendria, he stumbled upon a horrific creature, weeping and moaning as it </br> lurched towards him.
- Fighting his way out of its </br> tight embrace, he fled </br> into the street and </br> shadowported </br> to a nearby </br> rooftop. The </br> view gave him </br> his first sight of </br> an immense city, </br> covered in ashes.
- All color seemed to</br> leech out of the world, including </br> himself, giving everything a greyscale hue.
- He proceeded to wander the rooftops, shadowporting from building to building and observing the ruined city and its denizens.
- Eventually he made his way to where Fevagore Castle would be in the Material Plane, observing a massive ruined fort in its place. He was noticed by a few strange figures, masked and garbed all in black. He fled before they could catch up to him.
- He headed to the temple of Melora to see how it was different, and saw five humanoid figures huddled around a small fire. Approaching cautiously, Nameless learned they were Shadar-Kai, cursed elves who live in this ruined city and who only take names once they've distinguished themselves to their tribe. They all wear stone masks as tradition, but aren't compelled to keep it on, unlike Nameless. They never leave this ruined city, Evernight, as the surrounding plane is even worse.
- If the Shadar-kai fail to distinguish themselves or fall into lethargy, they slowly fade into nothing. Nameless saw one of the followers missing an arm, which slowly faded away around the bicep.
- Nameless learned of a mirror which the Shadar-Kai use for a coming of age ritual, which gives them visions of their past lives and past distinguishing acts.
- Curious to see it, Nameless promised to help them hunt a creature known as a Balhannoth the following day, as a chance to distinguish themselves, in exchange for an opportunity to see this mirror. The Shadar-Kai who Nameless learned all of this from identified itself as Leader.
 
### ???, the City of Evernight:

- Nameless and the other Shadar-Kai shadowported along the rooftops of Evernight, towards the western edge of the city to find the Balhannoth. Along the way, three of the Shadar-Kai were killed by hazards in the form of grotesque monsters wandering the streets.

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- Arriving at the </br> edge of </br>Evernight, </br>Leader and </br>Nameless </br>looked for </br>the Balhannoth. </br>Instead, </br>Nameless </br>was drawn to </br>a distant glowing cottage,</br> exuding warmth and </br>comfort, in the midst </br>of the desolate </br>plain beyond the </br>boundary of </br>the city.
- As he </br>approached, </br>feeling some </br>strange</br> connection with</br> this tiny and simple home, it transformed into a writhing mass of tentacles and teeth. The Balhannoth had bewitched him and Leader, and now was trying to eat them both. 
- After a short battle, dealing with a mostly invisible monster, Nameless managed to defeat it. Together with Leader, he left for the ruined fort to tell the rest of the Shadar-Kai of their success and to recruit them to drag the body back for food.
- After seeing the struggling Shadar-kai living inside the fort, Leader led Nameless down winding pathways to a small circular room. On the wall, a polished black circular disc was suspended on the wall, exactly like the one Nameless had touched all those months ago atop the Shadowfell Tower.
- Peering into its polished surface, Nameless was connected to Shar. They talked briefly, and she reiterated her stance on discouraging him from every succeeding on his own, since he owed his power to her and her alone. She also mentioned her continued interest in having him bring her Azazel, which she would further "bless" him as a reward.
- After the conversation was complete, Nameless met with the Shadar-Kai leaders, a small group named Blaze, Slice, and Fall, so named over the ways in which they distinguished themselves in combat. They talked about the moving castle of Shar, and its unknown locations.
- After all this, Nameless banished himself to a Demi-plane before reappearing back in Lutetia. He took a nap to recover from the journey.

### 11th of Eben: Lutetia, the Shadowfell, and Frostford:
- Nameless went to Fevagore Castle, seeking the room which correlated to the mirror room in the Shadowfell. He found a circular room, containing only perfectly manicured grass and a small clean fountain.
- He then visited the Temple of Pelor, and spoke with Bishop Winmar. As thanks for the Crew's role in defeating Pik and bringing him to the temple, the Bishop agreed to perform the Commune spell with Pelor on Nameless' behalf. In doing so, Nameless received the general sense that Pelor may be willing to help him defeat Shar, and that he was in fact directly descended from Azazel. This knowledge surprised the Bishop, and he promised to aid Nameless in the future and to treat him as a guest of honor due to his lineage.
- Nameless went to Clearwater Academy to find Professor Pergelor. Pergelor asked him to return to instrumentation, which he had left in the Shadowfell. Begging to be taken there, Nameless agreed to do so and used his Shroud of the Shadowfaller to teleport them both there. They arrived back in the Shadowfell, now in a ruined version of the College.
- Sneaking downstairs, they disrupted a dozing Shadow Dragon. It demanded tribute, which they failed to satisfactorily give, and Nameless promptly disintegrated the Dragon. Twice. It fled quickly after that, barely alive.
- Nameless collected Pergelor's instrumentation and returned them both to Lutetia. Then, Nameless paid for teleportation to Frostford. Once there, he visited the Manor of Heros, the hall created for the Capable Crew for their deeds in saving the Dragonborn in the flight from Thaumdural.
- He had dinner at the Soggy Grindylow, catching up with Benjamin Meadmaker, and returned to the Manor to sleep. While there, he encountered Prince Emry, now without an arm, who gave him the key to the Manor and his perpetual thanks.

### 12th - 18th of Eben, Lutetia:
- After returning to Lutetia, Nameless spent several days working on a broom of flying.
- On the 18th, after Janos completed his quest to deal with Osfire, Nameless traveled to the Forgotten Keep courtesy of Spinel to ask Sumia Silvertail for her input on Selune. After a brief conversation, Sumia asked Nameless to return in a couple weeks, after she had time to speak with her goddess about how she could help.

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# Janos:

### 5th of Eben ([Audio](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4jLsXDIo7w)):
- In the morning, Janos headed to the Divination offices at Clearwater Academy. He consulted with Master Pudor, a divination expert, on ways to scry across the planes. He described his own limited abilities, and directed Janos to speak with Mistress Rutrixi.
- Janos found her living within the Magician's Respite, inside a delapitated, hoarder's abode. She smelled of mold and cats, but was very accomodating to Janos' questions. She gladly underwent a ritual allowing Janos to ask questions about Minarous, but spontaneously went insane halfway through. Janos thanked her and let himself out.
- Ready to confront his problems, Janos sought out Nameless. He had Nameless planeshift him to Minauros, the third layer of Baator.

### ???, Minauros, the Great Mire
- He arrived in a stinking swamp, next to a watery pit. Wandering around randomly eventually led to find a bearded devil, chained in a pit. The devil, named So'galir, offered to guide him to the Sinking City of  Minauros. After wandering for a time, So'galir tried to push Janos into a hole, but Janos dodged and So'galir fell into it instead. He was devoured by the gaping maw of a hidden monster, and Janos continued on alone.
- Janos wandered for hours, through burning steam and piercing hail, eventually making his way to a massive cliff. Once there, he found the Sinking City, with Jangling Hiter, the City of Chains, hanging from the clouds above. He snuck his way in across a massive bridge, avoiding eye contact with the many barbed devils watching the road. He passed many lemures on the bridge, who otherwise ignored him.
- After finding his way into the Sinking City, Janos avoided any contact with the more Hellish creatures, choosing to attract the attention of a hooded humanoid. Expressing interest, the creature led Janos to a small tavern, where it revealed itself to be a cambion named Jara'din.

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- The cambion struck a deal with Janos; if he could steal an object called the *Stalwart Beacon* from the Archives of the Halls of Avarice, then he would give Janos any aid and intel he wanted during his stay in Minauros.
- Janos agreed, signing a soul contract, and they sealed the deal with a feast of a few souls, which Janos quite enjoyed.

### ???, Minauros, the Sinking City

- Janos traveled to the Halls of Avarice to submit his complaint. He found unfathomably long lines to see an attendant, as is suitable for Hell. Unwilling to wait forever, he made a distraction and slipped into line near the "end". He then waited in line for 36 hours before finally getting an audience.
- The clerk informed Janos of his options. He could regain his powers by submitting enough souls to settle his debt, or he could submit an inquiry to have Bael's decision overridden. The second option would take approximately a century. Unsatisfied, Janos asked about other options. A third, typically unused route would be to challenge Bael for his position of authority directly, and take his place in the hierarchy, reporting directly to Mammon, Archdevil of Greed and Ruler of Minauros.
- Considering his options, Janos took the required paperwork to challenge Bael directly and left, searching for the Archives. The pile of paperwork was approximately 800 pages thick.
- Janos found the entrance to the Archives off the side of the Hall of Avarice, guarded by two large minotaurs. Casually stepping past, he noticed Bael himself wandering through the main hall. Wanting to avoid conflict, Janos went full stealth mode.
- Below, Janos stealthily joined a tour group looking down into the Archives. The Archives was a massive tiered pit, covered in shelves, each level descending deeper. Spectators and minotaurs wandered each level, watching over the ancient hoard of Mammon's wealth.

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### ???, Minauros, Mammon's Archives:

- Sneakily distracting the devilish tour group, and stealing the complex keystone from the bearded devil tour guide, Janos hid in the shadows and snuck into the Archives after they had left.
- The ensuing stealthy descent into the Archives defies description. Avoiding any sort of detection by the wandering Spectators or Minotaurs, and despite triggering one trap, Janos made it to the bottom of the pit, snatching several magical items along the way. The Stalwart Beacon resided at the bottom, embedded into a stone wall, and guarded by a sleeping Manticore.
- Crossing his fingers, Janos ripped the Beacon from its resting place with his Stone Giant strength, tossed it in his bag, and ducked behind a shelf to hide from the immediate attention this disappearance brought. Against the odds, he managed to climb back out of the pit undetected, hundreds of feet up, as the alarm was raised by the various creatures.
- Rushed out, he cast darkness to prevent any Minotaurs from seeing him as he left the single entrance to the Archives. He blended into the crowd and left the Halls of Avarice, returning to Jara'din at the tavern.
- Jara'din was amazed at his skill, took </br> the beacon and promised to fulfill </br>his side of the bargin. He even </br>did Janos' 800 pages of paperwork </br>for him. Janos took a long rest, </br>preparing for the trials to come.</br> He also asked Jara'din to find and</br> purchase for him a potion of </br>Cloud Giant strength, as well as</br>a potion of Haste. Jara'din was</br> happy to comply, throwing in a potion </br> of healing for fun.

### ???, Beneath the Sinking City:

- Determined to find Racknar and reunite with his once patron and companion, Janos headed for the underbelly of Minauros to seek out the labor camps. He found the massive elevators beneath the city which lower to the distant swamp below, where hundreds of lemures and unfortunate souls labor in perpetuity to find riches and magic items for Mammon's hoard.

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- Janos pretended to be Racknar's twin brother, tricking the overseer into letting him descend. It took several hours, but eventually Janos tracked Racknar to section 3a, in a sinking ruined tower. The reunion was awkward and short, and Racknar seemed dejected and listless. Deciding Racknar wouldn't be of much help to him anymore, since Janos had long since surpassed him in ambition and power, Janos promised to get him out of the labor camps and back into society once he had supplanted Bael.
- Janos returned to the tavern, taking the rest of the time to relax and psych himself up as Jara'din completed the paperwork. Once it was done, Jara'din returned it to him, told him where to deposit it, and bid him farewell, as they had both completed their sides of the deal.
- He ate another breakfast of souls in the tavern to hype himself up, stealing his money back from the hulking innkeeper when he wasn't looking.
- Janos returned to the Halls of Avarice, filed his paperwork, and took a nap while the request was being processed.

### ???, The Day of the TRIALS:
- Janos awoke and headed to the central chamber, where he could hear Bael angrily seeking out whomever had challenged him. After Janos appeared, and confidently strode forward, declaring himself as the challenger, Bael had a good laugh before promising to obliterate Janos.
- Bael proposed three trails: an arm wrestling contest, a footrace through the swamp, and combat. Agreeing, Janos sneaking downed his potion of Cloud Giant strength.
- Sitting down at a massive stone table, the arm wrestling contest quickly went in Janos' favor due to his cheating. With a final push, Janos brought Bael's arm down, smashing through the table and leaving him laying in a crater on the floor. Furious, and unwilling to accept his failure, Bael pushed on to the footrace.
- The race took place outside the Sinking City, on the other side of the bridge. The judge, whom Janos had turned his paperwork over to, informed them both of the winning criteria consisting of collecting three stone idols positioned in a loop out in the swamp, and returning to the finish line first.
- The race was off, and Janos downed his potion of haste, using its magical energy to push past all normal mortal limits of speed. This, combined with dashing, dodging and teleporting, allowed him to put distance between himself and Bael.
- Bael initially took several potshots at Janos as they ran, but seeing himself outdown in raw speed, he quickly spent his remaining energy on teleporting, flying, and doing his best to keep up with Janos. However, it was for naught, as Janos ran through the obstacles of the swamp, collected the three idols, and returned to the finish line before Bael could catch him. Janos maxed out at around 58 mph during the race (25.9 m/s).
- Fuming at his failure, Bael eagerly pushed Janos back to the Halls of Avarice for the final challenge. Despite already losing two of the three trials, he fully intended to destroy Janos for the humiliation. He stomped back to the Halls of Avarice and threw various devils out of his way to make room for a ring in which to fight.

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- Bael and Janos entered the ring together, and Bael practically threw himself at Janos, forsaking his maul in favor of his massive fists. The ensuing one-on-one combat was brutal, with both parties hurting the other. Janos eventually slipped out of the ring, hiding amongst the various devils crowding around, trying to buy himself some time as his hitpoints continued to drain quickly.
- Janos barely managed to dodge some of Bael's more ferocious attacks, as he channeled his mastery over the powers of Minauros into his fists.
- As his health waned, and as he struggled to stay engaged with his adversary, Janos glanced over and saw a massive creature, serpentine, with horrid yellow eyes and scaled skin watching their fight. The creature winked at him and disappeared. As it did, Janos felt his warlock powers returning, and he rallied back and defeated Bael with few bits of health remaining.
- As the crowd of devils cheered, Janos soaked in his victory of the unconscious mass of minotaur at his feet. A voice in his head told him to come to the top of the tower, and he did so. Upon arriving at the peak, Janos saw the serpentine entity again, waiting for him. It introduced itself as Mammon, Arch Devil of Greed, Ruler of the Third, and his new patron. 
- Mammon gave him full agency to do as he wished, having earned his place through peerless ambition and proving his place amongst those less talented. He bestowed upon Janos the Aspect of Avarice and formally rewrote his warlock contract to reflect the changes.
- Janos went downstairs, meeting a confused Racknar along the way, who was excited to hear that his debt was covered. Racknar ran away, and Janos took a well- </br>deserved rest in the private quarters which had </br>previously belonged to Bael.
- Over the following days, Janos </br>enjoyed his victory, enjoying </br>the many vices of Minauros</br> before returning to the</br> marsh to be planeswalked </br>back to Lutetia by Nameless.

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### 15th of Eben, Lutetia:
- Janos returns to Athendria! Having made it back to the Capable Keep, he quickly decided to deal with the issue of Osfire Danmo and the Cult of Racknar. Traveling there with the aid of Spinel, Janos spoke with the first person he found.
- The young man introduced himself as Shad, a once-thief who joined the cult to help support his younger sister Salathune. Osfire has taken her for his own "purposes" in the old temple of Selune, and Shad feared that she would be sacrificed by Osfire.
- Janos promised to help that night, before any more sacrifices would take place. He convinced Shad to try and get help from the other cultists if possible.
- Janos went deep into the woods, seeking Sumia Silvertail after hearing Shad talk about a shaggy white beast that attacked the cultists occasionally. He tracked her to a small cave, and she almost tore his face off. Initially distrustful, she agreed to support him in his overthrow of Osfire if he promised to return the temple to its original state and never use it again.
- That night, Janos strode into the meeting of the cultists, confronting Osfire. He cast silence to enhance his arrival, and activated the Aspect of Avarice to lend weight to his claims of taking control of the cult. Osfire refused to give over control, and dove in to fight Janos with glowing fists.
- After a short but explosive battle, Janos had fireballed and killed eight of the cultists, but the remaining cultists (with the influnce of Shad and Sumia) joined his side and overwhelmed Osfire. Janos took magical brass knuckles off his body, known as Thoughts and Prayers, and began the task of overhauling the cult.

### 16th - 18th of Eben:

- Janos worked with the remaining cultists and Sumia to restore the temple. He also attuned to Thoughts and Prayers and Dragonsbane. He gave Sumia instructions to guide his remaining 18 followers, and returned to Lutetia to rejoin the Capable Crew for the time being.

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# Spinel:

### 5th of Eben, Lubdin ([Audio](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3URQXeEf_7w)):

- Spinel traveled to Lubdin to reunite with Ruby and discuss what she had urgently referenced in her letter. After arriving, Spinel couldn't see her mother, so she spent a few hours tidying up the house and preparing for dinner. When her mother walked in later, she was totally shocked, and the two of them spent the evening talking about Spinel's adventures and catching up.
- Ruby revealed to Spinel that she has been finding many gemstones recently, laying about in the muck of Cuvel's Slough. Ruby seemed convinced they were a sign from Crayg, as she had first met him in the swamp near that area. Spinel agreed to investigate the following morning.

### 6th of Eben:

- Upon investigating the swamp with Ruby, Spinel found several additional gemstones, as well as a strange bubbling spot. Stepping into the ethereal plane, she observed a strong aura associated with a planar junction. Stepping back, she took a deep breath, told her mother not to worry, and dove into the muck, seeking the source of the bubbles. At some point, she was suddenly sucked along, twisting and turning into darkness.

### ???, Plane of Earth:
- Spinel was spit out in the bottom of a dark, wet pit, with rocky steep walls. Climbing out, she found herself in a strange cave filled with luminous rocks. Near the pit was a large pile of gemstones, of similar variety to what Ruby had been finding. Spinel wandered out of the cave, into a large dark space. Following a winding path, she saw a distant tiny city glowing faintly, before it was obscured by other large dark structures.
- As Spinel wandered nearby, she came across a strange stone hut with no windows or doors. As she stared at it, a humanoid figure sprang out from within it, stepping through the stone like it was nothing, and threatened her with dual sickles. She talked him down, identified herself, and discovered him to be Crayg, her father, and her mother's true love.

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- Crayg was overcome with joy </br> at the chance to reunite with his </br>daughter, and told her all about his decades </br> of torment locked out, away from Ruby. He had spent years trying to come back through the portal to Athendria, but was never able to replicate the circumstances that led him to accidentally falling through the first time, or the moment that sucked him back unexpectedly.
- Spinel spent the night, eating simple food with her father, talking for hours. At one point, an earthquake began to shake the ground, and upon inquiring, Crayg told her that it was Geos, an ancient zaratan, and the last of his kind. Geos had been upset recently, and was causing more earthquakes than usual as he wandered closer and closer to the Sevenfold Mazework, the city which Spinel had seen illuminated in the distance.
- As she fell asleep, Spinel received a vision of a great beast, stomping around in pain, causing earthquakes. She could sense its pain, located in its gut, and she sensed Melora's intent for her to heal it and restore balance.

### ???, The Great Dismal Delve:

- Spinel asked Crayg to guide her to the city, as she needed to aid Geos. Crayg agreed hesitantly, stating that he could take her there, but that he didn't want to get too close, since he had been banished many years ago. He was unwilling to share why. Together, they headed out into the massive network of canyons, caves, and tunnels known as the Great Dismal Delve.
- Along the way, they were attacked by a pod of Bulettes. Crayg did his best to keep </br> them at bay with his</br> sickles, but Spinel did the </br>heavy lifting and killed two of </br>them before the third </br>fled. Impressed with </br>his daughter, Crayg</br> led the way with renewed </br>confidence after seeing her </br>in combat.

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- It took them several days to reach the outskirts of the Sevenfold Mazework. Along the way, Spinel and Crayg had to navigate dangerous boulder rivers, avoid tunneling wyrms, and keep an eye on the other strange travelers in the darkness.
- As they neared the city, they were ambushed by several guardsmen. The initial tension gave way to familiarity, as the various guards seemed to recognize Crayg. The leader, a hulking Dao named Flint, expressed his disappointment in seeing Crayg near the city again, and informed both Crayg and Spinel they would be escorted to prison.
- Crayg protested, stating that Spinel could help the city, as he had seen some of her abilities firsthand, and she was well-suited to dealing with Geos. As they were marched into the city, Flint and the other guards contemplated his offer.
- The Sevenfold Mazework is a decorative city, filled with glowing green and blue crystals, as well as gigantic mushrooms that poured a dim light across the roads. The buildings had a distinctive, ziggurat style to them. Crayg and Spinel rested in a dingy dark jail cell, and Crayg told Spinel why he had been banished in the first place.
- Crayg had been Captain of the Guard, appointed to the defense of the Mazework and it's prized, ceremonial crystal, the Grand Zirconium. One day, on his watch, there was a sudden explosion on the egde of the city. He diverted many of his guards to investigate and protect people from harm, but when he returned to his post in the tallest tower of the central citadel, a massive gaping hole in the tower was all that remained of the Great Zirconium. His investigation turned up nothing, and he was stripped of his rank and banished.
- They eventually fell asleep, as distant earthquakes shook the ground.

### ???, The Sevenfold Mazework:

- Spinel and Crayg were brought before the Grand Council of the Mazework, comprised of members from the nobles houses of Chromium, Fermium, Tantalum and Nobelium. Crayg was acknowledged by Schist Fermium as a member of her house, but the other Dao seemed neutral or hostile towards them.
- Spinel convinced the Council she was on a mission from Melora to heal Geos, and rid them of their problems. As they were discussing, a guard broke in and exclaimed that Geos had finally broached the outer wall. Schist stepped forward, taking a stand for Crayg and Spinel and giving them a chance to redeem Crayg's legacy if they could stop Geos once and for all.
- They were marched to the outer border of the Mazework, and Spinel saw Geos in full view. The gargantuan beast towered as high as large hill, bigger than a castle, and had crushed part of the outer wall as it stomped around. It seemed in distress, moving its massive head and tiny eyes around in a state of panic. Spinel stepped forward, cast speak with animals, and tried to figure out its problem. She eventually understood that it had a tummyache, and it had been stomping around in pain, trying to eat things to calm down.
- As she sat there contemplating what to do, it studied her for a moment before suddenly swallowing her whole, along with all the rock she stood upon.

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- She tumbled down into darkness, before stabilizing and getting her bearings. She had nowhere to go besides onward, so she pushed into the darkness, avoiding boulders and occasionally stumbling as the ground beneath her shuddered. 
- As she wandered through the bowels of Geos, she came across more strange tunnels through the walls of his gut. Inspecting them, she was attacked by a dozen Thoqquas, steaming large magma worms that burrowed out of the walls. She cast ice storm on them, smiting all of them almost instantly, but also damaging </br> Geos. The resulting tossing and </br>turning almost crushed her,</br> but she continued on.
- She came to a large bulging</br> area, where two Xorn dug</br> through broken crystals, muck, </br>boulders, and more. They </br>saw and attacked her, but </br>she managed to destroy</br> them both.

- After investigating the pile of stuff they had been digging in, she found that the room came to a narrowing choke point, which was now completely clogged with earth and sand. She proceeded to wash out most of it, eventually revealing a massive, silvery crystal dimly glowing, plugging the tunnel.
- Spinel used thunderwave to punch the crystal through, suddenly dislodging it. The walls of the tunnel shook, and a deluge of water and rocks swept Spinel along. She was tossed and pummeled before she suddenly launched out into open air, along with the giant crystal and other muck.
- Geos roared his approval, and turned to face her. He reached out and delicately touched her on the head, embuing her with his gratitude and a modicum of his power. As she stood there faintly glowing, with pebbles floating around her, the guards and Crayg arrived in disbelief. Crayg was overjoyed to see her alright, but even more astounded to see the presence of the Grand Zirconium, the sacred rock he had failed to protect so many years ago.
- Somehow, the Zirconium had ended up inside of Geos, and Spinel had released it. With one push, she had redeemed her father, healed Geos, pleased Melora, and saved the Sevenfold Mazework from destruction.
- The Council expressed their gratitude and offered Crayg a place back amongst his kind. However, Crayg stated his place was with his daughter and the love of his life, who he desperately wanted to return to.
- Crayg and Spinel returned across the Delve to strange cave where Spinel had arrived, and Spinel drew upon her own power and her connection to Melora to stretch open the portal back to Athendria.
- Together, the traveled between the planes back to Lubdin, where Crayg and Ruby were reuinted, and Spinel spent several days with her parents before returning to Lutetia.

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### 19th of Eben, Lutetia:

- The Capable Crew reconvenes in Lutetia to discuss what comes next! They talked about the various pressing issues that had accrued while they were away: orc tribes amassing in the northwest, poor people being turned to stone, Gowron's disappearance, their summons to the High Council of Lutetia, and other issues.
- They decided they had spurned the demands of the Council long enough, and prepared to appear in their meeting the same day. The Crew traveled to Fevagore Castle and were escorted to a large meeting room. The circular outer wall was matched by a circular inner wall, around which sat the Council of Eight, the leaders of Lutetia in the absence of the Emperor.
- The members of the Council, representing different noble families, capable spellcasters, the military, and merchants, were mostly new to the Crew, except for Duke Claudicus Maximilian (who they had met briefly within the Hall of Erathis as a member of the Distillers, and adoptive father to Daedrin Maximilian in Brightshore) and Hierophant Zorythas Neresh (an elderly dragonborn who had been scammed by the cult of Racknar under Janos' recommendations). They grilled the Crew on their involvement surrounding the disappearance of the Nightwalker guild, as well as the nature of their relationship to the late Emperor Fevagore. The crew was (mostly) truthful in their recounting of events, especially Notrick, who felt a strange compulsion during the entire event to be especially truthful, to the point of making them all sound like horrible people.
- The evidence presented by the Crew, as well as their intimidating and aggressive communication tactics, led to a vote. Five of the Eight (the three who voted for harsher punishments were unknown) voted to let them go free without further harassment, under the assumption of better communication in the future about their activities.
- After the proceedings, the Crew decided to pay a visit to Frostford, to check in on their Manor and do some shopping. They paid a mage in college for transport, and were warped away to Frostford.
- Once they arrived, Janos paid 6650 gold to Sheila for 19 enchanted quarterstaves to distribute to his followers in time. She got right to work, understanding that such an order would take years.
- The Manor was in tip-top shape when they arrived to check on it. It was sparkling clean, but lacked much in the way of personal touches. The Crew paid the dragonborn who remained to purchase and install a variety of those personal touches, including: sculptures of Spinel's parents, an outdoor smithy for Notrick to work in, furniture and tools for all the rooms, and six employees to maintain the entire affair while they were away. In total, it cost they 4000 gold to furnish the place and 900 gold for three months advance pay for their employees.
- They slept overnight in their Manor, enjoying the luxury for a time, before waking the next day to return to Lutetia and face some of their other problems.

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### 20th of Eben, Lutetia:

- Notrick spoke up and suggested that Gowron's sudden loss of contact and his inability to find him using the scrying orb points at some kind of significant problem. The team agreed to follow Notrick to where Gowron had been, to try and find out what happened to him.
- The Crew traveled to Squalortown, and broke into Gowron's shack. The main entrance had caved in entirely. Spinel used her abilities to clear the rubble, and they descended into Gowron's lair beneath the lake.
- Arriving at the central chamber, they found it to be utterly destroyed. Meticulously clearing the space and removing the rubble revealed several things: half a dozen small glowing purplish-pink crystals, much like the ones Gowron had shown Notrick before, a massive, silver, bismuth-like crystal glowing brightly, and Gowron's staff, discarded on the floor. All of these items emitted a potent magical aura.
- Notrick grabbed the staff, and was suddenly alarmed to hear the voice of Gowron inside his head. After speaking with him for a time, and sharing the staff by touch with Janos and Nameless, they pieced together some parts of the story.
- Gowron had been working for a shady group of financers, who regularly brought him supplies, provided his lab, and encouraged his work. Gowron had been pressured to test his methods on himself, before ramping up the test and accidentally maxing out the intensity of the procedure. He blacked out, but woke up to the sight of the three strangers destroying his lab and dragging him away. Now, he feels very odd, and is imprisoned in some strange cell, with a forcefield blocking his way. 
- Notrick touched Gowron's staff to the large bismuth crystal, which promptly begane to partially collapse and shrink in size, as Gowron began to exclaim his enjoyment of the process. Stopping the procedure, Gowron stated he wanted more, but the Crew was unwilling to do anything further.
- In conclusion, the Crew suspected Gowron had </br> somehow achieved Lichdom by accident,</br> and his staff was connected to him and</br> able to absorb these crystals. The </br> crystals appeared to be formed </br> from the lost souls of the poor </br> people who had been petrified.

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- Leaving Gowron's lab, the Crew returned to the Capable Keep. Notrick, feeling anxious, scryed upon his father Kolle. He witnessed Kolle bound in chains, walking through mud and snow in a line with several other orcs. 
- Notrick cast suggestion through the orb on a nearby orc, and had him begin to describe their current location. Through that brief interaction, Notrick was able to pin their location as a point to the northeast he was partially familar with.
- Spinel wanted to go visit her family, so she left to do so. Notrick, Nameless and Janos went to purchase three horses from the stables of the Crimson Cloaks, and left Lutetia along the northern road, heading towards the last known location of Kolle.
- As they made camp along the road near the edge of the Crast Hills to the north, they witnessed a Gnome driving a Gneutralizer Mech Suit, seemingly patrolling the area for dangers.

### 21st of Eben, the Crast Hills:

- Traveling deeper into the hills, the Crew eventually arrived at the location Notrick had gathered from taking control of the random orc through the crystal ball. It was a narrow gorge, with heavy signs of a large number of people walking through. There were a few scattered bodies laying about, and the trail led off to the south.
- The team followed the path, traveling all day before arriving at the edge of a large, sprawling encampment. Sneaking up in the darkness, they saw dozens or orcs sitting around fires. In their midst, emanating an intimidating aura, were several </br> Tannarukks; massive demonic orcs </br> with bull horns and no regard for hygiene.
- Notrick took the lead, strolled into </br> camp confidently, </br> and sat down </br> at the fire to </br> speak with </br> one of </br> the </br> orcs.

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- He witnessed one of the Tannarukks eating some kind of limb, which likely belonged to a humanoid. It noticed him, and challenged him, claiming that it had never seen him before. The Tannarukk (named Raku) charged at him, with some of the orcs following suit.
- The ensuing battle saw Notrick taking on multiple orcs at once, activating his Lightning abilities gifted to him by Kord, and scaring away most of the other indecisive orcs. Nameless and Janos snuck in and began to take out the other Tanarukks and assorted monsters in the camp, such as ogres and giants.
- Evnetually a massive demon called Barzul stormed into their midst. It resembled a minotaur with six arms, standing over 12 feet tall, and was furious at this intrusion. It dealt serious damage to several of them, but the Crew managed to emerge victorious.
- Notrick ran into the heart of the encampment, and found his father Kolle, as well as dozens of imprisoned orcs, gnomes and humans. Notrick broke them out of their restraints, and together they gathered the shattered remains of the people of Urk.
- The Crew learned after the fact that the Tannarukk, with Barzul as their leader, had taken over Notrick's tribe and forcibly moved them from Urk, turning to raiding. They had murdered the previous chief and left the tribe without direction.
- After tending to everyone, some of the humans and gnomes agreed to head south and join Janos' order. The orcs regrouped and headed northeast, back towards Urk, to reestablish themselves. Notrick and Kolle agreed to try and establish ambassadors to Lutetia from Urk in the future, to try and prevent future potential conflict.
- The Crew returned to Lutetia.
- In the meantine, Spinel took her parents on a several day trip around the Empire. Ruby and Crayg were excited to see the sights and foods of Brightshore, Lutetia, Frostford, and more. Afterwards, they told Spinel they were going to move to Frostford, since it struck the ideal balance of city, wilderness, mountains, and comfort that they wanted.

### 22nd of Eben (Day 1 of the Night Festival):

- Upon returning to Lutetia, Janos put down a sizable order to get 30 wide-brim hats to give to his new recruits.
- Notrick remembered that there were Crimson Cloaks amassing at the edge of the city before they left, and he scryed upon Commander Gunderson. Notrick saw him leading a company of Crimsons Cloaks near the edge of Crast Hills, interrogating the humans who had left to join Janos' order. The Commander looked furious that the Crew had completed his mission before he arrived, and was turning to travel back.
- The Crew went to visit with the Council, informing them of their success in defusing the orc problem. The members who were present acknowledged the aid, and remarked on Gunderson's probable anger at being made useless. Notrick, in a fit of altruism, volunteered to fund the expenses of the expedition, on the condition that a pink apology letter be delivered to Commander Gunderson upon his return. The letter was hand written in broken common: "SRY 4 THE TRBLE, 2 SLOW ;)"

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- Notrick dropped 6500 gold </br>to handle the cost,</br> and left feeling good </br> about himself. The </br>present council</br> members thought it </br>would be amusing as </br>well, and promised to </br>deliver the letter. They also</br> agreed to make Notrick the </br>official ambassador to Urk </br>in future discourse.
- Janos was trying to hit on </br> Councilmember Elsinor, but with  </br>no success. He spent the night </br> invisible in her office with a bouquet </br> of flowers, hoping to surprise her, but she only insisted he leave. He was a bit bitter.

### 23rd and 24th of Eben (Days 2-3 of the Night Festival):

- The Crew spent a few days relaxing and taking part of the Night Festival Activities.
- Notrick spent a few days working to craft a Ring of Spell Absorption from the inferior Zyndonium.
- Nameless spent the few remaining days left to craft a Broom of Flying.
- Janos commissioned crests for his Order of the Grasping Fist, as well as official seals for the Capable Crew.

### 25th of Eben (Day 4 of the Night Festival):

- Nameless received a message from the Silver Raven that Janos had given Sumia Sivlertail, that she had news for him. 
- He immediately teleported to the Forsaken Keep, and spoke to Sumia. She gave him a crystal decanter filled with a dimly glowing, silvery liquid. She called it Moonfire, a rare substance only given to the faithful of Selune. Apparantly, Selune was willing to lend her strength against her sister Shar, and deemed Nameless worthy of a portion of her power.
- Janos instructed his followers to begin working on a farm to provide food for their numbers.

### 26th - 28th of Eben (Days 5-7 of the Night Festival)

- The crew did more lounging, relaxing, and enjoying of the festival activities.
- Spinel gave gifts to her teammates: Nameless got a Handy Spice Pouch, Janos received a Coin of Decisionry, and Notrick got a Tankard of Plenty.
- The Crew enjoyed the midnight festival, to usher in the new year, reminiscing on their adventures in the past several months. Nameless fly his broom into the sky, casting Sunburst and Fireballs to light up the sky amidst the fireworks and enhance the celebration.
- The team slept soundly, preparing to move onto the next portion of their journey in the new year.

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### 1st of Nimbus, the Year 1076 PC:

- The crew walked to the College, and requested transport to Modouli. They were warned of the potential danger, with the currently unsolved problem of the Phoenix wrecking havoc on the nearby area.
- Upon their arrival in the central Atrium of the Starview Palace in Modouli, they sought out information from someone who had witnessed the recent Phoenix attack. They were directed to the offices of Dire Ranid, a massive human sorceror, who had survived the attack. When the crew questioned him, he described the massive bird flying over a quarter of the city, accompanied by some strange music which seemed to ebb and flow. He reccomended they get lunch from his local favorite food stand, the Flavor Gypsies.
- They bought food grilled meat kebabs from the Flavor Gypsies on the eastern side of town. Janos became acquainted with the proprioter, an intimidating half-ogre with ginger hair named Redjaw. He shared what he knew, including some brief gossip about the Breathless having a station out in the desert.
- Janos convinced Redjaw to think of the members of his Order if Redjaw ever needed an escort. Surprisingly, Redjaw seemed to take this into full consideration.
- The Crew headed to the southeast of town, witnessing the burned wreckage of that part of town where the Phoenix had flown. They saw its obvious burnt path back into the desert: blackened sand with hints of glassy chunks from the extreme heat.
-  Notrick borrowed Nameless' broom to fly up and high and scry deeper into the desert, but could only see further paths leading away from the city.
-  Deciding to stay the night, the Crew slept at the Mighty Tulip Inn. Janos, being cheap, looked elsewhere and slept at the dingy Cheap Mandolinn.

### 2nd of Nimbus (Battle with the Phoenix!):

- The Crew went shopping, and bought a wand of magic missiles for Notrick, as well as multiple healing potions.
- They left around noon, and headed around 50 miles on foot into the desert, following the path of melted sand and glass and charcoal. Near dusk, they spotted a distant glow on the horizon...

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- The reckoning with the Phoenix, the last of the Horrors once banished by Birru, had come.
- The crew attempted to sneak up on it, as it sat smoldering like a bonfire within a crater, but Nameless tripped and alerted it. It sprung into action, heating the area to unbearable levels, and attacked.
- The Crew fought it off, hitting it when they could, and trying not to be destroyed in the process. Nameless transformed into shadow, and hid within nearby rocks, trying to banish it, which Janos ran around destroying many of the small glass-like fire elementals crawling out of the sand.
- Out of the blue, the Crew's old friend Kestrel came running over a sand dune to join the fight. She had been sent by her guild to investigate, and she ran to help when she saw her friends in combat.
- At one point, a sudden, powerful chord was struck, and all the players were suddenly hit with physic pain. Three of them were stunned by the impossibly powerful physic blast, while the others kept going. The source of this blast was revealed to be Luther Noxis, the bardic member of the Velkian Dissidents, who had been watching the battle invisibly and had decided to intervene.
- Kestrel managed to resist the influence and managed to finished the Phoenix with a blast from her magical Ring of the Ram.
- Luther Noxis was annoyed, complaining in old elvish, and planeshifted away, seemingly finished with the group and the Phoenix both.
- The Phoenix exploded, and coalesced into a massive, cinder-like egg. After trying many methods to destroy or damage it, Nameless chose to banish it to the elemental plane of Ooze, as far from its origin plane as possible. This worked, and the team left the area and made camp in the desert nearby.
- In the middle of the night, they were attacked by a massive Purple Worm. Notrick managed to slay it after he was swallowed whole, and harvested plates from it, despite being badly hurt by acid in the meantime.

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### 3rd of Nimbus:

- The team awoke the next day, exhausted, but ready to head home. They returned to Modouli, and sought an audience with the local leader. This turned out to be the Grand Baroness of Modouli, Kaleerah Bekshan. This half-elf woman interrogated them, learning of their efforts, and promised to gift them 32000 gp as a reward for their heroic efforts.
- Notrick learned of a master smithy named the Heat of the Moment in Modouli, owned by a goliath man named Arthag Keenmaker. He was interested to seek out his advice in the future.
- The Crew then paid for transport back to Lutetia, and headed straight to the Council to share the news of their success. The council was impressed and grateful once again, and had no further news to share with them. The Crew returned to their Capable Keep and enjoyed a lovely dinner, sleeping long and hard to recover.
- Before heading to sleep, Notrick tried to scry upon Luther Noxis. He succeeded, spying upon Luther entering a dark cave in a snowy region. At the back of the cave, he saw dark elf with short-cropped hair in plate armor waiting, wielding two glowing staves. On her chest, was a strange iron harness, with a polished black disc in its center. It resembled strongly the silvery harness the Crew had found in the sand pit where the Phoenix had been dwelling, except that harness had a bowl in the center, and not a disc. 
- Her eyes were obscured by a scarf, covering but not fully concealing large scars which went across her face. She greeted him, inquiring about his efforts. He stated it was a failure, that his experiments were unsatisfactory and mentioned the Crew had inconvenienced him. She seemed bored, and replied that she had also struggled with the "Shadow Bitch." Together, they vanished, ending his scry.

### 4th of Nimbus:

- Waking the next day, the team had a variety of concepts to dwell upon. First, they traveled to the Temple of Kord to seek advice from Archmandrite Kantor. He was baffled by the harness, and had no insight into its purpose.
- Notrick went to his anvil, and prayed for guidance from Kord. He had a vision of the Kiln where he had met Kord, and received some insight into the nature of the harness, and that the party already has something compatible with it.
- Afterwards, they headed to the Temple of Erathis, to seek an audience with Kussek Runebrew. He was also unable to give much more insight into the purpose of the harness, other than it looked like some kind of receptacle for some kind of lens.
- They crew walked outside and Nameless told Kussek of the Sphinx's Oasis in the desert. Kussek was fascinated, and took extensive notes. In the meantime, Janos robbed the triple-locked chest within Kussek's personal chambers, looting a Dagger of Warning, a +2 Wand of the War Mage, and a Potion of Growth.
- Afterwards, the crew headed to the Temple of Pelor to seek answers from Nameless' connection with the Archbishop...

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# Part 3
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- The Archibishop mediated a commune ritual for Nameless, and he was able to ask few questions. After some cryptic answers, and a general sense of distance from the source, Nameless began to emanate a freezing aura. This frost and shadowy mist surrounding him, terrifying the priests, as Nameless saw Shar in his mind. 
- She was angry for him contacting Pelor, insisting that she had control over him, and his connection to his past was no more. In the conversation, Nameless revealed that he was aware the Velki Dissidents didn't like her, and he wanted to know more about them. She was very interested in the proposition, and offered to welcome him if he comes to her in her castle in the Shadowfell, and she would be willing to return what she had taken from him in exchange for revenge.
- The vision ended, the shadows stopped, and the Archbishop asked them to please leave so they could cleanse the Temple.
- Afterwards, Spinel meditated and spoke with Melora, confirming that she had completed all the tasks the Nature Goddess had in store for her, and seeking advice on where to go next.
- Janos wrote in his Book of Darkness and got some answers back from Mammon, concerning possible motives of these powerful magic figures.
- The team did a bit more shopping for potions, and prepared to leave for the Shadowfell the following day.

### 5th of Nimbus: To the Shadowfell!

- Nameless gave his Shroud of the Shadowfaller to Notrick as a backup escape plan, and then they all passed into the Shadowfell. Arriving in an open plaza, not unlike the Ivory Plaza in Lutetia, they were beset my a two-headed mosntrous angry Sorrowsworn. They rapidly defeated it, and headed to the ruined castle to seek shelter and confer with the Shadar-Kai.
- Nameless heard from leader that there were rumors of a Skull Lord and his army wandering the wastes outside, and to be careful.
- The team left the city of Evernight, heading out into the foggy grey wastes beyond. They crossed a chasm and wandered in the western direction, walking </br> for many hours.

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- At one point, they stumbled into a wandering Death Giant, which was quick to summon its enslaved souls and set them upon the crew. They managed to slay it quickly, gathering some gold before heading deeper into the darkness.
- The melancholy effects of the Shadowfell began to get to Janos, and he became deeply apathetic.
- It grew darker, as dark as an overcast night a few hours after sunset, and Janos and Nameless took the lead. They saw a distant undead standing in their way, and Nameless smote it with a fireball. The explosion revealed hundreds more standing in the wastes, and Janos and Nameless proceeded to destroy hundreds of them as they staggered forward in a rough formation, attempting to reach them
- Suddenly, the undead were halted, hearing distant infernal words. A three-headed figure wandered out from the horde and confronted the Crew, inquiring as to why they had attacked its horde. Unable to give a satisfactory answer, it lunged forward, urging its horde towards the Crew.
- The crew fought back, blasting the dim fields of the shadowfell with Sunbursts and more. Eventually the skullord was defeated, and the crew continued onward, following the ever-changing direction of Prof. Pergelor's compass.
- Nameless led them to a large cliff, which they easily scaled. At the top, a massive cluster of dark obsidian walls spread around the plateau in a large region. Nameless reached out to touch it, and passed straight through. Standing in the interior, he saw a dense shadowy region ahead within the structure. The compass </br> was going haywire.
- The team passed inside, and headed </br> towards the center of the dark </br> cavernous space. As they reached </br> the center, the shadows </br> congealed and formed into a </br> massive woman: Shar, the </br> Goddess of Shadow. </br> Nameless, unafraid, stepped </br> forward and engaged her </br> in discussion. He bartered </br> with her for his soul, </br> wanting to know what </br> could entice her to return it. </br> She observed their </br> dealings with the </br> Dissidents, and declared </br> that if the Crew could </br> capture them and </br> deliver their souls </br> to her, she would </br> give Nameless </br> his soul back. </br>Should they fail,</br> he would be</br> destroyed </br>utterly.

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- Agreeing to these terms, Nameless reached out and received a flaming halo from Shar. Upon touching it, he was restored, and sprouted flaming wings from his back, as the featureless mask he had worn for so long fell from his face in a burst of flame.
- Nameless' true name is Abdiel Lùtair, son to a seamstress and born fatherless.His past consisted of an unassuming childhood of bullying at the hands of the strong and domineering. He was a pretty boy, somewhat short and weak, and unaware of his latent ancestral power. As an adult, he was too wimpy to hold his own, ungifted, and untalented. He eventually ran from the village, falling into a ravine and breaking a leg. He cursed everything, including his unknown father, for his shit luck. And there, in the darkness, something reached out and offered him an exchange. Shar drew him into the Shadowfell, stole his identity, and drew out his latent powers.
- Shar stated her great expectations for Abdiel, and faded into nothingness. The great dark structure also faded away, leaving the crew on a grey, windswept plateau. Ready to leave, they planeshifted back from the Shadowfell to Lutetia, and slept hard after such a taxing adventure.

### 10th of Nimbus:

- The crew awoke to a delicious breakfast served by Sally. After eating, the decided to consult Gowron for insight into the problem of the Dissidents.
- After sharing with him all they knew of Shar, they also mentioned they had learned they had some dealings with a cambion. On hearing this, Gowron, showed them an image of a dodecahedron, handed between Luther and Zeano. Janos recognized this as the Stalwart Beacon, the magic item he had stolen from Mammon's archives and traded to Joradin in Minarous for aid against Bael.
- With this knowledge, they decided to travel to Minarous to seek aid from Mammon and confront Joradin about the transaction. Nameless planeshifted them to the best of his ability, and they ended up standing in the muck of the Sinking City in the depths below Minarous.
- They wandered to the lift to the city above, following Janos' lead, and he managed to navigate back to the Halls of Avarice. They pushed past a variety of slightly hostile devils along the way.
- The crew got to stay in Janos' penthouse in the Halls, while Janos visited Mammon. Mammon expressed mild confusion about this Joradin, since he didn't seem aware of his presence in the city. He offered to put out a notice to arrest him and beat him senseless. Janos thanked him and decided to scry on him first.
- Notrick managed to scry on Joradin, resting in a luxurious inn, named the Rapacious Rakshasa on the edge of the city overlooking the abyss below.
- They traveled there, and Janos managed to convince the innkeeper to give him access to Joradin's room. Janos and Nameless confronted Joradin, but found him in a stupor, high off soul gems.
- After waking him up, they grilled him on what the Stalwart Beacon was. He couldn't seem to remember, and they determined his mind had been wiped. Spinel cast Greater Restoration and healed him, allowing him to recall the true nature of his transaction.

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- Joradin admitted to selling the beacon to the Dissidents, in exchange for a briefcase consisting of several strange crystals, similar to the ones found in Gowron's lab. Janos partook in a pink crystal, and had a vision of a half-elf wandering the Killifyn Wilds, before being attacked in a flash of light.
- The crew went to the Halls of Avarice and toured the archives, asking about the Beacon. They learned that Erathis and Ioun had made the beacon eons ago as an impenetrable shield to defend some angels and allow them to execute a ritual to banish demons from one of the outer planes. They also learned that Limbo is where Ioun resides. Running out of directions to pursue in Minarous, they returned to Athendria.

### 14th of Nimbus (Lutetia):

- While residing in the Capable Keep, Janos convinced Spinel to partake in a crystal. She had a vision of a Hobgoblin woman being entranced by Luther Noxis in a far away land, who also ended her in a flash of light emenating from a silver bowl held in his hand, while wearing a polished black disc.
- Exhausted, the crew passed out, sleeping through the night. Notrick had a vision of being back on the fields of Ysgard, and he felt called back to Kord's Furnace. He arrived there, and spoke with Kord, who expressed his growing concern regarding the activities of the Dissidents. Notrick told him what he knew, and asked if he could take the Pick of Durior, which he had wielded once before in the depths of Niflheim. Kord declined it to him, stating he needed a better reason to loan it to him.

#### -- **LEVELED UP (19)** --

</div>

### 15th of Nimbus:
- The next day, Notrick headed to the temple of Kord and asked Master Coldren to assist him the Purple Worm shield he was working on. She agreed, and began work to complete it by the 18th. 
- Spinel went to her temple to meditate, but was unable to connect due to the anxiety surrounding this impending trouble with the Dissidents.
- Janos and Nameless did some light reading, mainly learning a bit more about the Stalwart Beacon, and how it was a joint effort by Erathis and Ioun to stave off attacks by demons during a nasty period in the Blood War, on the plane of Arborea.

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### 16th of Nimbus:

- That morning, the team was enjoying breakfast when a strange wave of bright, orangish light traveled acrosss the sky like a wave, passing over Lutetia. Confused, they waffled a bit, before Spinel recieved a message in her head from the the Council to meet with them at once. They hustled over and sat in on the meeting, hearing about there was intel that an attack had been made on a city on Ikesh. A second message came, they confirmed that the city of Falnar had been partially destroyed, with no movement or suggestion of survivors.
- Nameless teleported them to Falnar, or at least, as close as he could based only on readings and some shared materials from the region. He didn't quite make it, and the team found themselves in a freezing blizzard on the edge of a frozen cliff.
- They struggled for a bit, trying to find their bearings, and teleported once more (correctly) to the edge of Falnar. Walking through the small city, they saw hundreds of elven humanoids, turned to stone, staring back towards the center of town. 
- Janos and Nameless looted an apothecary, and they headed towards the center. There, they found a massive crater, and a variety of destroyed buildings. At the center of the crater, was an island of untouched cobblestone, upon which rested a melted platinum disc.
- Investigating, Nameless remarked upon the similarities of the disc to the platinum bowl they had found the Phoenix lingering upon.
- Spinel and Notrick split up, searching for surviving trees and other survivors. They were ambushed by a squad of drow and larger, hulking creatures wearing black armor, who were suspicious of their activities here. Spinel talked their way out of the confrontation, and met up with the rest of the group back at the center. They shared whatever information they had, which wasn't much. Janos tried to collect some small glowing shards left on the partially melted disc, but they exploded on contact.
- The drow captain suddenly spun around, stating he had just received word that a massive mountain had appeared over Crystallia. Spinel ran to the nearest dead tree, revived it with her druidcraft, and used it to teleport the team to Crystallia, at the base of one of the pyramids.

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- Arriving, they witnessed a wave of orange energy sweeping across the sky, outwards, away from Crystallia. Dozens of stone statues stood around them, staring up in awe at the massive floating island of rock, metal tubes, and an ancient temple atop it in the sky above. They had arrived too late.
- Spinel, furious, called upon the forces of nature and unleashed a Storm of Vengeance. It began to pummel the floating mountain, but the lightning had no effect. Janos ran up the nearby pyramid, dodging past dozens of frozen, stone statues, aiming to acquire an airship.
- Notrick scryed upon the Dissidents, and saw they entering the floating temple, carrying a massive Onyx Disc and a huge orange/yellow crystal.
- As Spinel increased her intensity, trying to knock the mountain from the sky, it suddenly shrunk and dissappeared into a tiny hole, leaving behind a negative shockwave that blasted the sands and surrounding city. Janos managed to maintain control of a nearby airship, and brought it down to meet the rest of the crew.
- Investigating the crater outside the city, Nameless found a similar melted platinum disc at the center, as well as a few glowing shards. He used extraction to move them into the Lapis Arcanum. That night, the team parked the airship outside Crystallia, and Notrick unloaded all its cargo. The ship, named the Bloodhound, served as their resting place for the evening, as they rested and contempleted what comes next.

### 17th of Nimbus:

- The next morning, the crew awoke to the silent desert city. Standing near the bow of their airship, the agreed to chase after the Dissidents, following them to Limbo per Gowron's instructions. Holding hands, Nameless wished them into the space between...

### ??? Limbo, the Chaos Wastes:

- As the crew planeshifted into Limbo, they found themselves spiraling out of control. There was no up or down, lightning arced through the void around them, and fire spun in random directions. Spinel, focusing herself, managed to exert her will onto a nearby bunch of rocks and formed a small platform for them all to stand upon, creating a tiny refuge among the chaos.

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- Shortly after arriving and attempting to will the platform to move through the void, the players were beset by a group of Slaadi, strange frog like monsters. After a short battle, the team continued on, with Nameless providing impetus for the platform while Spinel maintained its form. Using Gowron's staff as a focal point, they tried to find their way closer to him. At one point, a massive rift opened nearby, drawing them in. The spun out the other side, floating a few miles away from an unexpected city. The massive cluster of buildings, trees, and beautiful architecture floated in the void.
- As they stared, the saw a few humanoid forms flying up from the city to greet them. An elder githyanki, an alien elven entity, challenged them. They told him they sought the location of the Dissidents, and he replied that he knew where it was. He wanted to test their might however, to discern if they were a threat to his city. They briefly engaged in combat, and the githyanki nearly destroyed them with psychic powers. Deeming their intentions to be true and their strength to be great, he agreed to help them.
- The elder opened another portal, allowing them to pass into a new space. There, they saw the floating mountain with the temple atop it, the home of the Dissidents.

### ??? Limbo, The Dissidents' Refuge:

- They approached from below, hoping to move undetected. Gravity became strange as they got closer, so they dropped a rope off their island and climbed up to the bottom of the floating mountain. They debated seeking entry, but a massive construct with a drill for a head came stomping around. Nameless banished it, but it reappeared shortly nearby, and small constructs flew out to it and brought it back to the mountain.
- Deciding that coming in the main entrance was too risky, the players agreed to burrow in. Spinel dug a hole, and Nameless closed it behind him using Fabricate to create steel door.
- After a short breather, they continued inward. The burst through a wall of bookcases, inside the lair of the Dissidents.
- The crew spread out, investigating the interior of the lair belonging to these powerful mages. They found books and and notes concerning the movement of energy, the powers of the gods, necromancy, and a curious new form of magic referred to as Vitamancy.
- Notrick destroyed a construct dog that wandered into a room, and the team avoided most traps and dangers throughout the chambers.
- Next to a room containing partially constructed sentries, Nameless found a room filled with Umbrix discs of various sizes. They also found Umbrix Harnesses inside a magical enchantment. Nameless reached out to Shar, managing to channel her intent and his own magic into breaking the powerful enchantment over the discs. Nameless passed into unconciousness, but was healed. The crew collected Umbrix Harnesses, the only known defense against the Gong of Umber, the massive Umbrix Gong the Dissidents had used to harvest the souls of two cities. During this time, the entire structure vibrated occasionally, seemingly doing something.

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- Wearing these, the crew continued to wander the halls. They found Zeano's private study, and were attacked by powerful guardians. All but Janos were temporarily possessed by vengeful spirits, for a time, attacking Janos. After that, they passed through a research room containing tall cylinders with dark shapes within.
- Eventually the team made their way to the top of the structure, turning a corner and seeing Gowron, imprisoned behind a Wall of Force. Nameless disintegrated the wall, releasing him, and Notrick returned his staff to him.
- The next room contained a similar setup to Gowron's lab, but with additions and strange apparatus that Gowron didn't recognize. Increasingly large crystals lined the walls in glass cases, but the last few lay empty, except for small glowing shards, similar to the remnants of the Dissidents' ritual at Crystallia and Falnar.
- Moving into the last and final room, the crew beheld a massive structure with numerous pipes and hoses connected to it. At the center, a glowing cube seemed to form its core. As they approached, a voice mocked them from above. Sable le Rogue, one of the three Dissidents, dropped from above and challenged them alone. The crew dove into combat with Gowron on their side.
- Sable summoned several deadly constructs to defend her. The battle was brief but fierce, with several of the crew nearing death. Spinel healed where she could, and Gowron blasted the constructs with necrotic magic. Notrick managed to run behind Sable, saying "I bet you didn't see this coming!" and dealing the final blow by lopping off her head. With Sable defeated, the players proceeded to loot the final room.
- Janos took Sable's twin staffs, which turned out to contain an eye of an angel and a devil. They were powerful weapons, and granted him Truesight. Nameless took the Cubic Gate found at the center of the pipes and wires, which seemed to have been powering this floating castle. 
- As the crew and Gowron wandered back through the citadel, they found that one of the three tanks of greenish liquid had shattered, and humanoid footprints walked away from it. As they gave chase, Spinel saw a drow woman, soaking wet, and draped in a blanket, hiss at her before teleporting away. Recognizing the vats as clones, Nameless shattered the remaining two and destroyed the bodies within to prevent any further "life insurance."

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- The crew collected everything they could find. Nameless used the Cubic Gate to open a doorway into Shar's realm. He then pushed through all of the Umbrix he had found in the citadel, minus the harnesses the crew now wore. She acknowledged him, absorbing the Umbrix into her form, and whispered once as the gate closed, to "Finish the job, and bring me their souls..."
- The team gathered together and Nameless opened a gate into the backyard of the Capable Keep. They stepped out of the chaos of Limbo, back into the warm air of springtime...

#### -- **LEVELED UP TO MAXIMUM (20)** --

</div>

### 10th of Mistro:

- The team had returned to Athendria. Their housekeepers were surprised and happy to see them, and kept them informed about the state of things. Nothing had happened since Crystallia, and all across Athendria people were afraid of something similar happening again. Almost a month had passed since the players had stepped into Limbo.
- The team fell asleep and slept hard. Janos attuned to the two staffs of Sable, retiring Dragonsbane.

### 11th of Mistro:

- Janos wandered the city with truesight, granted to him by the twin staffs. He took the day to learn how to use it and avoid having it overwhelm him.
- Gowron and Nameless discussed Gowron's research, learning about his experiments, the process, and how it may be possible for Nameless to harvest the souls of the Dissidents using the Lapis Arcanum.
- Spinel visited her temple and updated the acolytes about what happened. They are still scared, but willing to aid her hwoever possible. 
- Notrick visited the Temple of Kord and collected his purple worm shield, and then spent the next couple days locked in his room reading the Tome of Health.

### 12th of Mistro:

- Spinel joined the conversation with Nameless and Gowron, learning how it could be possible to help channel souls into or out of the stone.
- Janos invested 12000 gold to purchase the ruined theater that had been the temporary site of the Temple of Racknar. Then he spent 5000 on hiring construction professionals to refit it for a branch of the Order of the Grasping Fist.

### 13th of Mistro:
- Notrick finished reading the book, bringing his constitution to 26. He went to the Temple of Kord and gained their support in case of a fight.
- Spinel tells her temple to be ready, about what happened in Crystallia, and to book it to the epicenter in case of a similar emergency. 
- Janos went to the Saintly Sheep for an evening of fun, but ended up deep in conversation with Brunhilda, a paladin for Bahamut. He got on her good side, and convinced her to let him speak to her leaders the following morning.

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### 14th of Mistro:
- That morning, Janos and Nameless visited the Temple of Bahamut to convince them of providing aid. They were swayed to help, and agreed to rise to the call if a catastrophe were to occur. The players spent the evening relaxing, eating well, and planning for an attack.

### 15th of Mistro, The Day of Reckoning:

- The next morning, over breakfast, the crew heard the alarm bells ringing on the city walls. They jumped up and ran to the perimeter to see what the problem was about. They saw a massive rift in the distance, across the fields below Lutetia, where hundreds of constructs were pouring through and running towards Lutetia.
- The supporting groups that the crew had gathered arrived, ready to go. As they looked out over the distant field, a battalion of Crimson Cloaks marched up, led by Commander Gunderson. He sneered at the crew, and told them to either help or get out of his way. He marched out of Lutetia to meet the constructs on the field.
- The Crew grabbed their friends and followed. They spread out, taking battle formations and braced for battle.
- Notrick and his Kordian monks flew into the fray, smashing dozens of the strange, crystal-powered constructs. Janos and his paladins obliterated others with divine fury, as the paladins strove to defend their new home.
- Spinel and her acolytes of Melora charged into the fray, transforming into animals and tossing constructs left and right. Nameless stayed back for a time, before sprouting his wings and flying overhead to smite stragglers.
- The battle was intense but brief, as the Crimson Cloaks stopped the main body of constructs from approaching the city. The crew and their friends smashed the side groups, leaving piles of wreckage and metallic creatures in their wake.

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- After the last construct lay still, the crew noticed a large floating rock approaching from the rift. The rift closed behind it, and Nameless noticed a shimmering atop it.
- The crew caught their breath and rapidly discussed what to do about it. Nameless opened a rift to the Shadowfell, asking for Shar's support. She seemed eager to help, but couldn't help in the direct sunlight.
- The players saw as the rock approached that it was covered in a shimmering magical shield, a protective force field created by the Stalwart Beacon. As they looked on, they witnessed as a small figure inside the dome swing a large hammer and strike the Gong of Umber.
- Diving for cover and trying to protect their friends, the Crew saw a massive shockwave spread out rapidly from the top of the rock. It passed them and into the city, turning every living creature within the blast radius into stone. After it stopped expanding, the shockwave reversed, returning to the source. As it moved, it drew with it streaks of light dragged from the stone statues, focusing it all into a stream of energy that coalesced towards the top of the floating island.
- Fearful, Nameless pulled out the Deck of Many Things and drew a total of three cards from within. This went surprisingly well, as he managed to increase his Charisma stat by 2 and suffered no other significant effects.
- The crew stood untouched, but almost all their friends stood nearby, turned to stone. Horrified, Spinel prayed to Melora for aid, and felt a thunderstorm gathering above, rapidly shrouding the battlefield in shadow.
- Notrick prayed to Kord, asking for aid. He desperately asked for the Pick of Durior to break through the barrier and defeat the Dissidents. Kord seemed hesitant, but conceded that it would be necessary.
- Shar, now in Shadow, pushed a shadowy winged hound through the rift to aid Nameless. Janos scribbled in his book asking Mammon for help, but to no avail. Nameless threw him his potion of Moonfire, telling him to use it, which Janos promptly did. A Deva descended from the sky and landed by him, ready to assist.
- The Deva flew the rest of the crew up to the top of the floating rock. The players saw clearly now the interior, consisting of the Dissidents, the Stalwart Beacon, and three massive glowing crystals. Luther Noxis had just finished pushing a large, partially melted platinum disc out of the protective circle, where it fell to the ground below. 
- Zeano sat at the center, and began to chant, starting some unknowable ritual. Notrick, in a panic, told Spinel to direct some of the storm's lighting at him, to try and connect to Kord. She did so, and in that moment, Notrick saw Kord reaching out to him across the planes, holding forth a sharpened and reinforced Pick of Durior. Notrick reached forth, and as the lightning subsided, he stood unscathed, wielding the massive Pick.
- Nameless pulled out the Lapis Arcanum and used Extraction to attempt to siphon the immense protective energies of the Beacon into it. It began to weaken the barrier, enough to the point that Notrick could slam the pick into it again and again, while Spinel blasted it with lightning from the storm above. Janos contributed the best he could with the magic staffs he had acquired.
- Sable le Rogue, initially smug, suddenly became concerned as Notrick's Pick pierced the barrier. He ripped it open and darted through before it closed. At the same time, Zeano completed his incantation, and the smallest of the three crystals shattered. In that moment, two large rifts appeared, one to the Positive Plane of Energy, and one to the Negative Plane of Energy. Zeano sat, basking in the energy flowing from one to the other, and was rapidly wrapped in a cocoon of light.
- The rest of the crew managed to fight their way inside the wavering defensive beacon and engaged with Sable and Luther. Luther Noxis polymorphed into a Brass Dragon, and Sable le Rogue savagely slashed at any who were near her with her shadow blades.
- The fight dragged on, with each hero giving their all to defeat the Dissidents. Sable fell first to Janos, followed by Luther Noxis, despite their strongest magics. Nameless cast extraction as each of them perished, dragging their souls into the Lapis Arcanum. Notrick began to unleash his fury upon the cocoon housing Zeano, and Spinel used the earth to crush him within the midst of his ritual. This disrupted the flow of energy, and the rifts closed. However, the pile of boulders and rock shards began to glow from within, and an explosion blasted them apart. This blast destroyed the weakened Stalwart Beacon, and the force field subsided. Standing in the rubble was a tall, glowing humanoid shape, seemingly made from light. It burned like the sun, and proceeded to attack Janos. The team did their best to damage it, blasting it with every ounce of magic and strength they had left.
- As the being that was once Zeano took damage, it seemed to shrink slowly, but also increase in speed. Notrick stood on the edge of the floating island, and the being charged him, blasting him with the primal energies of the universe. With each hit, it seemed like Notrick would be destroyed, yet somehow, he stood unwavering, on the brink of death, taking each blow like an anvil under a hammer. Afterwards, Notrick raised his Thunderfury, and swung once more, smiting the diminished being of light, and reducing it to mere embers.

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- As the dust settled, the floating island lurched, falling to the ground. The crew leapt to safety, with Spinel splashing into the earth below like a fish. The island crashed, shattering into massive boulders. Nameless searched the rubble and pulled out the two remaining massive crystals, the final samples of Luxorim forged from the souls of Crystallia and Lutetia.
- Nameless used the Cubic Gate to open a portal to Shar's domain, using Extraction to draw the three souls of the Dissidents from the Lapis Arcanum and gift them to Shar. She gleefully took them, thanking Nameless and expressing her newfound appreciation and respect for how capable he had proved to be, even without her power. Nameless returned, aiming to help.
- Janos found the Stalwart Beacon, now cracked and ruined, and stored it away. Gowron approached, and with Nameless' help began to discuss how to reverse this. Spinel flew over to Lutetia and put out spreading fires. They made a camp on the field as Gowron began to draw up an arcane circle, intending to use the Gong of Umber to reverse the process.

### 16th of Mistro:

- That morning, the team piled all their precious gemstones inside the circle, as magical fuel for the ritual. Gowron began to chant, they crew all prayed to their respective gods, and Nameless stood inside the circle with a hammer at the ready. At the critical moment, he hit the Gong, blasting apart the two massive crystals, causing them to turn into light and spread across the field. The souls returned to their bodies, with the hundreds of frozen citizens of Lutetia lurching back to life.
- The other freed souls returned to Crystallia, where they also safely returned to normal.
- In the days that followed, Janos returned to Crystallia to grab the airship he had looted, delivering it to the Tower of the Grasping Fist. Spinel helped right wrongs and cooperated with the Council of Lutetia. Nameless relaxed and spent time with Gowron, and Notrick began to work with the Kordian Monks to establish the League of Blue Steel.

# Epilog of the Capable Crew:

The Capable Crew. A team of heroes with humble beginnings, a ragtag group of friends whose thirst for adventure, comradery, and personal goals led them to save the world. They are known by many labels: friends, enemies, saviors, employers, advisors, the heroes of Thaumdural, slayers of dragons, Knights of the Realm, the Great Menders, restorers of balance, and protectors against evil. Having saved countless lives, the Capable Crew gathered for a final meal in the Capable Keep during the Festival of Warmth, toasting their adventures together and pondering about the future. Afterwards, the team disbanded, and its members embarked on their own paths in the world of Athendria.

### Lord Janos the Avaricious
Known as the Duke of Minarous, Dragonslayer, Agent of Fortune, and many more titles, Janos went on to expand the influence and power of his monastic order: **The Way of the Grasping Fist**. After experiencing the many vices and pleasures life has to offer, Janos tried to settle down and pursue a true and proper relationship with Sumia Silvertail. However, his advances were spurned, and he was left feeling disgruntled. After many years however, his eye was once again caught by Parvanah McNelly, the tavern waitress from Frostford who had joined his cause so long ago. They developed a wholesome relationship and she helped him with running the technical aspects of the Order and its finances. Years later, his descendants maintain the symbol of the TANC as their family coat of arms. Dragonsbane was retired to sit above Janos’ mantlepiece in the Tower of the Grasping Fist, where it lies in wait for a potential contract on a dragon to once again be of use. It may one day be lifted again by his descendants.

Janos eventually embarked on a quest to Ebrea to attempt to free the many slaves of Ilhuatal from their Yuan-Ti overlords. Unfortunately, he found that the indentured servants preferred the arrangements with their masters and resisted his efforts to facilitate an uprising or destroy the Yuan-Ti outright. He maintained an active role as a noble of Lutetia, advocating for personal freedoms and rights, free trade, anything that helps his order and for the abolishment of slavery wherever it is found. His mercenary trade network also dabbled in the recreational drug trade supplemented with medicinal drugs to portray legitimacy and foster trust and goodwill. Janos resides at the Tower of the Grasping Fist, in charge of the small community there, growing his Order and wealth. One day he may be called upon by his "friends" in dark places to contribute something more than just his ambition...

### Chief Notrick the Strong
The Scarred Seeker of Steel, and the first Urkian Diplomat, Notrick returned to Urk to establish a formal Orc government with the aid of his father. Together, the rallied many of the wandering orc savages and formed a coalition. There, trade and smithing prospered, and Notrick worked tirelessly to represent Urk to the broader civilized world. In the years to come, Urk would come to be known as a city of talented smiths and brave warriors, respected across the land, and doing wonders for the reputation of Orcs worldwide.

In collaboration with the Order of the Grasping Fist, as well as his friends in Lutetia, Frostford, Brightshore and Moduli, Notrick initiated the **League of Blue Steel**, an organization for the acquisition of rare materials and the slaying of monsters. Janos helped with his distribution network, doing his very best to help build Notrick's efforts up, and never abusing that trust for personal gain. Later in life, Notrick was propositioned for marriage by Master Coldren of the Temple of Kord, who respected him and his work for years but had been unable to express herself before that time.

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### Lady Spinel, Arbiter of Balance

The champion of the Earth Mother and wielder of the Vermillion Staff, Spinel helped set things right across the cities of Lutetia and Crystallia in the aftermath of the Dissident's scheme. Afterwards, spent a few years living with her parents in Frostford at the Hall of Heroes, as it came to be known as. She eventually felt the call of Melora, and traveled Athendria, seeking to restore balance and ensure the course of Nature is respected. With the exception of Gowron, she sought to find and defeat necromancers and liches, or any other monstrous beings who would dare abuse the lives of others for power. Her mission led her to other planes and beyond, an ageless force of nature seeking to right wrongs and maintain balance.

### Sir Abdiel Lutair (Nameless)

The mysterious masked entity, wielder of the unhallowed necrofire, Nameless, the winged horror, and many other titles followed Nameless, despite his dislike for names. After the events of the Dissident's scheme, Nameless traveled the planes to confront his father Azazel. The halls of Elysium will never forget how he blasted his way into the heavenly gardens of Pelor and confronted the Solar about his parentage. Whatever the conclusion of that conversation was, it seemed to satisfy Nameless' curiosity. He left Elysium without further conflict and wandered the planes in pursuit of his own mysterious interests, trading with powerful and mystic entities for ancient magics and arcane secrets. Having established a somewhat positive working relationship with Shar, Nameless kept the door open for communication, should she ever reach out to him again with a tempting enough offer. He also became friends with many of the Shadar-Kai in Evernight, eventually teaching them the path towards self-realization and providing them with the means to overcome the worst aspects of their curse.

### Friends, Acquaintances, and Enemies

In the years that followed, many of the people the Crew had encountered continued to live their lives in the aftermath.

**Gowron the Undying** continued his research in private, setting up a facility deep in the hills north of Lutetia. He was feared for his condition, but he did all he could to make up for his failures and role in the Dissident's plans. He grew in wisdom and experience and eventually was brought onto the Council of Lutetia for his deep understanding of magic.

**Kestrel, High Exhalator,** eventually overtook as leader of the Breathless assassin's guild in Moduli. She was an accomplished master of her craft and accumulated much wealth and influence across Kamuin. She never forgot her early adventures with the Capable Crew, and always retained a bit of their humanity, which she strove to incorporate into her work. Her adoptive father Zhao retired and lived out the rest of his days in comfort. He never fully recovered from his injuries at Thaumdural, but he didn't hold any grudges towards the Capable Crew.

**Seamorc** lived comfortably in Swarthmore, which expanded in the wake of Notrick's consolidation of wandering orc tribes. He lived with his father and the village elders, farming peacefully for many years. He always kept on eye trained on the distant peaks of Mount Strohlcairn however, as rumors of devilish creatures in the night and strange lights atop the peaks often made their way around the village.

**Ruby and Crayg** settled into Frostford together, happily living in comfort in their townhouse, tending their garden together and often talking walks into the forest. The lived the rest of their days together, free of persecution and judgement, with occasional visits from their beloved daughter.

**Vith, Lyrin, and Sally Knobnocker** became the stewards of the Capable Keep in Lutetia, being paid in perpetuity by the generous resources put aside for them by the Capable Crew. The homestead became famous, and they eventually worked their way up to the level of the aristocracy for their wealth and respect for the connections they had formed.

**Vicmorn Glorygem** continued to oversee Frostford, happily cashing in on his early connections to the Capable Crew, as well as the tourism of travelers seeking to see the Hall of Heroes. He continued to govern well and eventually commissioned four stone statues of the Capable Crew, to be placed in the town square.

**King Emry the Wise,** as he came to be known, made the best of the situation as he could for many years in Frostford, before eventually leading the host of Dragonborn north along the river. They created a robust logging and agricultural community, naming it Khenwood, and slowly beginning to redevelop their rich culture. They recaptured many of the now wild hippogriffs and griffons which had fled Thaumdural and reestablished their animal husbandry.

**The Nightwalker Guild** collapsed after a few months in the wake of the destruction of their central leadership and base in Lutetia at the hands of the Capable Crew. Claudicus Maximillian, along with his adopted son Daedrin Maximillian, schemed with their powerful associates in the years after to reshape the survivors into a new organization of thieves and ne'er do wells. In the years that followed, a new organization emerged, known as the **Nightshade**, led from the shadows by the wealthy family of vampires and their powerful allies across the Empire.

**Commander Gunderson** was declared a war hero and maintained his position as commander of the Crimson Cloaks. He grew more accepting in later years, as years of political discourse softened his view of Orc-kind.

**Bael** was demoted to the lowest ranks of the devil hierarchy and spent an immense amount of time in the sinking mire beneath Minarous, digging through muck for treasure. He vowed to one day regain his status, and when he did, he would use all his power to pursue Janos' descendants and seek revenge.

**Pik** was cast into the 113th layer of the Abyss after his exorcism from Athendria. There, the vengeful goblin wandered amongst the demons, dying over and over but slowly growing his power and spite. He eventually was favored by Orcus, the Demon Lord of Undeath, and settled into the ranks of the Undying as a powerful tool for Orcus' machinations.

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> ##### In the many years that followed, the Realm of Athendria settled into a decade of peace and prosperity. Trade, magical exploration, and invention flourished under the guidance of strong leadership and perspective. The Capable Crew had rid the land of evil for a time, and the world reaped the benefits of all their hard work. However, evil never lies dormant for long, and in the year 1093 PC, darkness once again began to stir in the small northern town of Brooksburg...

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## Capable Crew  Kill Count = > 1356 Monsters Slain
  
Since the start of our D&D game, the Capable Crew has slain many different beasties and baddies in the name of justice, coin, or whimsy. The campaign covered 2.5 years in real time, and only ~8 months in-game. Here is the damage they dealt during the extent of their exploits:

</div>

#### CR ¼ to 1:

Goblins x7

Skeleton x300+

Zombies x300+

Nightwalker Bandit x11

Bael Cultist x8

Shadows x2

Piercers x3

Darkmantles x3

Orcs x30

Magmins x41

Animated Armor x4

Sea Spawn x20+

Crystal Drones x500+

#### CR 2 to 5:

Ogre x4

Weresquirrels x8

Grick x3

Griffon x1

Orc Eye of Gruumsh x4

Orc War Chief x2

Nightwalker Bandit Captain x4

Thoqqua x6

Rejuvenating Corpse x3

Displacer Beasts x3

Minotaur x1

Basilisk x3

Deathlock x3

Wraith x1

Troll x2

Roper x1

Water Elemental x2

Fire Elemental x1

Kraken Priest x2

Half-Black Dragon Veteran x1

Bulette x3

Xorn x2

Tanarukk: x6

Red Slaad x 5

Canine Construct x1

#### CR 6 to 8:

Annis Hag

Blink Wolf x3

Young White Dragon

Wyvern x2

Blue Slaad x3

Dissident Guardians x6

Chain Devil x1

Breathless Assassins x5

Poor helpless **Zedhra**

Not so poor or helpless **Nix**

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Hydra x1

Corpse Flower x1

Fomorian x1

Canaloth x1

Frost Giant x1

Green Slaad x2

#### CR 9:

Rot Troll x1

Grey Slaad x1

Young Blue Dragon x1

#### CR 10:

Elder Ooblex x1

Sonic Deterrent x1

Infernal Salamander x1

Stone Golem x1

#### CR 11 to 15:

Dire Troll x1

BoneClaw x1

Beholder x1

Young Red Shadow Dragon x1

Revenant Goblin: **Pik**

The Angry x1

Death Giant x1

Purple Worm x1

SkullLord x1

#### CR 16 to 20:

Pugilist Protodeacon of Bael: </br> **Osfire Danmo**

Marilith Demon x1

Githzerai Anarch x1

Death Knight x1

**Sable le Rogue,** the Magi Occularis x1

**Luther Noxis,** the Bane of Dalmore x1

#### CR 23:

The **Kraken**

The **Ionfyre Phoenix**

#### CR 24:
 
Ancient Red Dragon: </br> **Hemdorak the Merciless**

#### CR 25:

Ancient Chimeric Dragon: </br> **Syvleth the Rotten**

#### CR 27:

**Zeano**, partially ascended Primordial

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