Four Fates Under the Southern Sun, 3.5, Session 24

Start: 3 am, Foreautumn 18, 401 GA

The party made peaceful contact with the Fortisskari elves attempting to board their ship. Their ship appeared to be piloted by a master transmuter, who identified himself as Şartom Eluë. The lightning emitted from the elemental he piloted illuminated his features at times, showing evidence of an illusory appearance. He was a veritable well of magical auras to Alasdair's aurasight.

Emilia took initiative, speaking with the elves. She conducted herself confidently, but her allies poised themselves, ready for the conflict.

She claimed to be Ílíshlu, and Şartom Eluë seemed compelled to honor the tradition of subjecting her to the battery of tests their customs dictate. Practically gritting his teeth while subsequently handling himself with an oddly professional grace, he directed the party to board, in order to ferry them to Fortisskar for the first test.

Pan, Alasdair, and Ryardynin accompanied Emilia without question.

Captain Ramos was given the amulet that let him control Emilia's flesh golems. He was ordered to hold in the spot the ship was harbored in, and he was informed of the ten vials of holy water kept among Emilia's left belongings in her room belowdecks. Captain Ramos, although shaken and thoroughly confused by these events seemed to accept he would be informed when they were finished with this task, and the Archons had the situation under control - despite how impossible that seemed.

Pan spoke with one of the crewmen, who gave the name of the elves' ship. It was called 'Icehopper'. He was vaguely polite, but kept an appropriate distance, given the murkiness of their futures.

The crew, upon closer inspection by Alasdair, appeared to have some magical arms and armor, but the only truly threatening one among them was Şartom, who lit up with magical items.

They made a quick journey over the channel to Fortisskar. Once there, Şartom wasted no time. They barely received a look at the lush, strange greenery of the unusual island before being spirited away up a wood-and-marble spire. At the top, a test awaited Emilia. She was to choose items which belonged to Ílíshlu. She selected every item correctly.

Şartom did not seem cowed by this, nor did he seem particularly swayed by the possibility she might be who she claimed to be. Nevertheless, he went through the motions of the tradition. The party got the impression he had gone through this process at least once before.

He led them to an adjoining chamber, where four elves awaited them, in an awkward staged dinner. Through the forced conversation, they were informed each of the elves had committed a crime they were undergoing penance for. The guide, and the most talkative of the four, Voltaea, volunteered she had borrowed her master's staff, and he took grave offense to this, claiming she was a thief. She surrendered to the authorities once accused, and evidently appears keen on serving her sentence, regardless of whether she thinks the punishment is merited.

Amulets disguising the party against the most simple undead were passed to the party, and they prepared for the journey. It was another boat ride across the channel to continue to their destination - a place untouched for hundreds of years, which, if legend held true, would open to the heir of Ílíshlu - a place known as Eeg-sha-nûl. It was known as the crypt of the giants. The necromancer's prison.

They journeyed across the ice, led by Voltaea. This took several days, but they traveled in relative luxury, all things considered.

Along the way, they found a nightwalker - an undead beast which feeds on souls, possessed of a malign sentience, which was mentioned lingers near the crypt. It was accompanied by ten greater shadows, as if it had a cohort of soldiers. The party vanquished the creature, and reached their destination.

They saw through the elves' ruse, and realized they were being given little choice - not that the elves appeared to pose a great risk to them in combat - and realized their orders were to prevent their return if they should do so without the circlet of living ice, Ílíshlu's heirloom. Voltaea admitted this when confronted directly.

As it was prophesized, the crypt opened by Emilia's touch. The cavern was humid and heated from an unknown source. Greenery bloomed here, just like it did in Fortisskar.

They explored the entrance of the cavern, and found a tight, slime covered hole to squeeze through. The passage led to a shallow pool of acid accompanied by the clicks of insectoid creatures. Doing a 180, they decided to fully explore the first cavern first.

There, they found a warm pool in which sacs of eggs floated. There was a small waterfall, and a gibbet which hung directly under it, as if to ensure the penitent is served their penance. The cage was empty.

Emilia dispatched the eggs, which appeared keenly vulnerable to the cold. Once she did this, several creatures which appeared to be juvenile convergent evolutions of Shindri emerged from the depths of the pool.


XP: 5950
End: 11 pm, Foreautumn 22, 401 GA