Heroes of Blackshore (Sixth Session: October 25th, 2009)

The party discusses their options with Corus Copperscale and he recommends that they move to the sewers and head toward the Duke's Castle. The alternative routes are blocked. The rooftops are guarded by goblin archers, and the streets are blocked by overwhelming number of undead.

Veszafein, Garrick the Mad, and Ottian stay behind to help put out some fires and preserve the wizard school. Kodrus, Corus, Whosis Kid, and Garrett head down into a secret passage Veszafein uncovered behind a bookshelf that leads to a basement. There they find a portal above a ladder that drops down into the sewer.

In the sewer they find three kobolds trying to capture a crocodile. They have a lever and pulley system and are trying to hoist it out of the water. Whosis kid cuts the rope holding up the croc and it drops back into the water, angrily grabbing one of the kobolds and devouring it.

The other two kobolds bring a pack of wild dogs with them and attack the party. Corus hides in the sewage, as he detests fighting kobolds. The rest of the party finishes the beasts off easily and the crocodile retreats away down the sewer.

Travelling further along the sewer for an hour or so, they reach a large junction between several passages. They detect movement near a large drain pipe and go to investigate. A large carrion crawler emerges from the pipe and attacks. While they engage, an enormous carrion crawler rises out of the sewage behind them. They kill the large carrion crawler then engage the enormous one, but find they have trouble injuring the great beast and they have even more trouble evading it as it lashes out with it's crippling venomous tentacles.

Corus finds a ladder up out of the passage and calls to the rest of the party. They devise a plan to strike at the ceiling to try and bring it down on the creature, immobilizing it. Their efforts are eventually successful and they manage to pin the monster beneath some rubble long enough to run away. They find the ladder leads to a smugglers den with some hidden treasure and they hide there until the carrion crawler has freed itself and moved on.

Moving along they decide to move away from the sound of Kobolds since they are likely going to have more carrion crawler like pets and head the other direction. There they meet a group of ghouls who do not attack but do not shy away either. They parlay with the ghouls and learn that they have been running low on food lately and they are not pleased with the turn of events. They offer to lead the party to the duke's palace if they will enter the tomb of the first Pirate King of Blackshore and retrieve his bones. The ghouls cannot enter because it is hallowed ground.

The party agrees, though Kodrus is a bit perturbed that they are desecrating the tomb of a Minotaur. Upon entering the tomb they find it is inhabited by a magical ballista that attacks them along with a small swarm of diseased dire rats that have made a nest there. They clean out the rats and destroy the ballista, but Corus becomes infected with a dripskin disease in the process. The early symptoms set in within hours after they loot the tomb and give the bones of the pirate king to the ghouls.

The ghouls show them an entrance through a drain tunnel into the dungeons of the Duke's Castle where the torturers used to dump bodies they were discarding. The party sneaks up through the pipe and ambushes the hobgoblin and human guards that are gambling in the adjacent room with a pile of valuables. They hurl one of the humans down the drain pipe, and Garret is also pushed down the tunnel and must crawl back up.

Two bugbears arrive from an adjacent prison chamber and the melee continues with the party victorious. Whosis and Kodrus torture one of the humans who they defeated in the second session back in Gladomain keep. He tells them that the castle is lightly defended and that the daughters of darkness and Lady Xyrlynn are upstairs. They torture him further and learn that Lady Xyrlynn is actually Lady Frostbite impersonating her. Lady Frostbite is the daughter of one of the dark six, Aseroth, the Winter Warlock.

The party moves up the passage and witnesses the following:

"Peering through the wall vent you hear great merriment on the other side. Beyond the metal bars of the vent is the great feast hall of Blackshore. A long table stands along the length of the room. At the head of the table to the north sits Lady Xyrlynn, majestically silent and sprawled across the throne of the once Duke of Blackshore, she traces a clawlike fingernail in circles around the top of her chalice, which bubbles with some smokey beverage.

On the east side of the table sits Xyrlynn’s chief advisor, Lady Ilsa Von Zarovich, one of the daughters of darkness, along with her two bodyguards. The three of them are pale with harsh glowing red eyes, gaunt features, and wicked grins baring razor sharp fangs.

On the west side of the table with their backs to you are the other two daughters of darkness, the Winter Witch and Lady Gladomain. The Winter Witch cackles menacingly every time Lady Von Zarovich speaks. Lady Gladomain scratches her decaying flesh compulsively, sending dry flakes of flesh and bone to the vermin covered floor.

Gathered before the table are a line of petitioners to Lady Xyrlynn. Ilso von Zarovich handles all of their inquiries and does all of the speaking for the group.

The first petitioner is a mob of a dozen or so servants of the Goblin King, who lives in the ruins to the south of Blackshore. The strongest among the goblins push a runt out from the crowd who cowers before Isla and the rest in fear. Isla and her two bodyguards approach and the rest of the mob kneels before them.

The smallest of the group sends his regards from the Goblin King and says that the King has said he has sent all the troops he can send at the current price negotiated with Lady Xyrlynn and that he needs a higher price in order to spare more forces to garrison the gates. Ilsa grabs the messenger by the throat and bites deeply into his green torso with her fangs, then spits out a jet of green blood into the faces of the goblin mob before throwing the still twitching, screaming body of the runt to her bodyguards, who eat him alive.

She grabs one of the smaller more pathetic looking goblins and hoists him up to her bloodied face, declaring that he will carry the message to the Goblin King that he will send more troops immediately, and that until he can send anything that tastes better than his sickening goblin soliders, he will only be paid half the normal rate. She orders the rest of the goblins to set off to raid Lighthedge Point to find some more tasty creatures to bring next time. She lets them know that failure will mean they themselves will feed the evilest creatures in Blackshore.

As the goblins depart a Gnoll in dark armor wearing a heavy black cloak and carrying an executioner’s axe approaches Isla. He stands eye to eye with her unwavering in her fearsome presence. She addresses him:

“Brock Mez’Gar, hero of Marshgate, who led the forces of Shadowmarsh Cliff to victory over the followers of Kord and the armies of Ironview, you who liberated our father Orcus from his prison so that he may now stalk the night once again, and teach his enemies what it is to fear death and the night, we honor you.”

All at the table nod to the gnoll and with a gesture from Lady Xyrlynn’s taloned fingers Ilsa removes her own black cape and draws it around the neck of the dogman tenderly. She continues.

“You have already received all of the worldly wealth you could desire for your service, so now we offer you immortality. Carry out one final task for the dark six, and eternal life will be yours. Take this cape, which will give you the form of a bat, and travel to your home city, the Imperial capitol of Draconis. Sometime after the Death’s day festival, but before the feast of Kord, you will find your mark, and assassinate Emperor Goldspawn.”

The gnoll nods confidently and with a deep sweeping bow he turns on his heal and leaps into the air, magically transforming into a bat and flying out a tall open window on the east wall. The Winter Witch cackles loudly and menacingly for many minutes and Ilsa and her servants join her with a cacophony of wicked mocking cries of dark mirth.

Two servants bring in the struggling form of ambassador Tul, who has been stripped naked and bound to a large golden serving platter. Her body is covered in food and blood, and the goblin servants lower the struggling meal to the table, moving aside the heaps of jewels, treasure, and maps there, before they quickly scurry off under Isla’s harsh cruel stare.

Ilsa speaks, “Ambassador Tul, we are so pleased to have you for dinner tonight. Muahhaahaaaaaa!”"

When the party enters, Whosis fails miserably at sneaking into the room and...

"Lady Xyrlynn turns in her throne sitting upright for a moment and looking intently at her new visitors. She does not appear to recognize you. Lady Gladomain grins menacingly and chomps her dry mandible hungrily as she rises to face you. The Winter Witch screams so loudly that the deafening sound reaches through your bones to your very soul. Ilsa and her two bodyguards dart along one wall, looking to outflank you.

Lady Xyrlynn sets aside a crystal ball filled with swirling snowy lights and places her smoking chalice on the table. She stands atop the edge of the huge table gracefully and unties a brown, plain looking cape from around her neck. As the cape drifts to the floor, her face elongates and her piercing eyes become black and solid. Her flesh turns pale white and her taloned fingernails become actual claws. Huge wings unfold from behind her back as she transforms into a large white dragon. The table buckles beneath her weight but does not break. She lets out a loud roar and charges toward you."

A desperate battle ensues. Whosis valiantly frees Ambassador Tul who joins in the melee using a sharp knife from the dinner table. Lady Gladomain falls first, followed by the howling hag and the Ilsa von Zarovich and her vampire followers. Lady Frostbite, the large white dragon is the last to go down.

The party uses the cloak of Storath, a magical artifact that Lady Frostbite used to assume human form, and take the form of Lady Xyrlynn. They go to the goblins in the palace and tell them all they are dismissed and are to return to their king, which they enthusiastically do without hesitation.

Kodrus touches the sphere of Aseroth as they gather the treasure together and disappears instantly. Garrett also touches the sphere and disappers. Whosis Kid gathers up the remaining treasure, bids farewell to Ambassador Tul and then touches the sphere and disappears into the giant snow globe.

They appear in the swirling cold of a snow storm. The village around them in the snow covered valley appears to have been burned down with every available piece of wood harvested to make fires. They see the dead forms of people covered in snow huddled around small long burned out fires. Some of them seem to move as if undead toward the warmth of the party, but they move so slowly that they are harmless at present.

They meet a group of small beings called the snow pixies who in riddles tell the story of the Lady in the distant tower who is crazy and rules over the land. They also mention some elves, bears, giants, and dragons who live in the valley. The party sets off for the tower.

They arrive an hour or so later and travel down into the basement of the tower where they meet many halflings brewing ice wine. The halflings explain that they make the ice wine for Lady Gurmorel Glimmergaunt in the tower and that it is the only form of currency used in the valley. The party asks if they can rest there and the halflings welcome them. They awaken the next day undisturbed, though all the halflings have left the tower.

Rather than heading further into the tower, they decide to journey off and meet with the dragon. They find a massive cave covered in ice and snow and stumble upon the form of the sleeping dragon when they enter. Though it is covered in white ice and snow, Garrett correctly identifies it as a huge silver dragon. The perturbed dragon breaths a cone of frost on the party until it pries its ice covered eyes open and apologetically invites them in to his den.

The dragon explains that Lady Glimmergaunt was drawn into the Abyss by Aseroth, who decieved her, and that all of them have been trapped there for a long time. Aseroth gave the children at the magic school away to Pale Night (who the party rescued in Session 5), and kept the rest trapped in the Frosted Vale where most perished.

The only way to leave the Frosted Vale is through a magical portal called the Mouth of Aseroth which requires a human sacrifice to provide transportation. The dragon Drandis says that only Gurmorel has the power to reverse the curse of Aseroth, but that she has grown too mad in her unnaturally long existence to act coherently. She lives in a delusional world where everything is untouched by the blight of winter and all her people are happy.

Drandis also gives the party a sword called Hellsong with was once weilded by Asmodeus and later his sone Graz'zt. It is a godslayer, and if an oath of loyalty is granted by a god the sword can be used to permanently slay a god (though few gods would grant such an oath fearing that the sword could be used against them). Drandis offers them the blade hoping they may find a way to use it to save the valley.

The party rests the night in the warmth of Drandis' cave.