MONDAY, JUNE 22ND - THE ORDER OF THE FLAGON SESSIONS 6&7 COMBINED RECAP
The Shadow stretched out of the darkness at Milosh, reaching its dark hand for the Wizard’s flesh. The touch was so cold it burned, draining the strength from the Elf and leaving him feeling weakened. He unleashed a Magic Missile spell, the force energy slamming into the creature, but still it kept coming. He called out for aid, not certain what to make of this embodiment of darkness.
Nearby, in their own huts, Rhonin and Ulbrik heard the wizard’s call for aid. They ran to his hut just as Milosh fled out the door into the night air. Rhonin’s torch illuminated the area and as the Shadow came out of the hut in pursuit of the elf it seemed to recoil from the torchlight. Working together, the three companions quickly dispatched the Shadow despite its resistance to non-magical weapons.
They thought of Forlan, alone in the forest nearby, the Ranger wanting the comfort of the forest environment as opposed to the shelter offered by the huts their benefactor had provided. The three made their way to the forest, each carrying a torch and watching the darkness, fearful more Shadows might be lurking in wait. They found Forlan resting at the base of an ancient oak and told him of the attack. The Ranger told them his night had been quiet, with no signs of any creatures.
The four made their way back to the inn’s grounds, recalling they had left all of their gear, including the Book of Shadows, in their huts. They found their items untouched and decided it would be more advantageous to stay together until the sun rose, a fire burning brightly in the fire pit of Milosh’s hut. The light kept the darkness at bay until the rays of the sun broke through the trees.
They made their way into the inn and sought out their employer, Aldeyr. They found him sitting at a table near the center of the room, a book open in front of him as he quietly read. A plate of nearly untouched food rested beside him. He looked up as the approached and smiled, but his smile faded when he saw the haggard expressions they wore.
The companions told the wizard of the attack of the Shadow and how they had defeated it. Aldeyr was perplexed at why such a creature would attack in Anatar’s Dale, which had never seen such creatures before. He surmised aloud that it must have come seeking the party for some reason. The party members exchanged knowing glances, but each seemed hesitant to broach the subject. Well all that is save the Dwarf.
“It’s that damned cursed book,” Ulbrik grumbled. “I told you no good would come of holding onto it.”
“What book?” Aldeyr asked.
Hesitantly, Milosh pulled the bundle from his pack and sat it on the table. The companions eyed it warily, though Rhonin’s eyes showed a sense of curiosity and perhaps longing as well.
When asked, the party gave their benefactor permission to examine the book. He cast magics on it to give him insight into the nature of the tome and what was tied to it. His eyes grew wide.
“This is most certainly not the book I sent you to retrieve,” he whispered.
“The book you described was nowhere to be found in the tower or catacombs below it,” Rhonin said. “That is the only book besides an old spellbook that we found.”
“I suspect this is a Book of Shadows,” Aldeyr said. “This book exists here and in the Shadowfell simultaneously. I have heard of such tomes, but have never seen one before.”
“Is it worth anything?” Milosh asked
“It is dangerous,"Adler answered. “It will draw creatures from the plane of Shadow to it every time it is opened. These monsters will never stop searching for the book.”
“See,” Ulbrik said, “Cursed.”
“In a manner of speaking, yes you are right,” Aldeyr replied. “My group would purchase the book from you so that you are compensated for your efforts and troubles. We would see this book locked away to prevent harm befalling the Realms.”
The party discussed amongst themselves and arrived at an agreement. They would sell the book, but wanted enchanted items as well. Aldeyr seemed a bit put off by this request, but said he would speak with the others in his group and return the next day with an answer.
That evening the party again stayed together, the book secreted away, the fire burning brightly, and watches set to defend against the things that lurked just beyond the light of the fire. Rest evaded all of them that night as they did not trust the darkness and they feared to close their eyes to sleep. The rising sun found all of them tired, and eager to be rid of the book.
When they entered the tavern they found Aledyr waiting for them. He waved to them when he saw them come in and ordered breakfast and drinks for them. He noted the exhaustion on their faces and knew at once that fear of the creatures seeking the book had kept them awake throughout the night. He asked, but they told him that the night had been quiet, though they had prepared for it to be otherwise.
Aldeyr told them that his organization was prepared to offer two enchanted items from the selection he had brought as well as a sum of gold to compensate them for surrendering the book and the efforts they had gone to in order to secure it and keep it safe. The group chose a pair of Gauntlets of Ogre Power for Rhonin and a Circlet of Blasting for Milosh. He took the book from them, secured it in a wooden box inscribed with arcane symbols, closed the lid, and slid the box into his bag of holding. Satisfied with their payment the group then asked Aldeyr if his group had more work for them. He smiled at their eagerness to get back out into the Realms and said that yes, indeed the group did have more work for them.
The wizard told them that one of the higher ranked members of his group had a niece that had decided against his advice to take up the adventurer's life. She had joined a group of young, inexperienced would be adventurers here in the Dales and they had decided to seek their fame and fortune in the Ruins of Myth Drannor. They had left before her uncle caught word of what she was up to and they had made their way into the forest of Cormanthor and had not been seen since. The group had no agents to spare to search for her, but Aldeyr mentioned their party to those he reported to and they authorized him to hire them to try to find the missing niece.
He provided them with coin to provision themselves for the trek, but warned them of the ruins and the dangers that lurked there. While he felt they were capable of searching for the missing girl, he told them that stealth and speed would be their best options and to avoid combat as it would only draw unwanted attention. He told them that fiends, undead and worse now called the ruins home and that they should avoid them at all costs. If the girl’s trail led into the city they should return and report that information and Aldeyr would relay it to her uncle to see if they could free up more experienced agents to venture into the dangerous areas.
The party started the next morning, with fresh provisions and eager to perform this task, hopefully find the missing girl, and bring her home safely to make a name for themselves with their benefactors and perhaps get more lucrative work in the near future.
They took the road north, asking those they saw on the road if they had seen a group of young adventurers heading north, and providing a description of the girl they sought. They had no luck with any witnesses, but remained optimistic that they would pick up her trail. Surely someone would see a group of young people heading into the forest of Cormanthor where everyone else was wise enough to avoid.
Using his tracking skills, Forlan, who as a Ranger was at home in the woods, began looking for signs of a group of humanoids traveling together. On their third day Forlan found signs of a camp, the evidence was easy to see, discarded bits of food, a broken arrow, and even an empty bottle of wine. Forlan began following this trail which soon left the main road for a less used one that moved northeast which would take them toward the ruins of the fabled lost Elven city.
Forlan was able to follow their tracks easily enough as they made no effort to hide their passage. Their campsites, set just off the road, were easy to locate and told them they were heading in the right direction. The Ranger found signs of the remains of game, most likely a meal made of some animal they had found in the woods. Reading the tracks and signs of their passage the Elf surmised they were no more than six days behind the one they sought.
On the fourth day they entered the southern edge of the forest of Cormanthor, and by noon they found signs of a battle. Forlan found a stray arrow first, sticking out of the dirt at a shallow angle. Then he saw drops of dried blood on the dead leaves that littered the ground off the right side of the road. The party searched, finding more blood, signs of a fight, but no bodies. Rhonin, searching the treeline to the right saw a glint of something metallic and when he knelt to inspect it closer he found a silver hilt of a dagger, its pommel set with a polished orb of onyx, the blade broken off a couple of inches above the cross guard. It looked very much like the dagger that Aldeyr said the woman they sought carried, a gift from her uncle. The small amount of blade showed some knicks in the blade, signs that it had been used on something as hard as steel.
Forlan looked for some time, but he found no tracks except those of the young party they had been tracking. What was it that they encountered? What had they fought? All of the blood made it highly unlikely that not a single member of either side of the conflict had fallen. So where were the bodies? Forlan shared his observations with the other members of his party. Ulbrik’s eyes went wide at the revelation.
“Undead?” he said half asking, halfing making a comment.
“Undead that eat a man whole?” Forlan asked, shaking his head.
They all eyed the shadows of the forest warily, remembering the warnings that Aldeyr has given them. Dangers lurked in these woods he had said. Evil things called the ruins home. They discussed turning back, but they knew they needed some sort of confirmation of the girl’s demise, some evidence to bring back to put her uncle’s concerns to rest. So they pushed on.
That evening Forlan found more signs, this time in the boughs of the trees. Claw marks more than twenty feet from the ground. He found them when he scaled a tree to get a look at their surroundings in hopes of getting his bearings and a guess at how close they might be to the ruins. He saw the blood first. Dried in a great smear along a limb the width of a man’s waist. Then he saw the claw marks on the trunk. Four talons leaving deep gashes in the bark and into the soft inner wood of the tree itself. Something had come to rest here, to either eat or rest. He could not tell which.
He climbed back down and shared his findings with his companions. This unnerved them all, what foul things dwelled here? Surely this girl and her companions were dead. Either carried off or feasted upon, but either way surely dead. They decided they should turn back with the next day’s light.
They found a huge oak tree, uprooted and laying on the ground, long ago falling and dead. They decided to take shelter along its side so that it might shield them from unwanted eyes. They decided against a fire for fear it would bring creatures to investigate.
On the second watch, Ulbrik had climbed up onto the top side of the tree, so he would have a better vantage of the forest around them. The Dwarf smelled them long before he saw them. The wind carried a smell like rotting vegetation, but also the sickly sweet smell of rotting flesh.
Undead!
Ulbrik felt the rage boil up inside him, his hatred of the undead driving his reason from him like a strong wind carrying away the smoke. He stood up, pulling his warhammer from the loop on his belt.
“Rhonin,” he called down to the sleeping forms beneath him.
The monk shot up from his bedroll, only half dozing. He looked up and saw the dwarf’s form outlined by the pale moonlight filtering down through the trees. The Cleric pointed down on the other side of the tree. Climbing quickly up the dead branches the Monk knelt next to the dwarf.
“What is it?” he asked. His human sight not able to make anything out in the deep gloom of the woods.
“There,” Ulbrik hissed. His dark vision showing him four shambling, human shaped figures moving along the side of the downed tree. They did not move as if they were aware of the party, but they moved aimlessly in a random direction.
Good, Ulbrik thought with a wicked grin. He decided he would handle these abominations himself. He jumped into the air and attempted to land on the first one in the straggling line. In his mind it appeared heroic and wrathful. In reality it was less so. His left boot caught on a dead limp, causing his trajectory to propel him in the next lower branch. Down he crashed, his weight combined with that of his heavy armor and weaponry splintered to dead limbs until at last he crashed into the ground below.
Seeing his friend’s plight and not thinking of his own safety, Rhonin leapt after him. He was far more graceful, his leap carrying him out beyond the reach of the limbs and brought him to rest near the last two creatures in the line.
The undead, some sort of zombies, dredged up from a marsh, covered in moss and dead plants, moved slowly. The first two moved to attack the Dwarf who rose from the ground. Ulbrik was quicker, his warhammer smashing into the skull of the first, smashing it like a rotted pumpkin. The battle was quick, with the Cleric and Monk working together to make short work of the monsters. The sounds of battle rang out in the forest, awakening Milosh and Forlan from their meditations.
As the din of the fighting died, the companions met again in their campsite. They worried that the noise might draw other creatures nearby. They discussed moving on now, foregoing sleep, but finally decided it was best to stay where they were rather than stumbling through the forest at night, Rhonin unable to see in the dark.
Milosh took his watch next. It was quiet in the woods, no nightbirds or sounds of small game. The lack of night sounds unnerved the Elf, but he tried to keep his nerves calm. As he gazed out into the night he saw part of the shadows move, pulling itself away from the others, then he saw red eyes staring out into the woods. Laying himself flat on the tree’s trunk he watched as something that resembled a huge, hellish twisted spider, emerged from the night. It trailed wisps of smoke, almost as if it were trailing some dark mist. It moved unnaturally quiet, its long, segmented legs finding purchase both on the ground and the trees around it as it pulled itself along. It moved close to the unmoving, broken remains of the zombies and lowered what Milosh believed must be its head down, the red, ember like glow of what passed for eyes taking in the zombies, then lifted up to nearly the height of the tree. The monster than turned and moved along the path the zombies had taken and moved away from the party’s sleeping forms and back deeper into the forest.
Milosh lay there quietly, unmoving, watching the trees long after the spider like creature vanished, fearful that even breathing may draw its attention. When the sun rose he climbed down and woke his companions and told them what he had seen. The others looked at him grimly. They all nodded. It was past time to leave these woods and head back to the Dale.
This is where we will leave off for now. Find out what happens next when we rejoin the Order of the Flagon as they try to leave the forest of Cormanthor and make their way back to Anathar’s Dale. See you back here, next time, in The Maze!
