Session Recap: Cormyr Goblin War Act 3, Session 2

Read Act 1 and Act 2 recap and session 1 recap.

The first watch goes to Whitehead. Piper is largely unresponsive and ill looking. Feek dreams of a pleasant scene with the family, except it is not his, it is Proster Obarskyr's, now long dead. Hjalmar dreams of Clangeddin wrapped in a tentacle. Feek takes the second watch and spends the time talking to Nana Opal, who has rested only a little. She says she is going to her home and talks about the friend's home she watches over. Feek asks if this is Elminster and she says it is! And that she has had a good and congenial, and sometimes conjugal, relationship with the old mage since her retirement.

In the morning the party hikes a few more bells to the base of the ledge the College of Rune Magics sits upon. They decided to add it to their itinerary and begin the hike up the many stairs. At the top the encounter illusions and an old Rune Adept, Edwood. Edwood berates them and tells them to leave. They draw weapons upon him but decide he is not worth the trouble and promptly leave without exploring the largely ruined campus.

At the bottom of the stairs they find Nana Opal, who has caught up after their detour. She invites them to Elminster's Castle for a pot pie after their trip to Volkumburgh. But in conversation she lets slip that she is a retired member of the Zhentarim. After a heated exchange (only on the side of the Purple Dragons), they punch her in the face and continue on to the College of Shaping Magics.

At the top of the stairs Feek touches a runestaff embedded in the stone. He teleports to a round chamber with eight doors. The rest of the party decides to camp and see if he comes back. He opens three doors, is tossed around and the room starts filling with sand, before he opens a door to an old storage room. He finds four magical items. Another runestaff which does not do anything obvious, a set of leather armor as heavy as plate, and a tenser's flying disk that seems dysfunctional.

He then receives a sending from Hjalmar asking him his whereabouts. He responds and says it is safe. Everyone else touches the runestaff and meets him in the room before the head outside to the college campus. 

Once outside they quickly encounter undead denizens roaming the grounds. Five zombies and one wight, which they don't recognize, only notice its hateful glare. They are able to ward off the undead without any harm done.

As the shortly settle into camp, Hjalmar consecrating the ground, Stardust takes the first watch. The second watch goes to Feek who has been sleeping poorly, dreaming of a place of madness far from the material plane. He enjoys Selune high in the sky, the wind calm. When clouds cover the moon and her train of tears, a figure walks into came. It is a tabaxi. It does not deign to acknowledge Feek until he aggressively calls it out.

 The tabaxi apologizes, and says he is here to talk, calling Feek by name. He introduces himself as Stream Runs Dark and tells Feek his friends will not awaken. Feek tries to wake Hjalmar and discovers he cannot. The tabaxi then pulls out a yarting and sings a beautifully magical song. Feek is seemingly transported body and soul out of space and time, and sees a maddening and dark scene, full of loss and despair. The tabaxi stands and says he would like to speak again. Stream invites Feek to seek out Black Ice near Thunder Gap.

When the tabaxi leaves, Feek is shaken. He wakes Stardust and shortly everyone else and recounts what just happened. He does not sleep the rest of the night.

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You can track my current progress here.

Session Recap: Cormyr Goblin War Act 3, Session 1

On February 2, 2025, my group kicked off act 3 of our campaign in Cormyr. You can see recaps for acts 1 and 2 if you want. 

Only two characters from act 2 remained: Hjalmar the Red from the Earthfast Mountains, a cleric of Clangeddin; and Faelivrin, a half-elf servant (Castles & Crusades pacer class) of House Huntcrown that goes by the name of Stardust. 

We also had three new characters. First is Feek Bolb, from Saerb, a reformed follower of Loviatar that was an in-house priest for Ilmater at the College of Shaping Magics during the reign of Proster Obarskyr. When the college fell, he went into stasis and awoke at the present age with a king's tear stuck in his forehead. There is also Piper, a bard/warlock. He somehow found a patron with a much reduced in power Myrkul. His origins are not clear. Lastly, we have Whitehead Rallyhorn Joyner, a skald from Hultail and a bastard child of House Rallyhorn.

At the end of Act 2, the survivors from Vast Swamp made their way to Hector Crestfallen's camp in the Thunder Peaks. This camp is just north of Hidden Vale, a gnome village in the High Dale. The winter lasts longer at higher climes and the party waited out the rest of Mirtul waiting for the passes to be more accesible. Feek wandered into camp, and even though he is a Sembian, he was recruited to aid in the cause of the Goblin War. Whitehead and Piper were recruited for camp bards. Hector misses Magnus Trumpettower, who is busy down in Dawngleam, and so has been looking for a suitable replacement musician. He hired these two and wishes to see which proves the better, so maybe one will get fired.

Hector sent out three scouts when the weather started turning brighter, Kythorn approaching. One went to the northern passes, one in the middle north of Thunder Gap, and the last south of Thunder Gap to the borders of the High Dale and Archendale. Only the one from the north has returned, though he retrieved minor reports from the other valleys and peaks on his return. Another setback is this: Hector's forces were reassigned elsewhere. While quite a force had been recruited, the same that moved against the Norgath in Vast Swamp, Oversword Wolfwinter ordered them stationed to Thunderstone to guard the secret way through the High Dale and to Thundarlun to ward Thunder Gap. Only the player's party will be on missions in the mountains proper, to root out oppurtunists and threats to Cormyr's sovereignty during this crisis.

The biggest rumors surround giants in the vales and dragons on the ridges and peaks. These latter are with the Cult of the Dragon and the name Sibilant Shade, that mysterious figure, is still being whispered. The party eats from the mess tent and then meets with Hector in his tent.

He confirms the rumors, introduces the two prospective bards, and gives more information. He also introduces a local gnome, Gnomo, from Hidden Vale. He wants the group to show him the ropes, and to protect him.

There is a brief encounter of Hjalmar attempting to remove Feek's gem from his head, but even though he gets a great grip on it, he does not succeed. Instead, he sees a dark scene of twisting shadows and otherworldly stares. The party then heads north to Volkumburgh, with plans to stop at the College of Shaping Magics on the way. After acquiring provisions, they hit the road.

After some hours, they reach a bridge, only about 15 feet across, spanning a stream that runs into the Thunder River west of the reaches. At this bridge is a bent-with-age halfling woman berating three kobolds. These scaly fellows are pressing her for a toll to cross. The party, led by Feek, rush in to assist. As they are dispatching the three kobolds, a score more appear over the ridge across the bridge, and Whitehead is the first to meet them while Piper sings a constitution increasing song. 

But behind these kobolds comes a figure in black robes, masked to the point where it looks like the figure has no neck. He immediately casts Cloudkill. The kobolds gasp out there last while Gnomo, not knowing what is happening succombs as well. While the haze continues, choking the party, an explosion comes from in their midst. The bridge is gone! 

A voice sounds in everyone's head, the mage calls himself Khalgixer, Scion of Aurgloroasa.

Hjalmar is able to make it over to Whitehead as another fireball rocks them, pushing Piper to the brink of death. A weakened Myrkul sends him back with a spell and a scolding. Stardust and Feek have avoided the explosion by teleporting with Stardust's magical sword, Maltanecel, to the ridge where the mage lies. Feek is able to stagger him with two blows of his fists before the figure teleports to another ridge and sends a personal fireball at the two brave Purple Dragons. Stardust is brought low, but stays conscious, as a voice speaks once more: "The Sibilant Shade controls these passes, this is your warning. You are beneath me."

The party camps for the night, Hjalmar providing healing and everyone licking their wounds and mourning Gnomo.

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You can track my current progress here.

Eastern Plains, Cormyr, 1370 DR: Act 2 - Campaign Recap

It is a slushy day in Mirtul. At Battlerise, a company of 200 Purple Dragons, arrayed in purple, fought the black clad cultists numbering 300 and headed by a black dragon from the ruins of Battlegate Castle. The dragon was slain and the cultists slain or scattered.

While gathering requisitions a group of select individuals were selected by the high knights to save a Huntcrown noble woman, kidnapped by fleeing cultists. This took them to the caverns below the castle where various monsters were fought, including a vampire and shapeshifters (the caverns were based on the Lost Cavenrs of Tsojconth, and yes with an o, not an a). Of course, our heroes should rightfully be mentioned. They were Stardust, a discreet servant of house Huntcrown, Clack Paddle, a local legend of the Thunder Peaks, Hjalmar of the far off Earthfast mountains and servant of Clangeddin, Manlove from Ghars, and Greg Bob the gnome.

Greg perished in the caverns and they sadly did not rescue the noble lady. Afterwards the group murdered, remember they’re not high knights, a bard before taking a historian named Shaan Smallpine into Vast Swamp. They were joined by the Paladin Raheem on the road. They came into contact with a Cormyr loyal faction of lizardfolk in the Sharptooth clan. They defeated goblins and darkenbeasts and a slaad and a Red Wizard of Thay, and sneaky Sembians. They unified the swamp. In the efforts, Clack Paddle fell to a devil at Orvaskyte Keep, Manlove fell at the Norgath village along with the lady Daoine Huntcrown. They were met there by forces of Hector’s. A fey creature named Dave Grigger and a gnome that was not all he seemed, hight Illikut, briefly joined them, and Stardust went to the mountains to ask Hector for aid at Norgath after Clack’s death. Raheem disappeared into the Astral Plane after Norgath were subjugated.

They then made their way to the Thunder Peaks.

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You can track my current progress here.