Session Roster: Ratha, Jinnis d’Kundarak, Khale, Sam Helfen, Tanthælas “Laz” Zoltrac


Mission Briefing from Tanarion d’Tharashk:
We’ve tracked a suspicious House Orien shipment traveling through Karrnath into Darguun, but we’ve lost the trail somewhere in the large marketplace settlements of the Gathering Stone. Curiously, House Deneith has established a fortress here, as the house has begun recruiting and training goblinoid mercenaries.

Even more concerning is that this is also supposedly the region where Magister Taelios Vaun — alleged orchestrator of the Closed Circle’s machinations — has been reported performing some type of field research for the last few weeks.

Cannith experiments, Karrnathi necromancers, complicit agents of Orien, Jorasco, and Deneith Houses… this labyrinthine web has a weaver, and my money’s on Vaun. Find him, find the shipment, and get to the bottom of this conspiracy. Something big is going down.

Be careful, Keepers — this is heavy goblin territory… and they’ve been riled up as of late.


Planning:
In the week before the Darguun mission, Laz scoured Morgrave University’s public archives for any more pertinent info on Magister Taelios Vaun. He also met a Khoravar contact in a tavern, trading favors for any intel out of the ordinary on House Orien’s shipment routes. (Basically, being a House Medani agent and member of the Basilisk’s Gaze, Laz did as much homework as he could to be best prepared going into Darguun.)

Master Archivist Taelios Vaun (High Elf, Abjuration and Enchantment Wizard)
Description: An aging elf with piercing golden eyes, short silvered hair, and robes lined with ever-shifting arcane sigils. His presence is calm but commanding, exuding the air of a man who knows more than he lets on.
Specialty: Arcane wards & interdiction magic—specialized in sealing away knowledge and binding entities within magical constructs. Also recently discovered to be a master at memory modification.
Quirk: He never raises his voice. Even in battle, he speaks in measured, deliberate tones, as if he already knows the outcome.
Known Alliances: The Closed Circle (and by extension, its network), The Esoteric Order of Aureon, Morgrave University, Current donor to the Accord Keepers

House Orien Shipments
– House Orien has always been busy when it comes to trade route activities, being the leader in land-based travel across the continent.
– Shipments to the fledgling nation of Darguun have increased steadily in the last few years since the Treaty, experiencing a downturn during the goblinoid rebellion when the territory broke off from Cyre.
– Many of the shipments origins trace back to Droaam, Karrnath, and the Talenta Plains. Some even come as far as Valenar and the Lhazaar Principalities.


Objectives:
– Gather further info in pursuit of shipments into Darguun and Gathering Stone area. Wagons containing shipments split off, heading in different directions. Two of those shipments had “tracking devices” in them to aid us. We know these contained preserved corpses at various decaying stages.
– Locate and definitively expose Taelios Vaun red-handed. Investigate what he’s up to.


Outcome:
We arrived in the evening but with sunlight still out. The Gathering Stone rises up about 30ft out of the ground and acts as a central hub for local “festivities” with glyphs etched into it — a mix of old and new. Numerous pitched tents all around look like they’ve been here a while, forming a “tent city”. We gathered that the overseers here are a druidic tribe called the Kurmaac.

Surrounded primarily by goblins, hobgoblins and bugbears of “primal nature”, we treaded cautiously and attempted to blend in as much as possible. We blended in well enough to locate 16 about-coffin-sized crates split evenly between two different “warehouse” tents. We physically marked them with numbers accordingly. These crates were also easy to distinguish, having bullhead symbols found at each corner. The first tent was disorganized and hardly under guard — here we located a shipping manifest that distinctly specified to not have too many of these “raw materials” in one place or things could go wrong. The second tent was the opposite due to the fact that it also acted as an armory — well organized, full of weapons at the ready, diamonds specifically for revivification and raising the dead, and rotating guards. The presence of Nadai was also found in this place. Khale swiped a few diamonds on the way out as we noticed no-nonsense goblinoid guard-types getting ready to load up the “raw materials” and make their way to the ruined city of Lyrenton — a border city with the wall of high gray mists of the Mournland very much visible.

At this point in time, dusk was closely approaching so most of the locals were heading toward the Gathering Stone to get their party on. A “flesh banquet” was ongoing… fallen bipedal creatures who appeared to have been recently slain had their chests burst open. Local “partygoers” would get amped on Nadai and swipe blood from these creatures, smearing it all across their own faces and bodies.

We noticed some wargs being sacrificed for party purposes so Ratha decided to shmooze the beasts, convincing them that they were better off not being here…and instead, acting as our mounts to ride towards Lyrenton. We rode hard into the night ahead of the wagon we were tracking and arrived at a vandalized ruined tower area.

In the distance, we noticed guards who donned similar regalia to those at the second tent back at the Gathering Stone area…but they weren’t just goblinoids. They were a mish-mash of various species. They wore Karrnathi colors and all-black armbands with red borders. The surrounding air felt affected by some sort of transmutative magic…then we see a white flash of light in the distance that appeared aimed toward the Mournland. That had to be our guy…Vaun. Before we head in that direction, Sam focuses on detection magic and finds that there’s a large presence of aberration and undead nearby.

As we make our way through the ruins, buildings all around seem to be disintegrating and crumbling due to that transmutative magic we’ve felt since we arrived. Jinnis helps us navigate through by channeling her dwarven stonecunning expertise and warning us with each step. We sense rhythmic pulses in the direction we’re heading and keep trudging on.

We arrive at a courtyard area under the magical guise of pass without trace (thanks again, Sam). We find six or seven armed individuals guarding the area, watching and waiting for something… perhaps the shipments we’ve been tracking. We get the jump on them and a combat encounter ensues! Their battle-hardened leader referred to them as the “Blackened Sky”. After a hard fought battle, their tanky leader finally goes down, one of them escapes to warn others and the rest are slain… save for one who was knocked unconscious.

Time for some interrogating, prep for the arrival of those “raw materials” and hopefully seeking out Vaun.

Post-planning from Laz’s Perspective:
“Interrogation is a forte of mine. I’d like to find out as much as we can before we push forward.” gestures at unconscious Blackened Sky guy “Definitely strip him and tie him up first.”

Stripped of armor, weapons and anything of note, the member of the Blackened Sky is now bound by rope with the party of Keepers surrounding him or nearby. Laz sits ’em up then lightly slaps their face back and forth, eventually splashing it with water. He also takes an hourglass out of his satchel, upends it then begins speaking into the hostile’s mind…

The Order of the Blackened Sky soldier, seeing his captain and most of his comrades fall in a short span of time, succumbs to Laz’s words and the Detect Thoughts spell takes hold.

Laz, slightly wide-eyed, stares straight into the soldier’s eyes. Not blinking. Maintaining eye contact. All of a sudden, the soldier hears a distinct whisper in his head… “You’re in a precarious position here. All your friends are dead. You’re quite lucky to be alive, really. See my friend over there? (Laz turns and points his head towards Sam) The broody half-elf. That wasn’t very nice what you did to her. I’m sure she’d put an arrow or two through your eyes given the chance. So let’s cooperate. We need info.”

“Who are the Blackened Sky and what is your purpose here? We’re here seeking Taelios Vaun. Is he here? High elf wizard with short silver hair who never raises his voice. We’ve got some urgent business with him.”

“Were you guarding something specific here?” Ratha asks.

“The halfling asked a question. We’d like answers.”

The guard’s eyes widen in horror, shifting his gaze between Sam, Laz, and now Ratha. “We w— we were here to ensure the Kurmaac were properly trained,” he stammers. “They’re more than ready now. It’s on— only a m-m-matter of time.” He looks towards the eastern sky, in the direction of the dead gray mist.

The guard focuses on Laz. “The magister is there, at the edge of the city. Y—you will not be able to stop what’s coming.”

The dead gray mist crackles with arcane energy once again — blue-white flashes of light erupting from within its shroud , like lightning in a ground level stormcloud. Around the ruined vicinity, the corpses once again twitch, almost imperceptibly. The smell of ozone and static fills the air. A distant wail echoes from the east and drifts on the cold breeze.

“Sounds ominous. Who else is with him? And what should we do with you now?”

“The magister performs his rituals on his own. It’s too dangerous for any of us to be there.” The guard looks wild eyed and panicked for a brief moment, as the cold breeze picks up once again. He eyes the corpses of his fallen allies surrounding the area. “You can do with me whatever you choose. But know that my brethren and I will hunt you in the afterlife. For we are loyal even in undeath.” The Detect Thoughts spell active in Laz’s mind – peering into the cortex of the guard as he stammers on – pulses with a visual representation of the shaken man’s mind. Dead gray mist. Wails of the dead. Something large and looming in the fog. To the west, a massive goblin army, fueled by manufactured hate and drug induced rage chants in unison in a cacophony of battle cries as they arm themselves and muster. Laz relays this to the party.

“We go towards Vaun, find out anything we can, then run. No way can we fight a marching goblin army.” Ratha says.

Sam scoffs at the soldier’s words, “Fuckin A, “loyal even in undeath.” Bet they had to stop you from licking claymores in basic.”

Laz addresses the Keepers. “Sounds like he doesn’t care what happens to him. We can leave him tied up… but I’m not opposed to other outcomes. We should get rest while we can and think of exit strategies. I’ll invoke a tune with my viol as we wind down. May our warg friends still be waiting. Come what may.” glances around at the twitching bodies


Continuation: https://korranberg.observer/2/keep-your-eyes-on-the-prize-week-2-2/