Session 11: The Heroes of the Troll War

The characters narrowly escaped the Palace of Shoon III in the year 130 DR. They were once again hurdled through time and found themselves in a field north of Mount Waterdeep in what should have been the city of Waterdeep itself.

Summary
The adventurers awoke to the smell of ocean air and smoke, they found themselves in what was supposed to be Sea Ward but instead they were in the middle of a farmstead to the north of which was an expansive palisade wall and further north was a wall of flames slowly creeping south towards the adventurers.

To the adventurers' surprise they ran into Malcar Gost again. They learned that it had been 800 years since the events in Shoonach. The party found out that they were in the vicinity of a settlement called Nimoar's Hold rather than Waterdeep and that Artor Morlin had also been in the vicinity but he had become consumed by evil.

Halaster's Seals
The party met a young spellcaster named Ahgairon who was able to stop the fire from moving southward. Ahgairon's spell could only hold the flames for a few hours but he told the adventurers of magical seals left behind by his former master, Halaster Blackcloak. The adventurers needed to tune the seals so that Ahgairon would use their power to quell the flames before they reached the settlement of Nimoar's Hold.

Shortly after meeting Ahgairon, Tony attuned to the Ring of Mind Shielding that was given to the party by Vajra and he could hear Viego's voice in his mind. Viego explained that he was trapped somewhere with nothing but the mad ravings of another. Viego believed the voice had sinister intentions but could not reason with it or gain any clear information from it.

As Ahgairon sent the adventurers off to locate and tune Halaster's seals he introduced them to a burly man named Hawk who would accompany them to the seals.

Eladrin Tomb
The adventurers made their way to the City of the Dead outside of Nimoar's Hold, though it bared little resemblance to the lush walled-off gardens of the City of the Dead that existed in the Waterdeep the adventurers were from. The simple plots of burial sites led to an Eladrin tomb containing the well-preserved bodies of four eladrin elves.

A puzzle regarding the "treachery and affection" between the four elves kept the adventurers occupied for a while as the flames sweltered in the distance. The party eventually picked up enough clues to solve the puzzle for which they received a glistening petal bearing Halaster's seal.

The item swelled with magical power but the adventurers were able to successfully tune it, all the while the Ring of Mind Shielding trembled erratically and Viego reported what felt like an earthquake from the realm where he resided.

Gnomish Crypt
Hawk led the adventurers to a gnomish crypt in the City of the Dead, there the party encountered a series of twelve archways that led to a tiny door at the far end of the crypt. As Deckard moved through the first two arches his body shrank, followed by his head. Deckard offered to test out the functions of each of the twelve archways and instructed Tony to move through them in an order that would allow him to fit through the tiny door at the end of the chamber.

Though Deckard's body had become deformed and he resembled a teacup with stubby arms and legs, Tony was able to move through a set of archways that altered his size to something appropriate for the tiny door. The door swung open for Tony as he approached, a 200-foot long hallway stood between the warforged artificer and a wooden statue of a skunk with Halaster's seal carved into its rear. As Tony walked down the hallway, the sound of wet flatulence was emitted with each step down the hall. Once again, the warforged attempted to tune but was not as successful as he was in the eladrin tomb. A wave of force magic erupted from the skunk statue's rear and Tony could feel the ring tremble more violently than before.

As Tony emerged from the hallway, Deckard was able to restore his form by walking through the appropriate arches. The party moved towards the exit just as an iron construct emerged from a secret compartment and moved toward Hawk and Azir. Hawk ran through an arch that shot his height up to eight feet and attempted to grapple the construct but was overwhelmed by the mechanical creature. The iron construct pinned down the enormous man and began tickling him, Deckard was able to surprise the construct and Tony moved through an arch that increased the size of his hands so that the duo could tickle the construct in retaliation.

The iron construct relented and guided the adventurers out of the crypt. Hawk and the construct gave each other friendly pats on the back as they bid one another farewell.

Nimoar's Hold
At Nimoar's Hold the party spoke to a sister of Chauntea named Joy. While two of Halaster's seals were confirmed to be in an infirmary Joy would not offer them up for the party's use as it would spell the death of everyone in the infirmary.

Deepwater Harbor
Believing that they could help Ahgairon with only a third seal the adventurers made their way to the rocky shores of the harbor. Two of Halaster's seals could be seen on large rocks peaking out from the surface of the beach, though a powerful illusion magic prevented the adventurers from seeing the seals at times. When one of the adventurers was able to see one of Halaster's seals they would find themselves perpetually five feet away from the seal until it disappeared from their sight.

A nearby laughing merman caught the adventurers' attention as they fumbled around the beach. After explaining what was happening on land the merman suggested the adventurers entreat the goddess Umberlee before hinting at what they were doing wrong about trying to get a hold of the seals.

After more trial and error the adventurers decided to have two of the go after the seals each was to only look at the seal they were assigned to. The adventurers successfully obtained the rocks baring Halaster's seals, the rocks appeared to be two haves of a large clam and one of the seals disappeared as the it was picked up.

The party once again tuned the seal on the remaining clam shell causing the Ring of Mind Shielding to tremble.

Winning the Battle
Before the adventurers could entreat the goddess Umberlee they saw flashes lightning burst from the side of Mount Waterdeep towards the north. The smell of smoke filled the air and the adventurers decided they needed to regroup with Ahgairon before anything else.

After scaling up the side of Mount Waterdeep the adventurers saw Ahgairon climbing up a ridge with a group of injured warriors. After hearing of the party's success in tuning three of Halaster's seals, Ahgairon began preparing a ritual to undo the flames that were closing in on the gates of Nimoar's Hold. Just as the young spellcasting started his ritual, a battle scarred Troll emerged from below the ridge.

The adventurers took up arms against the Troll as the foul beast started towards the injured folks atop the ridge and as Ahgairon continued preparing his spell. Azir flourished his Moonbeam sword against the Troll before the beast cleaved through the swashbuckler's armor, rendering him unconscious. Hawk rushed forward in a rage dealing a deep injury to the Troll with his ax. Tony leapt forward and pulled Azir's Potion of Everlasting Healing out to immediately mend the man's wounds. With a mighty tackle and a surge of action, Deckard was able to knock the Troll down to the ground before crushing the creatures bones with his mighty maul.

As the Troll rattled off its final breath Ahgairon completed a spell that summoned water from the ocean to quell the flames and columns of wind from the valleys to blow away the soot. The Ring of Mind Shielding trembled and became red hot as points of light appeared from Halaster's seals in the distance.

After the Battle
Ahgairon thanked the adventurers and his friend Hawk for their efforts. To Azir's surprise, Hawk's identity was revealed to be that of a wood cutter whose full name was Hawk Wood. Ahgairon, in good spirits despite his wounds, guided the adventurers down the Mountain but as the adventurers were being congratulated they began to feel exhausted.

As the adventurers succumbed to their exhaustion, they once again fell into a momentary slumber before regaining consciousness in a circular office with two men: Artor Morlin and a elderly, white-haired Ahgairon.

Player Characters

 * Azir the human swashbuckler
 * Deckard the half-elf champion
 * Hawk the human path of the totem warrior barbarian
 * Tony the warforged artificer armorer
 * Viego the human kensei of the open hand

Non-Player Characters

 * Ahgairon, a young human magic user and former student of the legendary wizard, Halaster Blackcloak
 * Joy, a human member of the Sisters of Chauntea.
 * Malcar Gost, a human that was present in the Palace of Shoon III, he appeared to be a farmer who lived in the fields outside of Nimoar's Hold.