Through clever manipulation and sly magic, the Lionshields were able to recover the torc and escape the smuggler’s den without conflict. While Kari and Peron kept the loup garou distracted, Nodnal used Mage Hand to snag the torc while Elrian put up a Wall of Stone between them and the beast.
Along with their new compatriot, Tuhng Waggins, the party made all due haste to escape the den, with a harrowing encounter with a horde of ghouls and vampires on their tail, but they made go on their exodus from the sea caves and, intent on tracking down the Highwayman’s Lute, commandeered a vessel and set sail for many weeks across the tumultuous sea before arriving at the village of Redhaven in distant Caliburn.
The village was bustling with activity and soon they were slinking around the Lute who were performing for enchanted crowds of locals. Learning that the Ferrant’s Vampire Lich, Gaston Delacourt was with the band of mummers, and intent on securing the fabled Time Dagger from the depths of the ruins of the Blood Brotherhood’s Reliquary, they made their way warily into the Nu—Crow Inn, which had been constructed above the abandoned hold of the famed adventurer’s magical horde.
Learning that fortune-hunters paid for the right to explore those depths, with few ever surviving the ordeal, the Lionshields were surprised as Gaston Delacourt offered a healthy reward for the retrieval of the Dagger — 5000 gold pieces per adventurer and granting each a Wish.
The Lionshields jumped at the opportunity, never intending to turn over the dagger to the fiend. Descending into the pit, they explored the Reliquary, but Kari inadvertently set off a poison gas trap, killing Tuhng. Nodnal used a knock spell to bypass the trapped stairwell door, and, after another trap was triggered inside, Elrian cast passwall to avoid another disaster.
Sensing more traps throughout, they passwalled to the lower levels, honing in on the Dagger thanks to Peron’s keen senses. Finding the Dagger hidden inside a magic painting, Kari entered just as goblins attacked the party.
After a brief battle, with dueling magical walls and the keen use of sword and arrow, the party reunited inside the painting where they found the dagger held in a magical sphere. They fought off a pack of dire wolves and battled a goblin assassin.
Triggering a trap that found the Time Dagger imperiled, they pursued the Assassin into an underground complex where Peron, Kari, and Nodnal fought off more goblins, giving Elrian time to disable the great machine that was fueling the magical sphere above.
Racing just ahead of the sorcerous conflagration, the party escaped the depths and Nodnal, using Mage Hand, retrieved the Time Dagger. The Dagger, however, had other ideas, as it tried to force the Tabaxi to commit suicide. You see, the Dagger only hates one thing more than elves — bards!
to be continued
Bordermen Games 