Chapter Summaries

[JadedDM]

The Sarcophagus Legion VI

After a week of travel through the desert, the party came upon the town of Alan Ak-Khan. Karkat and Syriana said their good-byes, as the assassins were going to take the young woman into hiding, and to train her. Jerrard told her to enjoy her freedom. She pointed out that, as she was a fugitive from a god now, she would never be 'free' again.

On that somber note, the party rode their new horses into town. They found a nice inn, the Cat's Tail, and were brightened considerably by the colorful decor and the fact that the low tables were surrounded by plush pillows and cushions, instead of chairs. The innkeeper, a thin man with a wispy mustache named Wahid, welcomed them and asked if they were here to see the show tonight. When Jerrard asked what he meant, Wahid explained that the Desert of the Rose, as she is called, will be dancing tonight. The party decides it might be worth seeing that. They ordered rooms. Locky and Babushka offered to share a room with Imani, but on the kender's mentioning of 'cuddles' and 'pillow fights,' the Khurish woman declined.

Babushka asked for a bathhouse, and learned there was one in the local brothel. Despite being in her 20s, Locky had no idea what that was, and had Babushka explain it to her as if she were a child. Amused at the idea, the kender was happy to check it out. However, upon arriving, they were turned away as kender were not allowed. The frumpy mistress who ran the place let slip that she had two kender slaves that worked there. Upset by the discrimination, Babushka convinced Locky that they should leave. They went back to their rooms to wash up instead. While doing so, Locky decided she would ask Jerrard to use his Invisibility spell to free the kender slaves.

Meanwhile, Jerrard sat in his room, alone, but didn't close his door all the way. He heard a sweet song from across the hall and went to investigate. Peeking into the room across the hall, he spied a beautiful exotic dancer, practicing in front of a mirror. When he made his presence known, she started and threw a knife at him. Luckily, it only hit the door frame. She immediately apologized profusely for it.

Jerrard introduced himself, and the woman immediately recognized him as a westerner from his accent and name. She said her name was Malika, and she admitted she was the 'Desert of the Rose.' Immediately smitten, Jerrard began asking her questions about herself and learned she was a slave, forced to dance here against her will. He also learned she was of the Mikku tribe. Recognizing him as a mage, Malika wondered if Jerrard could help her. The mage promised he would try. Ecstatic, she asked to meet with him tonight, after the show. Then she would explain everything.

His head still spinning from the scent of her perfume, Jerrard joined the rest of the group in the common area, who had all gathered there to eat breakfast. Locky told the group of their encounter at the brothel, and asked if anyone in the party had been to a brothel before. Thuskar had, but Ulster had refused. Babushka remarked that made Ulster a 'very fine' man, but he seemed a little bitter about it.

Jerrard turned the conversation to the Mikku, curious about them. Imani admitted she was originally a Mikku, before she was married to Mehmet. She said the Mikku were known for dancing and singing, and she could dance, as well.

The party then discussed what they should do next. Thuskar and Ulster both had ideas on how to return to Shrentak, but Babushka reminded them they couldn't leave yet without rescuing Imani's son. The party tried to come up with a plan, but the best they could come up with was Locky's suggestion to just 'show up' and 'see what happens.' Thuskar argued that the child was in no immediate danger, and it would be safer to just wait for a more opportune time when the party was strong enough to infiltrate the palace with minimal danger.

Imani sadly admitted Thuskar had a point and agreed to wait. With that settled, Locky brought up the kender slaves again. Jerrard agreed to investigate, and took Thuskar with him. Meanwhile, Babushka decided to take Ulster and Locky to the marketplace to keep the kender out of trouble.

Jerrard and Thuskar visited the brothel and met the same frumpy woman that the girls did earlier. Jerrard asked to see what they had in stock, so the woman escorted them to a room full of women. There were Khurish women, an Ergothian, a westerner, a gorgeous Silvanesti, a dwarf, a couple of half-elves and even a half-ogress. Thuskar was interested in the elf, and Jerrard agreed to pay for him, despite the fact she was the most expensive whore in the whole place (12 steel an hour).

Sweating and shaking, Jerrard started probing the mistress about any women they had that were 'smaller.' At first the woman thought he meant children, and admitted they had a couple of girls that were around 12 or so. She also mentioned the kender, who were only 1 silver an hour. Jerrard said he only wanted to know for a 'friend' but the woman clearly did not believe him. She took him to see the kender, who were locked up in a storage room. The kender, a male and female, had no hands and were chained to a wall.

The woman explained that the kender had been caught stealing, so had their hands chopped off. They were then put on the slaver's block. Her husband bought them for cheap, only a mere 100 steel for the pair, figuring there were enough kender fetishists out there that they could be of use to him.

Jerrard, still sweating and quivering from disgust and anxiety (the woman thought he was just a pervert, though), asked to spend an hour with both kender at once, and accidentally agreed to pay twice as much than he needed to. He was escorted to a room, and a short time later, the two kender were brought, as well. The guards offered to chain them to the bed, so they wouldn't move around, but Jerrard declined.

Once they were alone, Jerrard explained to the kender he only wanted to talk. He asked them how they wound up in this place. They explained that they were from Kendermore. A year ago, they were wrongfully accused of stealing and had their hands chopped off. Then they were sold into slavery, and ended up here. They introduced themselves as Sampler Thicketsway and Casberry Stumpwater.

After an hour of talking, Jerrard promised he would try to buy the kender's freedom. Once he returned to the waiting room and was rejoined by a very content Thuskar, he asked when he could speak to the owner. The mistress told him to come by tomorrow morning, he might have returned from his business trip then.

As they walked back to the inn, Jerrard expressed his utter disgust for the place. Thuskar seemed to take it more in stride, and pointed out that the world is an ugly place. Even Palanthas has a slum. Jerrard admitted that this was true, he had just never been forced to confront it before.

After the party regrouped, Jerrard asked to speak with Babushka and Imani alone. He then told them about Malika and how he needed their help in freeing her. The two agreed they would help if they could. Jerrard then went to see Malika again, but when he knocked on her door, Wahid answered. Jerrard pretended he had the wrong room, and awkwardly walked off.

That night, the inn was packed. The party sat down at the only table left available and ordered dinner. Then the show started. Everyone was impressed with her dancing, except Babuhska. However, after a few moments, everyone seemed completely memorized, including the gnome. The whole party, save Jerrard and Locky, seemed to fall under some kind of trance.

Wahid then walked up to each table and suggested that if the audience liked the show, they should donate. Everyone started emptying their pockets into the bowel, including Thuskar, Ulster, Imani and Babushka. Locky put in a few copper, too, but not out of any strange compulsion. After the show, those who were enchanted to donate couldn't remember why they had in the first place. As Malika walked by, she dropped a note in Jerrard's lap. The note asked to wait for her at midnight in his room.

After the meal and show, the party headed to their rooms. Babushka and Locky had a pillow fight while Jerrard studied his spellbook. Eventually, midnight came and Malika knocked on Jerrard's door.

Malika explained everything. She was queen of her village, until the Midnight Jackals attacked. Her family was slain and she was sold into slavery. She had a special magic ability, to cast spells through dancing. When Wahid bought her, and learned of her power, he decided to exploit it. He forces her to cast a spell of Hypnotism on the audience, then he suggests they hand over their money.

Furthermore, Wahid had a magic gem implanted in the back of Malika's neck. It allows him to control her with a magic wand. If she disobeys or tries to run away, he can cause her incredible pain or even kill her from a distance. Thus, she needs Jerrard's help in destroying either the wand or the gem, so she can be free.

Naturally, Jerrard agreed to help, but they would need to wait a day so he could get the help of his friends. He then ran to get Imani to meet her, wondering if they would know each other as they were both Mikku. They didn't, of course. Malika filled Imani in on everything, and Imani agreed to try to help. Malika departed, thanking them.

After she left, Jerrard talked with Imani a bit, noting to himself how pretty she is, too. Imani suggested he get some rest, and went back to her room.

[JadedDM]

Escape from Khur

After a fitful rest, the party awoke the next morning. The party went down for breakfast, but then decided to take it in Imani's room instead. Not before Locky destroyed some pillows in the common area by jumping on them, though. Wahid the innkeeper, mistaking the kender for a human child in her robes, chastised her and demanded her father, Jerrard, pay for them. Which he did.

Imani then told the group about Malika. The group discussed things. Ulster was concerned they might not have the supplies to accommodate another member of the group. Babushka asked Imani if what Wahid was doing to Malika was legal; Imani said she believed it was.

The topic then changed to the two handless kender. Jerrard, Babushka and Locky were all passionate about saving them, but Imani was unsure if their lives would be any better off or not. This upset the other three. They considered taking the kender north to the city, but it meant going out of their way and using up more supplies. So they then decided they would put the kender on a caravan wagon heading for Shrentak.

So while the girls returned to their room, the men went to find caravans. They found three, but none were very attractive options. Some insisted on the kender being caged up during the trip, others would only take them half-way. Jerrard decided the best option was a boat that was heading for Silvanesti. They were willing to drop the kender off in Kendermore on the way, although at a hefty price.

With that settled, they returned to the plan to free Malika. Jerrard asked Locky to memorize Remove Curse, forgetting that they actually needed Dispel Magic instead. While she was praying, Thuskar and Jerrard returned to the brothel to meet with the owner.

It didn't go well. The owner knew Jerrard wanted these kender for specific reasons (although he wasn't sure what those reasons were) and so insisted on charging him 500 steel for the two of them. Jerrard refused, so they headed back to the inn empty-handed.

The party talked some more. They decided they would not save the kender, but would instead sell the horses that Karkat gave them and buy passage to Silvanesti themselves. They would cross through the cursed woods to reach Shrentak, thus bypassing Mehmet's territory entirely.

They then discussed their plan to save Malika. They would wait for night, make Locky invisible, send her in to Wahid's room to steal the wand, and then hide out until morning. Then they would board the boat to Silvanesti. Ulster asked how they would evade the constables, which caused the party to try and revise the whole plan. Babushka asked Imani, again, if what Wahid was doing is legal and again, she confirmed it was. Jerrard considered freeing Malika secretly, then having the woman expose Wahid to his customers. But Imani doubted anyone would believe the word of a slave over her master.

The party then went down to the common area to watch Malika's show, but she wasn't performing that night in particular. Instead, a man was reciting Khurish poetry. Locky attempted to 'distract' Wahid while Jerrard went to visit Malika. He told her to meet him that night.

Very late, near morning, Malika came to their room. Locky cast Remove Curse, but nothing happened as it was the wrong spell. So Babushka reminded the kender she would have to go get the wand. Invisible and silenced, the kender sneaked into Wahid's room and stole the wand. However, when she returned, Jerrard wouldn't break it. This caused Malika to suspect him of breaking his word and keeping her enslaved.

Slipping out before dawn arrived, they found the ship heading to Silvanesti--a cargo ship called the Horizon Seeker. The ship was guarded, though, by two sailors who told the party they couldn't board until morning. A large black minotaur (who the sailors called 'skipper') heard the noise and approached from the deck. Jerrard attempted to bribe him with gold, which is worthless on Krynn. He then tried platinum instead, but the minotaur wasn't interested. But he did recognize Jerrard as a mage, and offered him a job instead. He would let the party board early and in secret (the minotaur suspected the party was running from someone), if they would agree to help with a problem.

It seems that a group of outlaws was forcing the boat (and any other ship that passed by) to pay a hefty 'tax.' The outlaws had magic, so the crew couldn't fight back. If the party loaned their own magic to help fight, they would have a deal. Jerrard agreed, so everyone boarded and went into the hold.

Only then did Jerrard break the wand, which freed Malika from its enchantment. She was glad, but also regretted she hadn't been allowed to take Wahid's life in revenge.

The party tried to get some rest before they set sail that morning.

[JadedDM]

Voyage of the Horizon Seeker

The following morning, the Horizon Seeker departed from the docks without incident. Jerrard had a nightmare about the handless kender he left behind, while Locky had an odd dream that seemed to have the message ‘don’t be fooled by appearances.’

The party spoke a bit during breakfast, namely about Silvanesti, the curse that infected it during the War of the Lance, and whether it’s still prominent there or not.

Once on deck, Imani sought out Malika for advice in private on how to attract Ulster. Although she criticized Imani’s taste in men (calling Ulster ‘stuffy’), she agreed to help, starting with a rather extreme makeover. This not only caught the attention of Ulster, and many sailors, but Jerrard, as well.

The party met with the captain, a half-elf, half-Khur man named Imaran. He recognized Malika and insinuated she was not as innocent as she had led the party to believe. They also met again the minotaur first mate, Orin.

Locky, however, had wandered off. In Khur, she had recently posed as a child. But she removed her hood before stepping up on deck, revealing her kender heritage. When the other sailors noticed, they thought she was a stowaway and advanced on her. Locky called Jerrard for help and smugly claimed to be a Cleric of Paladine (although none of the crew had heard of Paladine, as he is unpopular in Khur). Jerrard cleared things up with the captain, so Imaran allowed Locky to remain onboard, much to the sailors’ chagrin.

After some more discussion, Imani suggested the idea of putting on a show with Malika for the crew that evening. Everyone was on board with that idea.

Jerrard then went to speak to the captain in private, in his cabin. The wizard asked about Malika, and Imaran gave him a very different story from the one Malika provided—that she was a conartist and a thief who used her powers to control others and steal their money. One day she tried this on the High Khan and was caught. The Khan’s wizard put an enchantment on her so that she would be enslaved to whoever held a special wand—to show her what it was like to have one’s will taken from them. He then gave her to Wahid, who was a homosexual (and thus immune to Malika’s natural charms) to do with her as he pleased.

Jerrard took all of this in stride, then asked about the outlaws attacking the ship. Imaran explained they were actually Dimernesti—sea elves. They bully multiple ships that pass through that area, using their magic (they have a wizard and a cleric) to immobilize the crew and take their treasure. Jerrard was intrigued, but agreed to help. However, he asked in return that Imaran rescue the handless kender in Kalin Ak-Phan after finishing in Silvanesti. Imaran was reluctant, but agreed if Jerrard and his people could drive off the Dimernesti.

Jerrard then had a private talk with Malika, asking her to make sure not to use her magic to charm the crew. Malika reluctantly agreed, but complained about it.

Later that day, after breakfast, the ship came across the floating debris of a shipwreck. Searching the area, they found a single survivor—a Kagonesti male who called himself Temeral. The wild elf explained that he had been on the ship as a slave, but managed to escape and kill some of the crew before something very big came out of the sea and attacked the ship.

That evening was the show. Imani and Malika danced for the crew, while Jerrard added a few lights and sounds with magic to enhance the performance. The crew loved it, and after the show was over, an impromptu dance party broke out and some grog was passed around.

Jerrard remained heavily focused on Malika while Babushka spent all of her time trying to keep Locky focused on her, and out of trouble. Imani asked Ulster to dance, but he only knew Solamnic style ballroom dancing.

While Jerrard wondered to himself whether he was just ‘fooling himself’ with Malika, Imani took the initiative and gave Ulster a big kiss. Ulster seemed to be deeply disturbed by this turn of events, and excused himself the rest of the night.

The next couple of days passed without incident. Jerrard insisted on keeping Malika in his sight at all times, while Ulster did everything in his power to avoid Imani. The party tried to discuss how to deal with the Dimernesti but were quickly derailed when they learned Temeral disliked the gods and their servants (which included Locky).

Suddenly, the ship came to a halt as seaweed magically sprung out of nowhere to ensnare it. Imaran recognized the Dimernesti’s work and called for the crew to make ready for battle. At least a score of the shoal elves appeared, and half of them boarded the ship. Jerrard insisted they explain themselves, so their leader told them that an amphi dragon had taken over their village and captured their children—and now forced the Dimernesti to rob ships to increase its hoard.

At once, the party offered their services in dealing with the dragon, if the Dimernesti would help and could provide some way for the party to function underwater. As it turns out, the Dimernesti have numerous Potions of Waterbreathing they keep on standby for when rescuing people lost at sea. However, when the party asked Imaran to lend his ship and crew to aid them in helping the people robbing him, he naturally turned them down. This led to a near confrontation with the sea elves, where the party demanded the Dimernesti aid them in fighting the dragon or they would kill them all right then and there. The Dimernesti assured them they would help, so Jerrard, Locky and Temeral all agreed to go with them. Babushka stayed behind, and Imani wanted to as well, but Jerrard and Locky both convinced her to go.

The Dimernesti took the party to a small cavern that was filled with air, magically illuminated and warmed, and had a few creature comforts in it, like a bed and some food. After an hour of waiting while the Dimernesti brought the booty to the dragon, the leaders returned to speak to the party. They brought with them a few trinkets they had found over the years that might help the party. One was a Ring of Swimming, which Temeral took. One was a Ring of Free Action that Imani took. The last was a spell—Airy Water—that Jerrard took.

Locky, turned invisible by Jerrard, then went out to the dragon’s cave alone. She found the dragon sleeping on its massive hoard of treasure. She also found a small nook where the children were being kept. A Stoneshape spell had formed a series of stone bars, making a prison to keep them from leaving.

Locky tried a variety of tactics of removing the bars, including trying to disbelieve their existence (although they were quite real) and spending an hour chipping away at one of the bars with her dagger, ruining it. Finally, she gave up and headed back to the others before her Water Breathing potion wore off.

Meanwhile, Imani and Jerrard passed the time in conversation. He told her the story of the party’s encounter with the Shroom and confessed he had feelings for Malika; although he then immediately turned around and started hitting on Imani instead. Imani, recognizing that the mage was ‘keeping his options open’ politely turned him down, to his embarrassment.

Locky explained the situation to the party. She was confident she could undo the stone cage with her own power, but needed time to pray. The party discussed tactics, trying to think of a way to get the dragon out of the cave before returning. They eventually settled on just waiting for it to go hunting on its own, then sneak in and free the children. Seera warned them, though, the dragon traps the cave when he leaves to prevent that very action.

Meanwhile, back on the ship, Babushka realized that the captain was not turning the ship around. It was still on course for Silvanesti. When the gnome asked the captain why, he explained that he had a deal with the party. They were to take care of the Dimernesti in exchange for him giving them free passage and not turning them over to the Khur authorities. But the party broke that promise by siding with the shoal elves and allowing them to still loot the Horizon Seeker. Nevertheless, Babushka still felt this was a betrayal and cursed the captain in gnomish. Shortly after, she begins to worry she will never see her companions again.

Once outside the dragon cave, Jerrard cast Airy Water from the tablet, encircling himself and anyone around him with a bubble of air that would allow him to speak, breathe and cast normally. Once they entered the cavern, however, a magical alarm went off. Realizing that the sound would call the dragon back, they made a mad dash for the stone cage. In the process, Locky triggered a second trap that electrocuted her badly. Fortunately, she was able to heal herself up without too much problem.

Locky attempted to Dispel Magic on the cage, but nothing happened. Realizing she had failed again, Locky became determined to find some way to free the children. But Imani urged them to flee while they could. There was a thunderous roar outside as the dragon arrived. Reluctantly, and with Jerrard’s urging, Locky agreed to leave.

Stepping outside of the cave, they saw the giant dragon battling the Dimernesti. There were sixteen of them, not including the three leaders Breegan, Seera and Qwendeel. However, twelve of the shoal elves fled when overwhelmed by the dragon’s aura of dragonfear. Temeral and Imani moved in, the former swimming and the latter walking. Jerrard and Locky remained where they were, a safe distance and out of range of the dragon’s attacks. Breegan was the first casualty, nearly dying to the dragon’s massive teeth. Fearful for his life, Seera moved in to save him.

Imani and Temeral shrugged off the dragonfear and attacked. The elf’s sai couldn’t pierce the dragon’s thick hide, but Imani had better luck with her scimitars. Her Ring of Free Action allowed her to swing her blades as easily as she could on land, making all the difference. Jerrard realized he couldn’t see well in the water, and was forced to move closer to the dragon in order to blast it with his spells.

The dragon became to get angry, and one of its paws got stuck in the ground due to a critical fumble. It turned its head toward Imani, sucking in water for its breath attack. Jerrard believed he was the target, so grabbed Locky and ran as far as he could in the opposite direction. Imani, however, climbed up the dragon’s paw, ran up to its face, and impaled its eye with a critical hit. The dragon flailed wildly then went still as it died. After several moments of silence, a cheer went out from the Dimerensti. Imani was awestruck that she had killed a dragon.

Qwendeel attempted to chew the party out for failing to get the children out, but Breegan, who had been revived by Seera, quieted him down. He also promised the party a portion of the hoard and to take them wherever they wanted to go. Naturally, the party all agreed—they wanted to be taken to Silvanesti, where their friends awaited.

After a brief rest, the party was given 4,000 steel pieces, all of the magical items in the hoard (a wand, two potions, and two sets of armor—a small sized chain mail and a man-sized plate mail) and was allowed to keep the two rings. After a celebration party, the Dimernesti took the land-dwellers back up to the surface, toward Silvanesti.

[JadedDM]

Silvanesti Reunion

The chapter opens with Babushka in a bad mood. After the Horizon Seeker had dropped her, Ulster, Thuskar and Imani off in the Silvanesti town of Kurinost, he had quickly done his business and departed. This left the ranger with no possible way of contacting her companions who had delved into the ocean with the Dimernesti. As far as she knew, they were all dead.

For four days they stayed in Kurinost, receiving a most unwelcome response from the Silvanesti elves. Each day, Babushka would go to the docks and sit and wait for some sign of her companions. On the fourth day, they finally arrived on otter back. The otters deposited Jerrard, Locky, and Imani on the shore and then quickly departed.

During the reunion, a disjointed tale was told of Imani killing the dragon and Temeral departing to places unknown. The party quickly headed to the local inn, the Morning Dew, and purchased baths for the three water-logged adventurers. When that was all taken care of, they met back in the common area with Thuskar, Ulster and Malika to discuss what had happened--and what to do next.

While they were talking, the only other person in the common room (aside from the bartender), a young-looking elven woman, seemed quite interested in what the party was talking about. Locky approached her and introduced herself, and learned the woman was a kirath--someone dedicated to restoring the Silvanesti forest from Lorac’s Nightmare, named Aleaha Takmarin. Aleaha is surprisingly patient with Locky, although she does show hints of the typical Silvanesti arrogance. Imani intervenes, and Aleaha asks her about the dragon she slew.

As they speak, a rugged human male steps into the inn. Babushka eyes him at once, as he reminds her somewhat of her old mentor. After some more discussion, the party finally settles on crossing the forest, heading to Shrentak, then hopping a boat to Palanthas, Jerrard’s home town. Locky also reveals that they took 3,000 steel pieces from the dragon’s horde, which causes Malika’s attitude toward Jerrard to warm considerably.

The rugged woodsman overhears the party speaking of crossing the forest and offers to help. He introduces himself as Jeremy Johanson. He says he grew tired of the ‘hypocrisy of civilization’ and is seeking a solitary place in nature to live, but has yet to do so. He came to Silvanesti but found he was not welcome here, and so is eager to leave again. The party accepts his help, and while he and Babushka head to the stables to look for more horses to buy, Imani, Malika and Locky headed to the general store while Jerrard and the two henchmen went to the local smithy.

The general store owner had a conniption at the sight of Locky, and insisted she leave at once. Imani and Locky both tried to argue Locky was a cleric of Paladine, but to no avail. Reluctantly, Locky ran off, upset. But she quickly got bored and returned to the inn. She speaks with Aleaha, asking for her help. Aleaha admits she knows of a Wizard of the White Robes, a kirath like herself. But he lives in the forest, not in town. Aleaha agrees to take the party to him, but at the cost of an unnamed favor.

Jerrard buys some arrows and asks about local wizards. The smithy mentions the governor dabbles in magic, but never took his Test. And likely won’t agree to meet with human commoners. Meanwhile, Imani buys a new outfit for herself and more rations, and Malika purchases some boots with the bit of coin Jerrard gave her.

Babushka and Jeremy find that there were a few horses for sale. There is a draft horse, a riding horse, and two ponies. Jeremy has his own donkey he had brought with him, as well. Everything is overpriced, however.

Once the party meets up again, they head to Babushka’s room and cram themselves in to have a private discussion. Everyone reports how expensive everything was. Right in the middle of the meeting, Jerrard asks to speak to Babushka privately. The two go into another room, and Jerrard questions the gnome on how trustworthy Jeremy was. Babushka is reluctant to answer, as her judge of character hadn’t been great lately. But ultimately, she feels he could be trusted. Likewise, Jerrard decides (with only Babushka’s approval) to name himself leader of the group. However, neither one of them informs the rest of the party of this decision.

The party discusses which horses to buy, then split up again. Locky goes to speak with Aleaha, Jerrard takes Ulster and Malika to see the governor, Babushka goes to purchase the mounts, and Imani and Thuskar stay behind at the inn to rest.

Imani speaks to Thuskar, confiding in him her thoughts and feelings about the sea dragon caper, as she hadn’t felt comfortable voicing them to the group at the time. She also asks about Ulster, but again Thuskar feels it isn’t his place to discuss their past. He does reveal that Ulster was in love once, and it ended badly. After Imani leaves, Thuskar has a flashback of his time being tortured by the Shroom and it’s revealed there are still spongy, green splotches on his chest.

Babushka, using the party’s funds, buys the riding horse and two ponies, and begins loading them up with the party’s gear. She and Locky have a conversation about whether Babushka will ever leave the party to live in the forest, like the way Jeremy wants to. Babushka assures Locky that won’t happen, at least not any time soon.

Jerrard, meanwhile, is turned away at the governor’s doorstep, so takes Malika shopping instead. Jerrard buys her a dress worth 100 gp, and attempts to buy rations for all of the party members and fodder for all of the horses. This costs a fortune, so Ulster convinces him to let the donkeys and ponies graze for food and points out several party members still have plenty of rations and don’t need any more. Despite this, Jerrard still winds up spending more than half of what he took from the dragon’s horde.

The party returns to the inn and after some conversation, turn in for the night.

[JadedDM]

Tree Lords I

The party sets out, Aleaha in the lead, into the forest of Silvanesti with two new ponies (Haera and Illvain), and a new riding horse for Jerrard named Lanae (although he insists on Malika riding in his place), as well as Jeremy and his donkey. Babushka and Jeremy enjoy the forest, although Locky and Malika find it dull. The party is surprised to learn it may well take four months to get through the forest, meaning it will be winter by then.

After a day of traveling, the party makes camp and sets a watch. During the last watch, Locky and Jeremy encounter what appears to be a treant. Jeremy is smart enough to wake up Aleaha and she advises them to avoid it. They take her advice, and nothing more comes of it.

The following day, they encounter a hungry two-headed troll. Working together, and with Aleaha's advice, they managed to cut it down easily. Only Aleaha took any damage, but that was because she single-handily held the front-line (which she criticizes Jerrard for afterward). Shortly after that, they encounter three corrupted treants that had been turned evil by Lorac's Nightmare.

Jerrard quickly tasks Malika with building a fire, which she objects to. However, by the time she finally has one made, the party has defeated all three of the monsters.

The party makes camp that night again, and after being questioned by Jerrard (noticing Aleaha's wounds had healed entirely), the elf reveals she wears a Ring of Regeneration. Locky complains of the forest being boring, which frustrates Ulster, who points out they had fought a two-headed troll and three evil treants in a single day.

Three days later, the party comes across a fresh creek and Aleaha suggests they refill their waterskins. She states she suspects Lareth, the mage she told Jerrard about, is nearby and wants to go check. She tells the party to stay where they are until she returns.

Malika complains of being dirty, and suggests she and Jerrard 'ride ahead' of the others to reach the town quicker. Jerrard agrees (only after they meet with Lareth), but Babushka and Imani are quick to point out how ridiculous the idea is, and Jerrard relents. Imani awkwardly apologizes to Ulster for kissing him back on the ship, but if anything, this just strains things between them further.

After an hour passes, Aleaha has still not returned. Jerrard then decides to take the men away from the women, so they could bathe in privacy. As they leave, Thuskar and Jerrard have a slight argument about respecting women.

Shortly after, while the women bathe, a dozen elves approach the men and seem surprised, caught-off guard even, by the fact that they are human. The elves subtlety surround the men and then reveal their true forms, that of Baaz draconians.

A battle quickly breaks out, and Babushka (the only one still dressed and armored at this point) hears Jeremy's battle-cry and warns the women before sneaking off herself to see what is happening. She joins the battle just in time to see Ulster cut down. Shortly after, Imani dresses, arms herself and goes to fight, too. Malika, however, refuses to join, and Locky is forced to remain as she doesn't trust her with the horses alone.

Jeremy is on the verge of falling himself, when a stranger cloaked in white appears and uses a spell to save him by paralyzing one of the Baaz. He then starts sniping draconians with his bow. When the battle is over, the stranger reveals himself to be Lareth Thlorendil, kirath and Wizard of Solinari.

He takes the paralyzed Baaz prisoner in hopes of interrogating him. During the introductions, however, Jerrard abruptly runs off almost mid-sentence to check on Malika. Lareth takes serious offense to this. Jerrard likewise is upset with Malika for not helping the party in the battle. This, in turn, upsets Malika who points out she is not 'one of his mercenaries.'

Lareth explains to the party that Aleaha sent him to aid the party, as she was called away on other duties. Imani, using her training as a princess of the Mayakhur, manages to smooth things over, more or less, with the extremely haughty elf. Lareth then interrogates the captured Baaz, learning that they are scouts sent by a mated pair of green dragons.

After camp is made, Lareth offers to sell Jerrard some of his spells. The wizard spent most of his money on Malika, and so borrows a few hundred from Locky to buy Identify and Haste. (He attempts to learn Blink, but fails.)

That night, during a shared watch between Jerrard and a reluctant Malika, the wizard apologizes to the dancer for being upset with her. He also asks for her true past, suspecting the original story she told was false. She tells a different story this time, about how she was orphaned at a young age and enslaved, then escaped and was forced to turn to thievery to survive.

Jerrard professes a desire to train her to fight, which makes her suspicious. He assures her he wants nothing from her, but then admits he would like to be in a romantic relationship with her. Malika expresses doubt that Jerrard is only acting so kindly toward her because of this, and that if she told him there was no chance, he would become cold toward her. The wizard assures her this isn't the case.

He asks her what she wants out of life, and she says she wants to be rich, famous, and powerful. Like a noble lady of a castle. Jerrard instead suggests she help him and the others 'do good things.' She is skeptical this will lead her anywhere but a quick death. Nonetheless, he agrees to his training for the time being.

[JadedDM]

Tree Lords II

The following morning Locky healed up the party, although her spells weren't as potent as she had hoped. Jerrard managed to use his new spell to identify the ring they took off Timir-i-Ling (Ring of Protection +1), the wand they took from the amphi dragon's hoard (Wand of Fear), the fungus staff they took from the shambling mound in the Pod-Caverns (Quarterstaff +1 and makes the user immune to surprise unless a 1 is rolled), and the plate mail taken from the amphi dragon's hoard (Platemail +2). The ring went to Thuskar, the wand went to Jerrard, the staff remained with Babushka and the plate mail went to Ulster who donned it happily. Jerrard was then drained considerably of energy, the spell's big downside.

The party traveled along, dragging the Baaz prisoner with them, until night fell again and Lareth called for the party to make camp. Babushka and Jeremy started to forage, but both returned and reported to Lareth that they smelled something dead and rotting. A scout party of Babushka, Thuskar and Imani was set out to track the smell. The three came across some ancient ruins and sent Thuskar back to report. Lareth, Ulster, Locky and Jeremy then followed him back to the ruins where they met up with Babushka and Imani.

Babushka was sent to take a peak in the ruins, and she found a score of elf ghouls eating a dear. She was discovered, and the ghouls began swarming outside. Locky turned some of them, and the party fought off the remaining ones. One of them even turned out to be a ghast. After the battle, the party entered the ruins and found some treasure, including coins, a scimitar, a painting, some scrolls, some potions and some gemstones.

The party returned to camp, rested, and continued on their journey. Later that day, Lareth called for a halt and told the party he had to separate from them. There was a kirath camp nearby and he wanted to bring in the Baaz prisoner. He suggested they continue west without him, and he would track them later or send someone else to guide them when he could.

The party continued on their own, before running into a Hylar dwarf named Fikod Uthmifoddom. He claimed he had hired a group of Daergar to help him reach Silvanesti, but they betrayed him and captured him. A group of kirath attacked the Daergar, and Fikod managed to escape during the chaos. The party wanted to go check out the ruins, help the kirath, and acquire any treasure.

However, just as they were approaching the camp, four Daergar opened fire on them with light crossbows from behind trees. The ambush failed miserably, especially once Jerrard trapped most of them in magical webbing. The party tried to interrogate the trapped dwarves. Jeremy and Babushka scouted ahead to find a large depression in the ground, several ruined buildings, and the scene of a grisly battlefield where six elves and over two dozen dwarves lay dead.

The party decided to let the captured Daergar go and try and find any survivors in the ruins. They found that two wounded kirath were in the depression, fighting for their lives against a wounded whisper spider. The party unleashed ranged attacks at the beast, killing it. But a dozen Daergar burst from the buildings and fired at the party with crossbows.

The battle was nearly lost. Fikod, Jerrard, Imani, and Jeremy all eventually went down (Jerrard twice, in fact). The battle was long, grueling and difficult. In the end, the party finally won, but they had exhausted all spells and everyone was very low in HP. They had only been able to save one of the kirath, too.

When the henchmen were sent to retrieve Malika and the animals, they returned quickly and told the others that they were missing. The party decided that there was nothing they could do about this now, but Malika and the animals were probably fine. They then sat down and had a talk about strategy, battle tactics, what went wrong, and leadership. They decided on letting Imani lead from now on. Locky also discovered two hidden chests, filled with gold, steel and a few trinkets including chain mail, some potions and an empty sack.

The party made the ruins their camp. Thuskar and Ulster worked at moving the elf bodies to one building and the dwarf bodies to another. Once done, they sealed off the building with the dwarf bodies to act as a makeshift tomb. Fikod managed to extract some venom from the whisper spider before it was burned.

The next morning, as soon as the last watch ended, five of the surviving Daergar (carrying a sixth that was still unconscious) approached the camp. The party confronted them about their intentions. It was clear neither side really wanted a fight, but was willing to if necessary. The Daergar claimed all they wanted was their loot and to go home. Jerrard and Locky tried hiding the armor and the potion and giving the rest back to the dwarves. They were smart enough to check the chests, though, and realized things were missing. When it became clear the Daergar were going to attack, Imani stepped in and insisted the casters return the items they took. They did so, and the dwarves left peacefully.

[JadedDM]

Tree Lords III

Locky does her best to heal up everyone, but the party remains fairly crippled, despite her best efforts. Imani has a talk with Jerrard about his reckless behavior with the dwarves, and he agrees he made a mistake in trying to deceive them. The mage then sits down and identifies most of the potions Locky had collected over the past month, but sadly none of them were healing. Babushka remembers she had a 1/3 of her Extra Healing Potion left, and drinks it down. Then she and Ulster head off to try and find some sign of Malika and their missing animals while Locky and Imani prepare a ritual for the departed elves.

When the ritual is finished, the elves' bodies all vanish in a bright light. Later that day, Babushka and Ulster return with little to show for it. The girls all go to a local stream to wash up and refill waterskins while the men watch camp. Jerrard then uses his Identify spell again, determining that the wand he took from Timir-i-Ling was a Wand of Magic Missiles, the chain mail taken from the amphi dragon was Chain Mail +2, the scimitar found in the ghouls' lair was a scimitar +3, and that Ulster's rusty long sword was a long sword +1 (but strangely, only when it was rusty; remove the rust and it became mundane until the rust returned).

The following morning, Locky heals everyone up again. The kirath they saved is a bit muddled, but eventually realizes what became of his companions. Distraught, and rather arrogant, he decides to remain at the camp and heal while the party pushes on to find Malika.

After traveling all day, the party finds a suitable space for camping. Jeremy goes off on his own to hunt, while Babushka goes off on her own to find water. Both succeed, but Babushka runs afoul of a wyndlass--a massive tentacled creature living in quicksand that ensnares her and attempts to pull her under. Just before the gnome suffocates, someone throws her a rope and pulls her to safety--although the wyndlass destroys her armor in the process. Babushka's savior then picks her up and carries her to the party's camp, handing her over and introducing herself as Dara Silvatreth--a kirath ranger.

The party tells her about Malika and the animals, and she claims they were likely taken by the centaurs and satyrs. Their village is to the south, and Dara could take them there.

The following day, they set out. Along the way, they run into five hungry ogres. Under Imani's leadership, they cut down three and send the last two running with minimal wounds. Dara, however, cuts down one of the two fleeing ogres, citing that they are evil and would do the same. Fikod wonders about an elf with such a callous outlook on the sanctity of life, but Dara assures them she is 'not like other Silvanesti.'

They approach the heart of the forest--the section still corrupted by Lorac's Nightmare. Here Imani and Babushka become suspicious as well, but Locky and Jerrard are steadfast in their belief that the kirath is trustworthy. Hours later, they reach a clearing with a large pit and some kind of tomb. Although Dara insists everything is fine, Fikod, Imani and Babushka become more suspicious. Locky and Jerrard remain trusting and attempt to convince the others to trust the kirath, as well.

Fikod slips into the brush with a poisoned bolt locked into his crossbow, awaiting the inevidable betrayal. Babushka checks the perimeter for archers, believing that if this is a trap, it's the exact same trap as the one the dwarves set up. When she fails to find any, she follows Dara along with Imani, who while voicing her suspicions, doesn't really act on them and just goes along with the group. Locky, who accuses Fikod of just being racist against elves, trusts Dara completely. She even cites her faith in Paladine--surely the Platinum Dragon would not let anything bad happen to her, she reasons. Jerrard is so obsessed at this point in finding Malika, he is willing to trust just about anyone.

However, when Dara walks up to the lip of the pit (Locky at her side, holding her hand), both become possessed and turn on the party as five undead elves claw their way out of the ground and attack. Jerrard manages to trap Dara in a web spell, and Imani is allowed to attack her freely (unhindered thanks to the Ring of Free Movement she acquired from the sea elves). Locky, however, gets free and starts taunting the party members. Jerrard manages to pin Locky to the ground, but not before she chugs one of the potions she's carrying. She then seems to be freed of her possession, telling Jerrard he was hurting her. Jerrard would not relent, though, keeping her pinned.

'Locky' explains that the seal houses the essence of an ancient demon known as the Unnameable One. He was sealed there in the Age of Dreams, but when the forest was corrupted by Lorac's Nightmare, he managed to crack the seal enough to possess anyone who walked by--which happened to be Dara about a month ago. Since then, the kirath has unwillingly led others to their deaths.

Jerrard demands to know what potion Locky had consumed, as Babushka approaches. Locky explains it had been the Potion of Fire-Breathing, then unleashes the entire dose in one big cone of flame that consumes Jerrard, Babushka, Jeremy, Fikod and Ulster and Thuskar. Jerrard and Fikod are knocked unconscious, Jeremy and Babushka are outright killed, and Ulster and Thuskar are dropped to single digit HP.

Imani abandons Dara in the webbing to aid Thuskar and Ulster. Suddenly, Babushka's smoking corpse catches fire again--this time, blue flame. The fires consume her and she is reborn, all of her possessions gone except her Fungus Staff, Longtooth Dagger, blue robes and a blue pinion in her hair. Babushka then runs to the seal and cries, her tears sealing it again.

Babushka reveals that she was sent back to Krynn by Habbakuk in return for her agreeing to become his champion. The reborn gnome had been given additional powers by the Blue Phoenix, as well as the knowledge of how to open and close the seal. Spilling blood opens it further, but spilling tears closes it.

Shortly after, the bodies of the undead elves and Jeremy's burst into blue flame, as well. They then merge together over the seal, creating a massive blue tree to cover it up, so nobody could ever risk opening it again. The tree seemed to give off positive energy, restoring the corrupted forest around it.

Fikod worries that Babushka, like Dara and Locky had been, is now possessed, as well--just by a different entity. She manages to convince him this is not the case, though.

After setting up a watch, Babushka and Locky try to convince Imani that she isn't a bad leader for failing to stop them from following Dara.

[JadedDM]

Tree Lords IV

Two weeks later, the party arrives in the village of Alinost, with Dara's help. She gives them directions on how to get out of the forest, and then departs, promising to tell the other kirath about Malika and their missing animals.

The party stocks up on supplies (Babushka borrowing money to replace some of her lost gear), chats with each other, formally invites Fikod to join the group (who also buys a new pack mule for the party), and finally get together and drink elven wine together, while talking about their past adventures.

The following day, they set out. For four days they travel, not spotting much more than some rabbits along the way. On the fourth day, however, they run afoul of a wyndlass--the same kind of creature that nearly killed Babushka before. The party, working together, make quick work of it and find quite a motherlode of treasure in its lair, including a small fortune in coins, magical armor, a dragonslaying sword, and a magical kirath mask.

A couple of days later, they come across a group of bozaks in the woods. They are in a burnt out clearing, praying to some altar and chanting a ritual. Babushka wants to leave them alone, but the rest of the party are worried what they are up to, and so it is decided they would ambush the bozaks while they were distracted.

Babushka realizes it's a trap; there are more tracks than accounted for. Realizing this, Jerrard makes Fikod invisible and sends him in. He then drops a web spell on the altar, but only one bozak is captured. A dozen more bozaks jump out of hiding and blast the party with a number of non-lethal spells, quickly disabling them. Only Babushka manages to escape, too little to be noticed by the draconians.

Imani attempts to bluff the draconians, to no avail. They tie up the party, relieve them of their gear, and then start to lead them south, deeper into the forest, to their base. Babushka quietly follows at a distance. She considers trying to rescue the others, but overhears the bozaks talking about a woman and some horses that were captured before, and realizes they must mean Malika, Dekker and the horses. So she continues to follow for now, hidden.

The draconians lead the party to a quiet elvish hamlet. The bozaks disguise themselves as elves before entering.

[JadedDM]

Tree Lords V

The party is brought to a crystal tower in the center of the elven village and tossed into the dungeon, where they are reunited with Malika. Babushka, alone, finds a tree to climb up and sit in, then waits until nightfall.

When nightfall comes, she sneaks into the village. She searches around randomly, before finding a barn hayloft to hide in until morning.

The next day, the party in the dungeon is brought before the village leaders, Lord and Lady Jadestone--two gorgeous elves. The party is interrogated, and the Jadestones decide to leave them in the dungeon for now. Once returned there, the party tries to come up with an escape plan, but fails to do so.

Meanwhile, Babushka is discovered by a trio of elves wearing heavy cloaks to hide their features. The elves turn out to be the three kirath they have met before--Aleaha, Lareth and Dara. Babushka fills them in on what happened, and so they decide to break the party out that night.

When night falls, Lareth makes Babushka invisible and then she and the kirath move out. They approach the tower, knock out the guards, and enter the building. Babushka scouts out the dungeon, then reports back to the kirath. Realizing that the party is guarded by bozaks (who explode--loudly--when they die), the kirath plan to attack with non-lethal force.

The kirath and Babushka knock out all of the bozaks except one, who attempts to kill himself (knowing that the blast from his death will alert the other guards). Babushka throws herself between the bozak and his own blade, taking considerable damage but thwarting his suicide attempt.

Once the bozaks are all unconscious, the kirath free the party, then lock the unconscious bozaks in the very cell they were once guarding.

The party then starts to argue on whether they should aid the kirath in liberating the village, or simply flee. Babushka wants to go fight with the kirath while the party escapes, possibly sacrificing herself, but Locky won't hear of it. Imani simply wants to leave, feeling it isn't their fight anyway. Jerrard, Locky and Babushka all want to fight, but Imani reminds them of their promise to save her son, so they reluctantly agree to flee with her.

When they get back upstairs, they find the kirath already engaged in battle with a number of Bozaks and a couple of Sivaks. Although Imani keeps insisting they leave, Locky and Jerrard linger behind, trying to aid the kirath indirectly. However, their attempts lead to the draconians seeing them. Imani, Ulster and Thuskar fight off the two Sivaks to so that Locky and Jerrard can escape. However, by the time the two casters make it to the doors, the battle is over.

The party offers some last minute healing to the kirath, who are all in bad shape. Locky tries to talk them into resting before proceeding, but the kirath explain that it's too late for that. If they leave now, the dragons will slaughter the entire village, then hide until they can try again later. So the kirath go off to fight, while the party gathers their animals and head for the gates.

Imani and Babushka knock out the two guards, then the party leaves the village.

[JadedDM]

The Only Way to Fly

After six months the party manages to escape the Silvanesti forest, having barely survived the autumn. Now in the dead of winter, survival was even more difficult. But at long last, they made it to the Blöde plains. After a week of travel, they see a flying ship pass overhead and crash. A week after that, they came across the crashsite of said ship.

Excited that the ship was built by gnomes, the party hurried forward. Sure enough, the crash site was covered in gnomes working to rebuild the Advanced Gnomish Fully Automated High Altitude Aerodynamic Steam-Powered Flight Capable Manned Skyship Mark IV. What was more surprising was that one of the gnomes was none other than Sunni, whom the party had met way back after the Pod Caverns adventure.

Sunni explained that the ship, which flies at 20 mph (meaning it could take them to Palanthas in a mere 24 hours!) crashed when one of its flywheels fell off. The wheel is needed, but it landed in ogre country and the ship is full of technicians and engineers, not warriors. The party agrees to retrieve the wheel.

Leaving Thuskar and Fikod behind to watch the animals, the party sets out in the direction the gnomes point them in.

Eventually they find the small crater where the flywheel fell. However, it was gone. Babushka searched and found ogre tracks leading into the mountains. With no other choice, the party decides to follow the tracks. They eventually take them to a large fortress in the mountains, manned by ogres.

After discussing their options (and realizing they had no real plan how to transport the wheel even once they find it), they ultimately decide to make Babushka invisible and send her in to scout for a way inside, then report back.

Babushka sneaked inside the fort by following a patrol that was returning. Once inside, she starts exploring. On the ground floor she finds that some kitchen slaves are preparing dinner. There's also a throne room and a steel grate on the floor. Looking through the grate, she spots a trio of Black Willows--evil treants. She heads down into the dungeon and starts exploring there. She finds a locked and guarded room. Babushka decides to head back upstairs to witness the dinner.

The lord of the keep came downstairs to have dinner, but it wasn't an ogre. Rather, it was an aurak draconian. Unbeknownst to Babushka, auraks are immune to all illusions. So he saw her at once, but he pretended he didn't in order to try and determine her motives. He continued the conversation in Common instead of Ogre so he could slyly witness her reactions to what they were saying.

After dinner, the aurak went downstairs alone and Babushka followed, still believing she was unseen. The aurak unlocked the door and stepped inside to find the flywheel in the middle of the treasure room, along with numerous sacks of coin.

The aurak then began to address Babushka directly, which surprised her. Realizing the jig was up, she stepped forward and admitted she was looking for the wheel. The aurak was offended, partly because of the gnome's improper use of honorifics (she called him 'sir' instead of 'your grace') but also because she had sneaked into the castle with the intent to steal from him (although she denied having done anything wrong at all).

The aurak insisted she invite her friends to the keep as his 'guests' for the night and they could discuss the sale or trade of the flywheel. Babushka agreed, and was escorted back outside. Once she reunited with the others, she told them what happened.

An argument broke out at once among the party while Jerrard deduced that the draconian was indeed, an aurak. Realizing that the element of surprise was lost, the party realized the only options remaining to them was to obey the aurak or just run away. They chose the former.

The group approached the keep and were allowed inside where they met the draconian who introduced himself as Lord Eridan the Golden Scourge. He accused the party of crimes against him (sneaking into his keep with the intention to steal) but they denied any wrong doing. Nevertheless, he had quarters prepared for them for the night, as it was getting late.

The party was offered two guest rooms. There was a brief disagreement on how to split the rooms, but eventually they decided on putting the men in one room and the women in the other.

There was a knock at the door and Imani answered. It was a half-elf with short blond hair and blue eyes, wearing a slave collar. He called himself Lucas and explained he was sent to cater to the needs of the party.

Lucas brought them some food and they spoke with him, learning he was from Schallsea and that he was enslaved two years ago when he and his fellow missionaries of Mishakal were captured by one of Eridan's ogre patrols.

After he bid them a goodnight and departed, the party tried to get some sleep. The following morning, they discovered Locky was missing (and so is her gear and armor). Lucas returned to explain that Eridan claimed he caught Locky trying to break into his room and so has taken her prisoner. The party accepted this story, despite the holes in it (it seems unlikely Locky could sneak past the guards right outside their room, especially with her armor on). They headed downstairs to speak with Eridan.

Eridan was furious, of course. Imani quickly took full responsibility for Locky's actions, offering herself in exchange for the kender and the flywheel. Eridan decided to ponder this and allowed the party to eat breakfast while he considered.

When he returned, he revealed he knew Imani's full name as he used divination magic to do a background check. He agreed to let the party go and have Locky and the wheel back--but in exchange, Imani had to stay with him. As his queen. He also revealed he would use magical experiments on her to impregnate her in order to create an heir, so he could lay claim to the Mehmet throne. Despite all of this, Imani agreed anyway.

The party began saying good-bye to Imani, but Ulster flipped out and drew his sword, refusing to give up. Outraged, Eridan ordered his guards to take the party and a massive fight broke out. Eridan conjured a wall of fire around the party, but Lucas suddenly stepped forward and dispelled it with the power of Mishakal.

At first, the fight went very well. One by one, the ogres fell. Jerrard used Enlarge on Ulster to make him as big as an ogre and Haste on Imani to increase her speed. Lucas used Prayer to bolster the party's fighting ability.

However, things took a turn for the worse when Babushka fell to an ogre and Imani was blinded by Eridan's breath weapon. At the point of exhaustion, she fought on, slaying Eridan--and triggering his death throe.

Fortunately, Lucas waited for the draconian to be on the grate and pulled the lever, dropping him into the pit before he exploded. The party and the slaves grabbed the wheel and Locky and escaped just before the fortress collapsed from the blast.

Once back at the airship, Lucas revived Babushka. Locky remained unconscious, though, in some kind of coma. Nothing Lucas did seemed to help. The party decided her best bet for recovery is in Palanthas. The gnomes got the ship flying again and set course for the city.

Babushka headed down below to be with Dekker while Imani spoke with Ulster. She apologized for the way she had acted recently, including giving up and leaving it to him to take charge.