Post by hubertbartels on Nov 12, 2023 15:13:41 GMT -5
Hecate’s End
The cave being followed out for mushroom cultivation was a good place to rest for a bit. We couldn’t take a full rest or go to sleep as the Quori possessing the former inhabitant – the giant holding the besieged castle – would gradually invade our dreams and drain our sanity. We used the War-forged occupation with the siege to avoid discovery.
Leaving the cave after our short rest, we continued up the path to the plateau above. As we climbed, we found a cavern guarded by a patrol of alert zombies. Here are the dragon-marked heirs we were looking for. A brief talk and it was decided to rescue them after we had dealt with Gustave Hecate.
The path to the top of the plateau was guarded by several War-forged. We could see them silhouetted against the glare of the bonfire. Kadrin decided to go up and talk to them. After giving them the counter-sign ‘Brightly’ to the challenge, ‘Sparkles’, the monk was able to explain why we were here. It turns out that the War-forged were in agreement with Chazz and wanted all ‘Breathers’ off their moon as soon as possible. When Kadrin waved, we joined him at the top of the plateau.
The bonfire gave a good illumination of the walls of the castle. From inside, we could hear the sounds of fighting. Two large bat-dragon-moths-whatever were clinging to the walls of the highest tower. The sergeant told us that they had attempted to attack the War-forged but had been beaten off. He added the the Lord of Blades was already inside with his forces – and if we wished, we could wait for him.
Kadrin thanked him and quickly added that it wasn’t necessary. If the sergeant could give us some information on Gustave Hecate, we would be on our way and off his moon. The War-forged sergeant pointed out Hecate’s camp and wished us well.
We found Gustave Hecate’s tent in a hallow, surrounded by walls of stone. A driftglobe illuminated the area. Outside of the tent there was a Byakhee. We ran up to take the horror down before it could summon another one. We failed and a second Byakhee started attacking Torbrand and Emrys. In the tent, Hecate had been preparing and as he stepped out – he cast Chain Lightning on all of us. Kadrin and Kara had taken down the first Byakhee and turned to the spell caster. Torbrand cast Dispel Magic to remove Hecate’s Haste spell but the brazen head in Hecate’s tent re-cast the spell.
Trouble rushed past the evil wizard and covered the brazen head with Hecate’s smoking jacket. If the brazen head can’t see his target – he can’t cast spells. Then she turned her shield and sword on the evil wizard. Hecate threw some more damaging spells but finally Trouble cut him down. Since the spell caster was able to regain his health every few moments – Torbrand pinned him down while Emrys carved the clockwork heart out of his chest.
After collecting a fair number of spells, spellbooks and other items, we left Hecate’s tent to return to the cavern where the dragon-marked heirs were being held. The Karrnathi undead were tougher than we thought and gave us a good fight. The worst was the Karrnathi undead mage who kept throwing spells. Trouble finally cut her way though the last of them.
After collecting about 120 people – including the dragon-marked heirs, hobgoblins and orcs, we left the Dark Moon through the portal. Chazz was tasked with closing the portal – on Eberron, we watched the screaming bodies being removed from their poles before the portal winked out. Hecate was the only one who knew how to open the portal – and he was now a corpse in our bags of holding.
We herded the crowd to the Trading Post. From here, they could make arrangements to return out of the Mournlands. We rested a bit before returning to the abandoned outpost. From their storage silos, we recovered the parts to the airship as well as a siege cannon. All the parts were taken to New Cyre where we learned how to reassemble the flying craft.
The dragon-marked enclave in New Cyre gave us a reward bonus of 2,500 gp in script. For returning the armor – we also got the favor of House Kundarak.
The cave being followed out for mushroom cultivation was a good place to rest for a bit. We couldn’t take a full rest or go to sleep as the Quori possessing the former inhabitant – the giant holding the besieged castle – would gradually invade our dreams and drain our sanity. We used the War-forged occupation with the siege to avoid discovery.
Leaving the cave after our short rest, we continued up the path to the plateau above. As we climbed, we found a cavern guarded by a patrol of alert zombies. Here are the dragon-marked heirs we were looking for. A brief talk and it was decided to rescue them after we had dealt with Gustave Hecate.
The path to the top of the plateau was guarded by several War-forged. We could see them silhouetted against the glare of the bonfire. Kadrin decided to go up and talk to them. After giving them the counter-sign ‘Brightly’ to the challenge, ‘Sparkles’, the monk was able to explain why we were here. It turns out that the War-forged were in agreement with Chazz and wanted all ‘Breathers’ off their moon as soon as possible. When Kadrin waved, we joined him at the top of the plateau.
The bonfire gave a good illumination of the walls of the castle. From inside, we could hear the sounds of fighting. Two large bat-dragon-moths-whatever were clinging to the walls of the highest tower. The sergeant told us that they had attempted to attack the War-forged but had been beaten off. He added the the Lord of Blades was already inside with his forces – and if we wished, we could wait for him.
Kadrin thanked him and quickly added that it wasn’t necessary. If the sergeant could give us some information on Gustave Hecate, we would be on our way and off his moon. The War-forged sergeant pointed out Hecate’s camp and wished us well.
We found Gustave Hecate’s tent in a hallow, surrounded by walls of stone. A driftglobe illuminated the area. Outside of the tent there was a Byakhee. We ran up to take the horror down before it could summon another one. We failed and a second Byakhee started attacking Torbrand and Emrys. In the tent, Hecate had been preparing and as he stepped out – he cast Chain Lightning on all of us. Kadrin and Kara had taken down the first Byakhee and turned to the spell caster. Torbrand cast Dispel Magic to remove Hecate’s Haste spell but the brazen head in Hecate’s tent re-cast the spell.
Trouble rushed past the evil wizard and covered the brazen head with Hecate’s smoking jacket. If the brazen head can’t see his target – he can’t cast spells. Then she turned her shield and sword on the evil wizard. Hecate threw some more damaging spells but finally Trouble cut him down. Since the spell caster was able to regain his health every few moments – Torbrand pinned him down while Emrys carved the clockwork heart out of his chest.
After collecting a fair number of spells, spellbooks and other items, we left Hecate’s tent to return to the cavern where the dragon-marked heirs were being held. The Karrnathi undead were tougher than we thought and gave us a good fight. The worst was the Karrnathi undead mage who kept throwing spells. Trouble finally cut her way though the last of them.
After collecting about 120 people – including the dragon-marked heirs, hobgoblins and orcs, we left the Dark Moon through the portal. Chazz was tasked with closing the portal – on Eberron, we watched the screaming bodies being removed from their poles before the portal winked out. Hecate was the only one who knew how to open the portal – and he was now a corpse in our bags of holding.
We herded the crowd to the Trading Post. From here, they could make arrangements to return out of the Mournlands. We rested a bit before returning to the abandoned outpost. From their storage silos, we recovered the parts to the airship as well as a siege cannon. All the parts were taken to New Cyre where we learned how to reassemble the flying craft.
The dragon-marked enclave in New Cyre gave us a reward bonus of 2,500 gp in script. For returning the armor – we also got the favor of House Kundarak.