Session 005 - A Living Calamity

With the artillery construct defeated, Severus is heard from above and swears he will burn the world down to resurrect their fallen empire.
Before he leaves, he tosses down the old music box to Austere as a final gift from a friend.
The wizard announcer congratulates them as the winners of an exciting and unplanned fight against the champion that Severus had produced.
They make their way back to his office and split the 300 gold reward.
He invites them to participate in any of their other competitions that they host throughout the lands.
The two groups wish each other well once again before they go their separate ways.

Tired but strangely energized with newfound strength, the adventurers return to the magically encased ruin.
Kat uses her magic to interrupt the barrier and allow them into the protected area.
As they approach, the center of the ruin opens and a platform elevates a handful of robotic constructs in standby.
Drawing closer activates them and a battle ensues.
The enemies' wide arrange of net launchers, lasers, and melee attacks are formidable but unable to stop the adventurers.

Among the wreckage of the defeated enemies is another construct that is still in standby.
The Austere recognizes the model as an elite military unit that had been in development the last time he had seen it.
With is passive, he manages to discover that this unit's orders are to remain here until further notice and that the one who gave that order was Severus.
Unwilling to push their luck against a formidable enemy, the group scavenge what they can and proceed to the River Outpost to rest for the night.
There, Kat repays Tonvan the gold she owes him before they spend an uneventful night in town.

## Desnus 18th, 4075 RA (Day 5)

In the morning, they decide to venture further west while they are in the area.
After some travel, they come across an owlbear along the path that is protecting an egg.
After attempting to indicate that they are non-hostile, they take a wide berth around the parent-to-be and continue on their way.
They soon come upon a fork in the road and begin discussing which way to travel first.
Before they can come to a decision, a skeletal figure approaches them from the west, kindly introduces himself as `Concelhaut`, and continues past them to the east.
Curious about what this stranger was doing, the group traces his path to the west.

They come upon a large Dragon Turtle sleeping on a plateau of rock around a presumably artificial lake.
Painfully aware of the strength the Dragon Turtle possesses, the group stays at the edge of the clearing.
Except for Thaniel.
Thaniel leaps across the chasm, waking the living calamity.
It snaps at Thaniel as he approaches and questions why such an insignificant lives had decided to wake him from his slumber.

It announces itself as `Belvore` and regrets that he has been bound against his will to this location by his unwanted master, the lich they had passed earlier.
He reveals that Concelhaut is one of the eight of the Circle of Archmagi, a group of powerful spell casters that have each mastered one of the eight schools of magic.
Thaniel offers to find a way to release Belvore from his binds if he allows him to leave safely.
Belvore agrees and offers to assist him later if he does manage to free him.
The four return to the crossroads and venture along the northern pass.

At the end of the path, they find a magically charged pond surrounded by two perimeters of regularly spaced stone columns.
The area appears to be barrier to against malign spirits.
They discover that upon dropping coins into the water, the stones around them temporarily sing a pleasing melody.
Curious what would happen if they drop a non-monetary item, the Austere tosses a piton into the water below.
A `nyad` promptly emerges from the water and presents the Austere with an enchanted bracelet and asks if he had dropped it.
He admits that he had only dropped a piton instead of the prize she offered.
The nyad is pleased with his honesty and enchants his air repeater so it can fire underwater without concern.
It then dips back into the depths before they can ask her any questions.

Satisfied with their westward exploration, the group retrace their steps to town and further to the east, setting up camp near where they had helped wrangle chickens earlier.
They agree to have two watches through the night, the first to give the Austere time to rest so he can tackle the second one himself.
Athe and Kat agree to the first watch and make themselves busy while their friends rest.
Athe uses the moment to follow through on questioning Kat about the missing persons poster that Governor Karim had mentioned some days prior.

Kat reveals that she is a noble daughter of house `Silverwing`.
She had left some time ago to make a name for herself and prove how valuable she knows herself to be.
She then goes to learn more about Athe and they life she led before adventuring with them.

Athe reveals that long ago, she had remembered watching a traveling troupe before her next memories of traveling with them.
She mentioned that she had the stage name `Nightingale` and that she was more comfortable getting information about others than revealing her own.
She had been happy with the troupe but did not quite feel like she belonged and had thus set off searching to find what it is she had been missing.
They finish their watch and wake the Austere so he can handle the rest of the night watch.

## Desnus 19th, 4075 RA (Day 6)

In the morning they head further east and come across an old rope bridge with a chest lying on the other side.
Curious, Thaniel crosses the bridge and inspects the chest to be rewarded with a strike from a goblin hiding behind it.
The battle is short but results in the bridge being burnt from a thrown torch by one of the three assaulting goblins.
Two villagers approach from the distance and thank them for handling the goblins.
They reveal that they had been attacked by the goblins earlier and were returning in the hopes of recovering any of their merchandise.
They discover that their most lucrative items are still missing before remarking that they had been attacked by many more goblins than just the three that lie dead by their feet.
The group agrees to hunt down the items and return their items for a reward.

Athe leads the group south, following the tracks left from the goblins.
At the end of the path, they find the goblin's camp and begin sneaking towards them.
Athe sneaks into the largest of the tents and finds the merchant's items within.
She manages to sneak out with the items undetected and reunite with the others.
They agree to set the camp on fire to reduce the goblin's ability to attack others and make their way back to the River Outpost.
There they return the items and are rewarded with their choice of one item to take with them.
With time left in the day, they head east again and make camp along the edge of the lake with Athe enraptured by the multitude of turtles around.

## Desnus 20th, 4075 RA (Day 7)

The night passes uneventfully and the group continues on their way.
They arrive at a large canyon with a single natural stone bridge spanning to the other side.
On the other side of the canyon is a large ogre that moves towards them before plummeting as the bridge collapses beneath it.
Taking advantage of their abundance of rope, pitons, and Thaniel's athleticism, they manage to secure a rope across the expanse and make it across safely.
Continuing on their way, they happen upon a large stone tower with one sleeping and one attentive gargoyle perched outside.
The awake creature welcomes them and suggests they head up the tower to speak with their master.
The uppermost room they ascend to is populated by multiple enchanted brooms that are busy sweeping an already clean floor and a lone woman managing the multiple potions and brewing decoctions around her.
She introduces herself as `Arkemyr`, master of enchantments and member of the Circle of Archmagi.
She encourages them to peruse her wares and offers to them a job while they browse.

Before they accept the job, Arkemyr gives them a summary of the request.
They would need to infiltrate a masquerade ball that is to be held in a few weeks in the `Kingdom of Grouton` to the north.
Their objective would be to spy on her colleague and fellow member of the circle, `Lujei the Illusive`, and determine if he has plans to intrude on her business.
The group seems ready to hear more details of the request when she seems willing to assist with breaking the binds cast on Belvore the Dragon Turtle so long as her interference is kept discrete.