It got a bit dicey this session. Thanks everyone.
Kharduum Steepmine (Hill Dwarf Cleric)
Vonmond (Dwarf fighter)
Kamakani (Half Elf Paladin)
Roza Chance (Tiefling Sorcerer)
Ichabod (Human Wizard)
Kronos (Human Rogue)
Con'nor (Half Elf Paladin)
The party and I left Greywall accompanied by Lazlo and four wagons worth of food as a token of goodwill. Everyone is going back and forth on whether to accept the deal, Ichabod is dead set against it, Kamakani is certain it's the right course of action. I just want to give people a chance at survival, as time is running out for us all.
Ichabod is worried about the Cannith auditor coming too, they sound diabolical and it's a travesty that they still hold any power after what they have done, perhaps we can exploit their infighting and set them against one another.
Con'nor and Kronos meet us while out ranging, it's late so we decide to set up camp for the night, there isn't any cover, and the ground appears to be made of glass, sleeping in the wagons it is. Ichabod casts Alarm and Kronos sets some traps.
Vonmond and Kamakani take the first uneventful watch, Con'nor and I take the second, we begin to hear thudding noises. Giant fish falling from the sky and thudding onto the ground, we rouse the others just as we hear a scream, a figure falling from the sky, Roza as she's awakening tries to use feather fall to catch the figure, but it's too late and they hit the ground with a might crack, dead instantly. I repose the gnome, he seems to have nothing on him, but Kronos manages to find a mage components pouch some distance from the body, strange!?
We look around at the fallen fish, Ichabod can't detect any magic, but does add the area to his map, christening it "Finland". The next couple of days journey back to town is uneventful, but as we arrive we are crowded by the townsfolk. Kamakani announces the possibility of a trade deal, which is met with fervour, and I declare the Darkbrood ale and honeyed mead procured from the Obsidian Tower Inn, weirdly this has a more rapturous response.
Kronos notices a figure stood apart from the crowd, recognised Hastor, a more vocal resident who isn't pleased with how things have been going, he sets out to follow him, but is spotted before Hastor disappears into the crowd. The rest of the party set about organising he supplies, assigning Kem Bir to guard it.While I set about reposing the stored bodies.
Later that evening, we gather the resident in the Almshouse for a hearty meal and some fine drinks. I take some time to speak with the people, the closest kin and friends of those we lost. I propose the choice we have, that we can relinquish our passed ones, and there's a chance they can be returned to life. Con'nor also approaches a group with the same offer. Generally people are open and are willing to give this a chance.
The night continues, when suddenly an explosion rings out. Fire at the library, a figure is seen, Hastor! He runs, a bundle under his arm, Ichabod thinks it's the jar of magic seeds. Kamakani shout at the residents to get water to the Library, while Vonmond and I rushed towards it. The rest gave chase to Hastor.
Vonmond and I arrived at the Library, I looked for wounded and saw Di lying prone inside, we got inside and managed to pull her out of the burning wreck, as villagers arrived and started funneling water to the fire. I channel divinity to heal Di, she sprang back to life and I ask if she saw or heard anything, she projected an image of Hastor clubbing her over the head with the jar, she starts manipulating dirt and dust to smother the fire at Vonmonds suggestion, before deciding to use two hands and promptly extinguished the whole place, then we heard an enormous shout.
The other party members had chased Hastor the Half-Orc deep into the forest, Ichabod, Kronos and Con'nor pulled off a spectacular teleporting/tackle combo to bring him down. Roza uses Thaumaturgy to bellow with all of her might, her eyes turning red, "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!"
Vonmond and I arrive, drawn by the shouting, they're interrogating Hastor and Con'nor has found that he's pocketed some of the seeds. Hastor says that his fiancée was amongst the dead and that we haven't been doing enough, I explained that this has been the entire purpose of all of my actions since we found them, everything I've done has been with the aim of bringing them back.
As we're talking, lights begin to appear around us, covering our exits, Ichabod casts "Protection from good and evil" on himself, they don't like this and start buzzing around us, before attacking, zapping us with energy. The fighting is fierce, we're all hurt and these things are fast and hard to hit, they don't seem to be hurt much by physical force and we fair better with magic, Kamakani keeps a hold of Hastor while we battle the wisps.
They grab the canister and start to fly away, we throw everything we can at them and the canister falls, Ichabod teleports into the air and grabs it, the wisps swarm him, but his shield keeps them at bay, Con'nor breaks his fall.
Roza grabs the canister and turns invisible while Ichabod casts an illusion and tries to bluff the wisps, but they see through this and brutally target him, but he absorbs their elements to minimise damage, unfortunately his reversal powers them up further. One flits towards Kamakani, but as he swings Hastor kicks his legs out and trips him, throwing his bodyweight on top of Kam, when all of a sudden, a figure made of earth erupts from the ground and crashes onto them, smothering both. I hit this with sacred flame and cast sanctuary on Ichabod to give him some respite.
Roza reappears and rolls the canister away, shooting a firebolt at the shambling mound. Ichabod goes for the canister, and sanctuary wards two wisps away, but the third hurts him badly. Vonmond starts hacking into the creature with fury, but it doesn't seem to do much.
Con'nor takes the chance to heal Ichabod.
Kamakani is being crushed but manages to squeeze to safety and grabs his sword. The wisps heal the creature and it lashes out, smashing Kamakani into the ground, mortally wounding him. I dash over and grab his downed body, casting cure wounds, bringing him back to consciousness and repairing his broken body, as my spiritual hammer hurls over the top of my head and crashes into the creature.
Roza hits multiple wisps with magic missile, killing one and wounding two more. Kronos sneak attacks the mound and Con'nor hits it with a Divine smite, the two of them causing huge amounts out damage.
The wisps thrash Ichabod again, almost killing him, I bring the hammer down on the mount to cover my escape as Kamakani gets to his feet, I rush towards Ichabod and push through the wisps, grabbing him to cure his wounds.
Roza and Con'nor start taking out more Wisps as Kamakani powers up his sword with divine smite, plunging it into the mound, finally killing it. The final wisp disappears into the air.
As we survey the scene, I pray to Moradin for healing and restore the party to good health, then set about reposing Hastor, just in case. Vonmonds wants to feed him a seed, no-one else seems to think this is a good idea.
This thing wanted the seeds, was it a creation of House Cannith too, what do we do next? It seems we're beset on all sides.
Excellent update as always! Really enjoy reading these. :)