Episode 9, Part 5 -- Displacing Krekie

Keenly inspecting the ruined keep of the titan, the party revels in the valuable treasures now in their hands.  Vasco stands pondering the absolutely massive titans staff of evocation, Zeek and Kaydence at the grizzly sack of heads and Talis archaeologically inventorying the magic composite longbows and other items. Chillingly from just outside the Keep’s main entrance, Krathanos’ voice smugly calls out “You are not finished with me yet!”

Shocked that Krathanos would somehow return from the plane Vasco sent him to, everyone spins around to see what threat the voice brings.  But all they hear is the thwap of crossbow bolt striking nearby flesh. Clutching at some object in his heart, Kaydence gasps, momentarily shocked and wide-eyed, and collapses lifeless to the ground.  Yldar discerns the source of the bolt, not some deadly device wielded by the titan, but one held under the sharp beak of a familiar hooded Kenku, standing on top of one of the keep’s crumbling walls. Three deadly arrows fly from his bow in reply, and Krekie, Darl’s trusted assassin is badly wounded.  Scorching Rays arcing from Vasco’s fingers and Krekie’s eyes impossibly widen in surprise, as his assassination of Kaydence is responded to with impressive force.  His charred body tumbles lightly to the ground.  Silence follows, as Zeek falls to his knees beside his deceased loyal follower, for whom a True Death (DC 27) has been brought upon.

Talis, Kydara, and Vasco go to Krekies’ body and begin to liberate her many magical devices – gloves of arrow snaring, potion of darkvision, scroll of mirage arcana, scroll of permanent image, wand of cure light wounds (34), wand of mirror image (17), +3 leather armour, +2 mithral buckler, +1 repeating light crossbow, sword of subtlety, +1 amulet of natural armour, boots of speed, +2 cloak of resistance, +2 headband of vast intelligence, ring of chameleon power, +1 ring of protection.  On her wrist is an intricate bracet of knotwork that Vasco sees has been sealed with an arcane mark.  The Seekers in the party recognize these intricate knots as lining up to reflect a value.  This is a a credit note for 100 pp and 10,750 gp that Krekie must have in trust with a thieves' guild in the Free City. An ingenious way to carry one's weight in gold! Now that the bird is dead, the bracelet slips easily off her wrist and is secured by the party.

Kydara announces to the others that he has decided to speak with the dead and attempt to ask the 7 questions that her god may allow.  She enters the seance, and compels the nearly departed spirit of the assassin to respond to her questions.

Kydara: Where is Darl?

Spirit of Krekie: Far but near.

Kydara: What quests has he completed?

Spirit of Krekie: He is questing, I’m sure, but I can’t tell you anything more.

Kydara: What has he come to this place looking to the well for?

Spirit of Krekie: Deeper knowledge about the gifts of our god.

Kydara: Where will he take the Phylactery?

Spirit of Krekie: The Hand of the Lich Lord keeps his secrets about that!

Kydara: What other artifacts does he seek?

Spirit of Krekie: The Eye of Vecna!

Kydara: Who is with him?

Spirit of Krekie: He of course, has his most loyal and dangerous servant, me, who gives him my eyes to search with.  Also loyal to him is marvellous Malhazar, the Exiled Flame and her terrible black horse,  the twin monks Jalagar and Sabir Sinfire, and the terrible devil, who I refuse to name.

Kydara: What is his weakness?

Spirit of Krekie: He has none!

..and the bird's confident laughing chirps fade away as speak with the dead ends, and Krekie’s spirit fades way.

Krekie’s spirit’s response prompts the party with a general discussion about the possible meaning of using her eyes to search, and concludes that she may be part of Darl’s impressive scrying technique.  Zeek takes his finely honed blade and severs the birds light head, its black eyes still open wide.  He defiles the head and eyes in gorillion dung and leaves it on the ground to rot. Then, returning to the body of the late Kaydence, he pulls out his late friend’s bag of holding and draws it over his corpse.  Bodily fluids ooze through and stain the bag that Zeek has committed to carry around.  Meanwhile, the others discuss the significance of the attach.  Likely Krekie thought that he would be able to pick off the party, one-by-one, harassing and weakening them without consequence.  They figure Darl may have split his group up to complete the quest, with Krekie and the Minatour not having made it.  Or that he is just waiting for the party to either finish off the quest or be finished by its trials.

The party decides to get out of the mad titan’s keep – it is a place that would bring too much attention now that the mad titan is gone.  They before resting or healing any further, they set out for the hour-long hike across the open grass plain and into the lush area to the edge of the Doomshroud forest.  There Vasco casts rope trick to give them a pocket reprieve from this bizarre world, a place for undetected rest and recovery.  In the morning, Talis prepares a Hero’s Feast bringing everyone back from the gruelling events of the previous day and prepare them for what may come.

Reflecting on their quest, they recall how they need to resolve the Thorn Vale nightmare, and to bring a living feather of the Roc King.  The nightmare puzzles them still, with no idea of where to look for Thorn Vale.  However, the Roc King, they deduce, logically resides on the highest point of land.  A very tall mountain can be seen from almost every point on Tilagos Island. They decide to make for this highest point of land in the north east section of the Islands’ mountains, a point 10,000 feet high.  It will take days of walking through the brighter-than-life island, but they’ll have plenty to eat and hopefully little but the local flora and fauna to bother them.  Their hopes were by-in-large true, save for the day they are stalked and tracked by a pack of four Displacer Beast Pack Lords!

These beasts had been silently tracking them for several hours, since the party had wandered into their hunting grounds.  At a moment when the party had been lulled into the drudgery of overland travel, the Pack Lords manage to creep up within 60 feet.  Before pouncing, they are finally noticed and the party groups together to defend. Towering 10 feet tall with a 20 foot reach with spiny, raking tentacles, the beasts reach into the party’s formation, swatting them time after time, and drawing a terrible amount of blood. Kydara wisely casts true seeing on Yldar, for whom the beasts come into strong focus. Zeek tries his magic lamp, but to no practical effect.  Vasco then takes flight with Yldar following shortly behind, both taking hits from the vicious tentacles of the beasts before suspending themselves in air. Talis uses her last bead of fireball, which seems to fizzle more than flame.  His blood dripping onto the ground below, Vasco strikes hard with chain lighting, cone of cold, and maximized fireballs, eventually killing one.  Also bleeding heavily from the air, Ydlar shoots arrow after arrow to assist.  Zeek dances around at close range with his hooked hammer, working to find a vital spot on these enormous felines, but their displacement frequently evades Zeeks normally deadly blow.  Kydara calls on her god for a protective prismatic shelter, but is harshly reminded that she will have to prove herself further for her god to reveal the power of such a 9th level spell.  Rebuked, he joins in with empowered burning spells and sword play, challenged by the constantly shifting light that seems to bend around these glammering creatures.  Finally, after what looked like was going to certainly be a meal of at least a few adventurers for the commanding beasts, the party manages to slay three, with the final wounded one fleeing.  Yldar follows it and delivers the last blow.  Exhausted, spent and bleeding, the party retreats to another rope trick shelter for the night.

After several more days journey by foot, the party manages to avoid becoming the prey of the islands’ many residents.  They make it to the base of the Bloodfeather Peak, were they start to ascend.  After Zeek falls 50 feet due to the strenuous climb, Vasco and Yldar decide to do some reconnaissance themselves.  Vasco uses his clairvoyance to look ahead.  He sees the Roc Kings’ nest in amongst some crags and an escarpment at the top of the peak.  The King is clearly in the nest, but his body is entirely still. Vasco peers more carefully and sees one eye open, but no other sign of movement in the area.  Yldar decides to look first hand by ascending invisible by flight.  He approaches the Roc King and sees the movement of flies and maggots.  Clearly the great bird is dead.  Signs of battle are clear, scorches, numerous open wounds on the bird, broken rocks and parts of the nest.  A bloody scene in all, but with no trail of blood leading away from battle, not sign of who was left.  Yldar decides to take a feather.  Too hard to pull out by hand, he uses his blade to hack one away.  Another feather is clearly missing from the otherwise proud roc king.  As the party awaits Yldar’s return, they survey the area below – this is the most impressive vantage on the island to see – and see a gargantuan bullette making his way across the valley below.

The party looks forlorn at the Kydara’s divination request of where they will meet the nightmare, describes the location of the valley.  In response, Kydara is met with a clear vision of a valley nestled between two dark peeks in the western reaches of the Tilagos highlands. The valley is teeming with wild underbrush bedecked with vicious irony thorns – the Thorn Vale. With that vision, camp is made for another night beside the corpse of the Roc King.