It Still Looks LIke Rocks to Me

We share and discuss what to do next. We break down some of the lore we just learned, specifically starting with the Crown of Horns and how to get it off Brylwynn. We can try to find someone who may have worked with The Blackstaff when he was alive and who knows how to remove to Crown of Horns or the Prince of Frost. 

In the past, we know that the Price of Frost agreed to help remove the Crown of Horns from Brylwynn. This was part of the pact they made together. 

Thinking about The Kraken Society, we know that they are a largely sea-based cult. They have been trying to make roots in the Sword Coast for centuries. Every attempt they have made to make it inland, has failed. We thwarted one so attempt on the boat in Yartar. They are held up at the Purple Rocks.  

In the past, RC cast legend lore and we learned more about Slarkrethel. https://www.thedrooptroop.com/adventures/storm-kings-thunder/s02e66-kraken-ing-the-code-of-the-storm-king 

Also thinking back, we have encountered 3 Erinyes so far, and we assume they are somehow connected to what is going on at The Purple Rocks. 

Caulkin tries to make a strange metaphor using rocks, but it is met with silence from the group.

We review each other’s backstories and where our adventures are.

Brother and Sister are working for Beshaba.

Thinking back to our first encounter with the Rakasha, when them being from the Nine Hells, it is a devil aligned with other devils. They are likely working with The Erinyes and Zariel.

We come up with a safeword/phrase if we ever encounter a Rakasha again which is, “Backpack” or “What did you do with the backpack? Drink it.”

We speak with Larael and Krowen in the morning after resting. RC asks about how to break someone out of a necklace in the future. She shares that she was trapped by a specific spell with the handcuffs, but not in the necklace necessarily.

We speak with Larael and Krowen briefly, trying to gather more information from them. Krowen asks us to document the location of any portals we come across as the portals are few and far between. He shares there seems to be an imbalance between the Feywild, Shadowfell, and our Plane. By an imbalance, he means there have been leaks of the Shadowfell into our plane. Something similar happened in Silverymoon when the city when grayscale. The working theory is that a great magic event occurred, and they took advantage of that to magical opening to come to our plane of existence.

As we prepare to leave, Larael asks Brylwynn to hold off for a minute so they can speak one-on-one before we go to Everlund. Larael says that she is the unfortunately recipient of the Crown of Horns. She asks if Beshaba is already trying to get her hands into her [Brylwynn]. Larael states that the pull will remain until Brylwynn is able to remove the crown, but assures her that the Crown weakens over time. It is harder for it to move you from Neutral to Evil than from Good to Neutral. 

Brylwynn asks for tips to help remove the crown and Larael states that having her sister and The Blackstaff around helped to “tether” her during the removal process. 

The fact that Haephaestus is back shows how truly strong he is and his link to the material plane.

Larael then asks if she can ask Brylwynn a question. She speaks about the comment Brylwynn made that she was meant to be a “gift” for Larael from the Wizard Elador. Larael then states that Xanross’ grandmother, Nilead, was evil and not welllike along the Sword Coast. Larael was trying to protect his mother, #1, during this ritual. 

You need a piece of Kelemvor to control Haephaestus, but also a part of additional Haephaestus’ magic. This is how Larael was tricked originally, into being part of Haephaestus’s magic through the Crown. She suspects that Brylwynn is meant to be the piece of Haephaestus’ magic for a second ritual.

Larael offers her something big: to change the source of Brylwynn’s magic. This would connect her to Mystra in a way that others are not. She accepts her offer.

“The only way we can defeat Haephaestus is by severing his link to this plane.”

Larael shows her a different way to tap into the Weave and energy band, different than what Elador taught her. This is the first step for Brylwynn to separate herself from Haephaestus’ magic.

We meet back up and then teleport to Yartar. Larael makes her way to Waterdeep. We travel down to Triboar which takes a quick journey. As we went to the town, we were hit with a sense of nostalgia as the early days of our adventure together brought us here. We continue our journey south to Westbridge.

As we approach the town, to the west of the town, we see the forest where we will be heading the next day. The town is surrounded by farmland and seems to be a quiet town. We see depictions of good-aligned deities. We ask a local halfling where an inn is and she directs us to The Harvest Inn. It is near the end of the winter in Faerun, and the town is very quiet. 

On the way to the town, Brylwynn continues to have the same recurring dream, but she manages to shake them off each night. 

We head inside and make small talk with the barkeep. We ask him about local stories and the local forest we will be heading into. He shares the story about a similar group of adventurers who came through a few weeks prior to us. It was a few clerics and paladins, looking for a relic for Silvanus, the god of nature. 

We wake up in the morning and start to head into the forest. We explore the forest, trying to find the portal to the Feywild. We are unsuccessful on our first day. Brylwynn casts Tinyhut for us and we rest. We meander through the woods more, trying to find the portal. Pearl summons Thava at a point to help search from above, however she is unsuccessful as well.

After a few more hours of travel, we see nothing of significance. We break for lunch about 50 miles into the woods. As we sit down, Pearl starts to realize how quiet the forest seems. She looks around carefully and notices a group of birds sitting in branches together in a perfect circle. We examine the group of birds closely but see no difference in the light or appearance.

Pearl tries to ritually cast Detect Magic, but they fly off before she can finish.

We continue walking. We see ahead of us, about 30 feet or so, a large flat rock. About 20 feet to the left, there’s a small hill and a giant burrow in the hillside. As we walk around the trees, we see a create sunbathing on a rock. She extends her large green head towards us. She gets her head right in our face and says, “What stupid mortals dare step into my domain without my permission?” Caulkin speaks up and says, “Claugiyliamatar, I presume?” She responds with “Yes, that is my name. That doesn’t answer the question of what you’re all doing here.” She looks over at Pearl and says, “But I have to guess it has something to do with you and your sister.”

“The only people who come seeking me are [desperate], just like Fey was.”

Pearl speaks up and relays that Fey let her know that she, Claugiyliamatar, would help us gain passage into the Feywild. “Your sister made a deal to get into the Feywild. Are you interested in the same deal?”

Pearl then asks about the terms and conditions of the deal. “You find yourself in a bit of a bind and a pickle. She at least told you a deal would need to be structured. Unfortunately, you don’t understand the nature of the predicament you are in. You can either take the deal, or I can munch on your bones, here and now as we speak.”

“I help you now, and you offer to help me later. You will track down Klauthh, and kill him as I need him taken care of. It would destroy the balance if I approached his territory on my own [...] You see, I have no intention of letting Tiamot or a Tiamot replacement get into the material plane. I have no interest in what any of them have to offer. Haephaestus has always seen himself as too big for his britches and the next Tiamot, but I have no time for these Red Dragon games. So, you will handle Klauthh for me.”

“If you don’t take up your end of the deal…” as she puts he extremely large head up in front of us and takes a breath, “I’ve got your scent. If you don’t fulfill your part of the deal, I’ll chew your bones.”

Klauthh resides near the Spine of the World. We have met cultists who worshipped Klauth before. See 1, See 2.

RC thinks back

Claugiyliamatar is sick of red dragons. Haephaestus is trying to become the new dragon god. It sounds like Klauth is trying to become the most powerful red dragon on the coast, which is what Haephaestus used to be. RC knows that the cult’s primary goal is to turn ancient dragons into Draco-lithces to extend their natural lives. He suspects that Klauth is trying to use the cult to become a Draco-litch, but Claugiyliamatar isn’t interested in a world where she is second to a force outside of her control. She doesn’t want to disturb the draconic order herself.