We began the session with Sarril using his aerial familiar to locate Pontus. Soon, Cadwin and Sarril were able to connect with Pontus and Jarrus, and Pontus was able to tell the rest of the party about the deal so they could make plans. They decided the best option would be to cover the outside of the fortress with fog using Cadwin's Concealment spell, and then levitate up onto the wall, clearing out the battlements and towers one room at a time. For Jarrus, who was now mostly healed thanks Sarril and Cadwin, this was an easy task. It wasn't long before most of the upper level was clear (although the party didn't check every room, so who knows for sure).
Along the way, they came across a room full of slaves, entranced by some kind of swirling shadows that surrounded them. The effect, the party soon discovered, was caused by a Cloaker, which caused the party some difficulty, but they managed to dispatch it, freeing the slaves. One of the slaves named Cassius agreed to join the party in the hopes that together they might find his family and other members of his merchant caravan that had been captured.
The lower level started off just as easy. There were two main rooms that Pontus had already scouted. This first was a large cave where goblins and worgs were busy healing up. That was nothing that one of Sarril's wands couldn't handle. The next room was Markessa's Lab, where Pontus had previously seen a very much living Markessa speaking with a monk. Though Markessa was not present, there were plenty of goblin archers and a couple of owlbears in the room. A well-placed Ice Storm from Sarril's wand took out the goblins and then Jarrus and Pontus finished off the owlbears. Easy so far.
Pontus had previously found an alchemy storage area through a secret tunnel and was hoping to lead the party there to find healing potions and a Scroll of Stone to Flesh. The party found the secret door and investigated the area, picking up a few items. While looking around, Pontus bumped into a candelabra. . . or maybe it was setup to fall over on purpose. A chemical reaction took place when the candelabra dumped some interested liquid into some other liquid, which filled the room with red smoke. Cadwin began acting strangely, casting spells and eventually attacking Pontus. The party was forced to subdue Cadwin, taking him out of adventure for a little while.
From there, things took a turn for the worst. The party encountered three werewolves, who weren't that difficult by themselves, but after the leader was killed, the other two ran for shelter in another room. When the party chased them down, they encountered a tall, thin man behind a desk counting money. Blackthorn was his name, and he acted annoyed by the party's presence, wanting to know what they wanted. When Jarrus said they were there to kill Markessa, Blackthorn gave them directions to her room and then told them to leave. Jarrus decided to attack instead. It turns out that Blackthorn was actually an ogre mage, and his first move was to blast everyone with an 8d8 Cone of Cold, nearly killing Jarrus. Jarrus was able to get a nice blow against Blackthorn, but it did not kill him. When Blackthorn retaliated, it put Jarrus below zero hit points - dying for the second time in two days. The party was able to finish the fight, but this is where we paused.
It is the afternoon of the 23rd Day of Reaping, 580 CY. Jarrus and Cadwin are both out, Luapan is turned to stone, leaving Pontus, Sarril and Cassius to decide what to do next.
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