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Previously on Rime of the Frostmaiden
Starring:
Valravn, level 13 Eladrin Bard of Eloquence
Fray, level 13 Halfling Barbarian of the Beast
Celeste, level 13 Half-orc Sun Soul Monk (played by Valravn/Chris)
Edmond, Level 13 Human Alchemist Artificer
Thimbleweed, level 13 Thri-kreen Swarmkeeper Ranger
The Marshals had followed the magen from the ice wall though a lengthy tunnel, emerging into a vast cavern. Before them lie the half-buried city of Ythryn. Once a grand flying city, it now lies entombed in these icy caves.
But it’s far from a dead city.
From their approach, the party can see a large central tower, and inside, the Mythallar. The powerful artifact was the power source for the entire city.
Somehow the Mythallar is active, but damaged. Its malfunctioning arcane energy is creating ripples into space, causing terrible distortions and monstrous effects around the city, while shadows scurry and screams echo off the strangely shaped architecture.
Before stepping inside the city, the party long rested inside a summoned tiny hut, and leveled up to 13. Vaelish and Nass caught up to them, having made their own way through the caves (and having to deal with the gnoll vampire the party left behind). They are eager to check out the Mythallar, an astonishingly powerful Netherese artifact that has never been recovered intact before.
Nass admits she must have restarted the Mythallar when she connected the stolen Divination Orb to the magical equipment at the Chardalyn Dig Site, which consequently drew the Frostmaiden’s ire.
Fray recalls the visions the Frostmaiden had implanted in her, of the Mythallar growing more and more unstable until the incursions grew permanent, threatening to engulf the entire region with manifestations of the Far Realm.
Vellyne, still seething toward Nass and Vaelish for causing all these problems (and, uh, kidnapping/possessing her for awhile), also suggest they check out the Mythallar. But the party argues that it’s better to explore and get a better understanding of what they’re dealing with.
Nass and Vaelish huff and go their own way, as everyone heads into the city.
Nearby lies a stadium with electrified masts, a tall tower with an arcane symbol, and, in the middle of a commercial district, a large branch-like building that extends all the way up to the central spire.
The central spire dominates the city, but it’s glowing with an angry purple energy.
Thimbleweed casts locate creature, discovering the magen had barely made any distance during the last eight hours, and was somewhere near the base of the branch-building.
The party head toward it, with most stopping to search and investigate the buildings for information — and treasure! Edmond and Vellyne continue toward the branch-building, stumbling upon the apparent murder site of the magen, where a pack of nothics sniff around its empty robes.
Edmond eats another magical purple pear, gaining the druidcraft cantrip, and tries using a distraction of a bad smell to lure them away.
The nothics, while clearly deranged, are not entirely foolish. They’re more eager to find the source of this brief magical effect. Edmond considers luring them away with his homunculus, but finds more nothics than he bargained for milling about the street.
Meanwhile the rest of the party catches up, and together they decide to get the jump on these monsters. They race forward, Valravn astride Lord Marbury, Fray firing her laser pistol, and Edmond summoning a charging reindeer.
The nothics (four nothics and two nothic stalkers, from Ythryn Expanded Towers of Magic) are caught by surprise, but quickly regroup, clawing at their attackers, and targeting them with psychic and necrotic attacks.
Valravn casts his signature synaptic synapse spell, hitting four nothics and weakening their attacks, while still out of range on his pegasus.
An incursion ripples throughout the street, causing a nearby wall to bend and contort. It calls out faint whispers to the PCs, and Celeste and Edmond are rendered incapacitated while they walk toward it. While Thimblweed and Fray continue to battle the notchis, Valravn casts calm emotions, an increasingly clutch spell in the last several sessions, to bring the others back into the fight.
The rest of the party mops up the monstrous creatures, though it takes a surprisingly long time thanks to weirdly low damage rolls.
After the battle, Valravn sifts through the magen’s robe, discovering only a pile of fine gem dust. Did the nothics kill the humanoid construct, or something else?
They reach the branch-like Spire Entrance (Y6), finding it covered in the same impenetrable force field. But there’s a gate. Above the gate are eight symbols, which Valravn identifies as the schools of magic. From their vantage point they can see several nearby towers bear the same symbols: abjuration, conjuration, and divination.
A magic mouth materializes above the gate, and speaks in the Netherese tongue (which is apparently heavily accented Elvish): “Citizens of Ythryn! The spire is currently under emergency lockdown. Only the high wizards of the towers, or those who seek their permission, are allowed inside at this time.”
It doesn’t take a Netherese wizard to realize what they have to do to unlock the gate and gain entry into the spire: venture into each of the eight arcane towers. Looks like exploring the city is the right call after all!
MVPC – Thimbleweed
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