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January 23
After a bit of price checking on potions for the 12th and 13th of Kythorn (6th month), the party used Tyrone's friend in Silverymoon to send them to a keep outside of Suzail, the closest location they could get to Castle Kilgrave. They left their new voluntary prisoner, Kalina, in Candlekeep under the care of Lankyforpot. They arrived in the basement of an inn called The Zany Zebras. The innkeeper was a woman named Tara, who did not seem surprised at all to have strangers walk out of her basement.
From there they rode north. They stayed in Arabel, stopping in the inn called The Brazen Metaphor, run by two old sisters named Bethany and Matilda. They also stopped by to check out Castle Crag, where they found that it was occupied by Purple Knights/Purple Dragon Knights/Knights of the Purple Dragon and they were not eager to have adventurers nearby. They patrolled the Tilverton pass, keeping it clear of orcs and other nasties. The party then headed for Caste Kilgrave.
The location was never hidden, as it was a well known place. It was an ancient castle high in the mountains. About 30 years ago the gods Bane and Myrkul stole the Tablets of Fate from Lord Ao (supergod). Lord Ao felt the gods were basically spoiled children, and he cast them all from the heavens and forced them to take avatars on Faerun. He commanded that they may not return until the tablets were returned. The exception was Helm, who was the guard. He had disappointed Ao by somehow allowing the tablets to be stolen. His task now was to guard the Celestial Stairways and other routes back into the heavens. On Faerun, Bane and Myrkul captured Mystra and held her in Castle Kilgrave, at that time and abandoned castle. Mystra learned they were the thieves, and she managed to escape with the help of an adventuring party (which included the future goddess of magic, Midnight). Mystra ascended the Celestial Stairway, intending to go to Ao with the knowledge of who stole the tablets. Helm's orders were to permit no one who did not actually have the tablets. Mystra tried to force her way past him, but she was merely an avatar facing a true god. The battle was brief, but powerful. Castle Kilgrave was destroyed along with Mystra.
The party found just piles of stone that indicated the castle had been huge. The outer walls could easily have contained a small city at some point, though there was no evidence of that now. The door to the crypts was wide open, which was definitely odd.
Heading down into the crypts, they encountered the resting places of the Kings of Avencia. This area would have been dug first, making it the oldest. Jarus Kilgrave I founded this kingdom roughly 3,000 years ago. It was the first human kingdom in this part of the world. These men were hard and merciless. Most of the other dead would have been buried elsewhere or, more likely, cremated. They also found some large bearhounds munching on dead kobolds that had apparently been killed by fire. The kobolds had been dragged from further in the crypt. After killing the hungry bearhounds, they headed in deeper.
They passed through hallways with more alcoves in the wall with the remains of the kings of Avencia. Eventually they came to a separate circular room. The remains of twelve men were set in the alcoves around the circumference, and one stone bier was in the middle of the room. On top of the stone bier was a sculpture of stone of a man in armor with a sword and shield on top. Again, the bard side of Tyrone helped identify these people. This was King Prylan Kilgrave, the first of the good kings. Before him, the kings maintained control and order, but he introduced justice and mercy. His men were Sir Mylor, Sir Gwynham, Sir Drudwyn, Sir Druce, Sir Tremayne, Sir Varney, Sir Brasil, Sir Kelvan, Sir Arlyn, Sir Bowden, Sir Calum, and Sir Owin. They were all paladins of Helm. It is said that King Prylan had the Sword of Avencia forged. Upon hearing that, Marchosias decided the right thing to do was search the tomb. Looking under the body in the tomb, he didn't find anything. Not even his dignity.
After resting for a while, they then headed deeper into the crypts, passing by many more alcoves on the dead. Then they found manticores munching on more dead kobolds. They beefed themselves up for battle, which made it very unfair for the manticores. The battle was ended when the monk ripped the tail off a manticore and then beat him with the spikey end of it.
Finally they came to a room with seven stone biers, the center one slightly raised on a dais. Tyrone said it was the resting place of King Malcom Kilgrave, the last king of Avencia. He was a great ruler until he realized it was over. He had to bend his knee to King Azring Obarskyr of Cormyr in 641. After that, he came back to his keep and ended his blood line. Two of these other biers are his brothers, and the other four are his sons. Cormyr turned the keep into an outpost for its northernmost border, but it was too large to hold. They build Castle Crag and abandoned this place. Since these men were the last buried here, the remaining open door seemed odd.
They passed through and found three large primates eating the rest of the burned kobolds. They laughed and attacked the little monkeys, which they seriously underestimated. The party nearly became primate poop, but thanks to the wizard's Shield of Gayness they prevailed.
Also in this room were not inconspicuous floating colored orbs. Three unlit sconces were mounted on the walls, and there was a solid stone door. The colors of the orbs changed depending on exactly which sconces were lit. Touching the orbs in the correct order with the right sconces lit would open the door. Doing so incorrectly would result in great pain, from fire, ice, sound, and lightning (unless you're a monk as it turns out). With the image on the shield, the party cracked the code (Note: I screwed up. You should not have been blasted until you touched 8 orbs rather than when you touched the first incorrect orb. The way it was intended would make it virtually impossible for someone to guess. The way I actually did it should have made it crackable by someone with enough kobolds.)
Inside, they found the room was empty. There was a tunnel in the back, and a sense of stronger magic coming from the tunnel. Painted on the wall was another combination for the orbs, which opened a door in the room with King Malcolm. There they found the Sword of Avencia. There was an awesome debate about whether this was considered grave robbing and what should be done with it. It was clearly only useful to a paladin of Helm, but the moral debates made me happy.
Eventually they crawled down the tunnel. This was a very long tunnel, taking them far beneath the surface. It was mainly a natural cave, bug it looked like it may have been expanded in some places by something with claws. They came to a wider tunnel that was clearly in the Underdark. There was a very faint light and a sense of stronger magic farther down.
They came to the underground city of Eletendra, a city of many species. Drow, Dwarves, Duergar, Humans, Gnomes, Dark Gnomes, and a few others existed in relative peace. There is a faint glow from a stalactite that has cycles of night and day ranging from very dark to just bright enough to read. It allows human to live here. The guards were hesitant to admit more humans, but the half-drow vouched for them.
Eletendra attracts mages, but wards prevent chaos. They prevent invisibility and enchantment spells. It is also in an earth-node, which makes earth magic stronger but makes teleporting dangerous.
The cavern is packed with people, and they have built tall buildings. Some live in caves on the side. With space so limited, they live where they can. There is no need to protect from rain, but apparently there is some concern that things will drop from the ceiling of the cavern onto the top of a building. Slaves or prisoners are working to expand the cave as well. The party found an inn called Dimmed Hope, run by a drow woman named Lilenda. They paid enough to train for 11 days to get stronger and learn what was going on in the city.
The city was nothing more than a trading town until about 25 years ago when drow Liradak Kovida came here with other drow soldiers and something that made magic stronger here. He took control of the town and made it much stronger. He was fair, but cruel. That he was fair was new to most drow, so it was an improvement. Many wizards came here, and that brought more people as well. It is now a significant trade city between the surface and deeper in the Underdark. Liradak took the title Maharaja, and the item that made magic stronger is called the Pearl of the Maharaja. No one else has seen it, as he does not let anyone else in his keep. Drow guard it in great numbers and even more wards, but even those drow stay in barracks outside the keep.
They learned some rumors they ignored, and instead decided to go straight for their goal. Tyrone said he found someone who might be able to help. Bagderth Berrantiv is a dwarf who runs the inn called the Lurking Troll. He is also a Harper agent. It turns out that Tyrone is also a member of the Harpers. The Harpers (more properly Those Who Harp) are an organization that opposes evil without regard to national boundaries. They span Faerun, and though their more powerful members are well known, their scouts are usually secretive. Tyrone has been following the party because he thinks they are doing good work. He wanted to know more and help as he could. He noticed a certain type of harp in a certain position in the Lurking Troll, which led him to believe Bagderth could help.
The plan was to head down the chute where the executed criminals are dropped. The tunnels underneath the city are rumored to have a passage to the Maharaja's keep. They found a construct organizing the bodies, some carrion crawlers, a demon of some sort, some green ooze, and finally a golem made of dragon flesh that was guarding the hidden door to the keep. They almost lost the priest, but it turned out everyone survived the encounters. They stand poised to enter the keep on the 9th day of Flamerule (7th month).
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Do the asparagus look threatening?
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