Session 1
- Tiffany was reunited with her brother, William Silverhand
- Tiffany knows that her brother recalls heading to the village of Nether’s End
- Tiffany’s research at the Silent Tower in Chult uncovered the following information:
- - No reference to an “Academy of Magic” could be found.
- - Tiffany recalls that she had not been far from Neverwinter when she situated herself after leaving the Academy of Magic
- - Neverwinter has become a nexus of fey influence since the Spellplague, and there are rumors that it may even be a place where there are portals to the Feywild
- - Among the fey that have made a home in Neverwinter Wood is a significant presence of darker fey, from those of the Winter Court, hags, quicklings, and more
- - The plane of the Feywild has properties consistent with the “dreamlike” quality Tiffany recalls the Academy of Magic has for her since leaving
- - It is possible that the Academy is at the borders between the material plane and the feywild at a site of a planar breach or major planar bleed
One day while in Hawthorne, Tiffany found her sleep troubled by thoughts of her past: of the village and its elders she had left behind, her friends and her brother, of the strange Academy of Magic and her friend Operana… The mysteries surrounding those events continued to haunt Tiffany, and it was with those thoughts in mind that she had gone to the guild hall, perhaps to find a mission or some opportunity to distract herself.
In the guild hall, to her surprise, she found her brother William Silverhand present! He seemed to be arguing with Sarah about finding a “Tiffany Silverhand,” and when Tiffany caught his attention, the two siblings reunited, with William grabbing and lifting Tiffany into a crushing hug. They decided to get something to eat and talk and exchange stories, heading over to Hawthorne University grounds with some food from the Guild Tavern in hand.
When they got there, Tiffany tried to figure out William knew about what had happened, but he confessed that when he had escaped, he didn’t see any of their friends either or Tiffany. He had spent some time situating himself in the world as he tried and failed to find Tiffany and the others, and he recalled that he had come out by a village called “Nether’s End” near Silverymoon.
As they talked, William revealed that he had worked as a mercenary for some time before becoming a member of the Knights of the Unicorn. He had been rescued by a knight of their number on a mission gone wrong and had joined up with the order ever since. Tiffany in return talked about some of her own experiences, including the mysterious Academy of Magic and her friend Operana. She had gone there after escaping from the village, and the Academy had been a strange enigmatic place, where students were told to never leave.
She recalled how her friend Operana and she had gotten into trouble and how Operana had told Tiffany to escape… but the moment Tiffany had left the campus grounds, all she had remembered was a blinding light and then nothing. She had ended up elsewhere, and all her memories of the Academy and even Operana had taken on a hazy quality, as if it had all just been a dream of hers, one that had lasted for a few years. But she was sure the Academy had been real, and her friend Operana also, who had been like a sister to her.
Tiffany had a difficult choice to make ahead of her. Did she wish to resolve the matter with her village and its Elders, considering she had left her parents behind and the fate of her other friends were uncertain? Or did she wish to try to find this strange Academy of Magic once more, and to reunite with her friend Operana. In the end, Tiffany decided that she and William would go to try to help Operana and find this strange Academy of Magic.
But where to start? Tiffany wasn’t entirely sure just where this mysterious Academy of Magic was. She would need to research into further clues surrounding what she recalled, but it was unlikely that the university library had the information she was looking for. She knew there were a number of other great libraries in the world: the Font of Knowledge in Waterdeep, Candlekeep of course, and others. However, she elected to make her way to the Silent Tower in Chult, after William off-handedly mentioned the continent.
The Silent Tower was a recent acquisition by the guild, the lich that had formerly resided there having been cleared out and the strange and wondrous properties of the tower having been discovered by the guild as well and also had a sizeable library within. It was bordered by Mompono Village, formerly inhabited by a tribe of humans and loxodon before a former Candlekeep sage turned lich had sacrificed them for his own ambitions. The guild had been working on converting the entire area into a new guild outpost in the region, located within the Valley of Dread.
Tiffany reached out a contact of hers, the platinum ranked adventurer Myriad, to arrange for transport to the Silent Tower. After meeting with Tiffany and William, Tiffany paid for transport and Myriad cast a gate directly to the first floor of the Silent Tower.
Tiffany and William walked through, William amazed at the display of incredibly powerful magic. Myriad asked if William would be willing to assist him with a future experiment in testing to see what would happen if he closed the gate while someone was midway through. William looked startled and concerned about the idea, and Tiffany declined Myriad’s offer on William’s behalf, even after Myriad offered a considerable sum of gold.
A pair of guards inside the first floor confronted Tiffany and William as this conversation happened, demanding to know why they were present. The Silent Tower wasn’t yet prepared to receive general traffic from the guild, as it was just yet in the early stages of being converted into a full guild outpost. Tiffany identified herself as a member of the guild, and also indicated that Myriad had brought her there.
The guards grumbled but allowed it to pass, and with that, Myriad closed the gate, leaving Tiffany and William to their own devices. The main guard, a blonde half-elven male, escorted the pair through a rapid tour of the Tower. Each area seemed to be a wide 40-foot radius circular room, each with a large floating, glowing crystal in the center. The guard took Tiffany and William through a rapid tour, through the Creation Room, the Infirmary, the Sanctum, and finally to the Library, each floor guarded by a set of guards.
In the Library, Tiffany saw a room filled with shelves containing thousands and thousands of tomes. In the center was a large desk, beside which was a large contraption that read “Crannaston’s Bibliomancer” by the desk, complete with buttons, dials, and levers. Behind the desk was a brown, owl-like kenku: Murmur, former librarian of the Dorvan Library. With the integration of the library with Hawthorne University, Murmur hadn’t a library to manage, but with the Silent Tower acquired by the guild, Murmur had found another library to call home.
Floating beside Murmur was a strange large crystalline humanoid that glowed with cosmic blue light that Murmur referred to as the “Librarian,” apparently the crystal in the room. Murmur saw and greeted Tiffany and William, explaining that he was attuned to the Tower though he hadn’t been expecting visitors so soon. The library hadn’t been prepared for general visits, but Murmur seemed enthused at the prospect of the first visitors to the Silent Tower’s library.
Tiffany explained that she was interesting into looking into material concerning magical academies and the planes. Murmur said that the library was well-stocked, and that the crystalline Librarian had magical properties designed to enhance learning and cast various information gathering spells.
Tiffany decided to spend some time at the Tower researching, finding some books of interest that could assist her, such as Garth of Suzail’s Ecology of the Planes and Khelben Arunsun’s The Wizard's Academies: Schools of Magical Learning. William was more enthused at the prospect of seeing dinosaurs than books, but quickly realized there wouldn’t be an opportunity to head out of Mompono Village to see the dinosaurs. Murmur handed William a magical book that produced small illusions of dinosaurs on each page, which kept William occupied for some time.
Between studying, Tiffany and William spent time outside the Tower. The outpost hadn’t been completed yet, so they had naught but tents to sleep in. Once William grew bored of the dinosaur book, he took to participating in the sparring the guards did, and Tiffany saw that William was a capable warrior. He seemed to prefer to fight with a halberd in a defensive stance, ready to strike out at the sign of an opening. He won a fair number of bouts, displaying his strength. Tiffany slyly claimed that she could be strong as well and lift William just as he had lifted her, and she caught him in the grasp of her telekinesis, her insight into the future allowing her to portent William’s inability to escape. William was incredulous and impressed at the prowess his sister possessed as she let him down.
Beyond that, the siblings passed the time by telling each other stories. William told Tiffany of the time he had dealt with a necromancer in Daggerford that had been kidnapping people to use for her dark rituals. It had been one of his first missions as a Knight of the Unicorn, and how he had just barely managed to survive the experience of subduing the necromancer and rescuing the surviving villagers that had been kidnapped. Tiffany in turn related her own experience, of the mission she’d undertaken to Quaevarr with other members of the guild, how she’d become the champion of Sephiroth the Cloud Giant, and how she had become the Grand Magician of Somehick Towne for a while.
As the days passed by, Tiffany finally finished poring through the books and came to some startling conclusions. While she had been unable to find any reference to an “Academy of Magic,” she did come to realize that she recalled being not far from Neverwinter in her first memories since escaping the strange place. From her research, she learned that the nearby Neverwinter Wood was wrought with fey influence, especially of the darker kind, and was said to have portals to the Feywild. The Feywild as a plane was also one whose nature was consistent with the dream-like quality Tiffany recalled of the Academy, as those leaving the Feywild often either lost their memories of it or their time there seemed to take on a hazy, dream-like quality in their minds. It was possible that the Academy had perhaps lied at the borders between the Material Plane and the Feywild, perhaps at the site of a planar breach or major planar bleed.
Though her research had uncovered what were potentially answers to some of the mysteries of Tiffany’s past, they raised still more questions. What truly was the nature of the Academy of Magic, just how deep did its ties to the Feywild run, and what had happened to Operana? Tiffany didn’t quite yet know, but she had a feeling that the answers lay somewhere in the depths of Neverwinter Wood…
Session 2
- Tiffany was designated by Murmur to be able to use the crystals' magic within the Silent Tower next time she visits
- Tiffany promised Murmur she'd help get assistance with making a TP circle at the Silent Tower
- Tiffany visited Port Nyanzaru with her brother
- Tiffany learned of the affair with the Soulmonger and the Death Curse, and that it had been destroyed
- Tiffany learned the names of the merchant princes and their specialties, and that Ekene-Afa and Wakanga O'tamu were on friendly terms with the guild, acting as sponsors and patrons of the guild. She knows that Jobal is not on the best terms with the guild, as he had once sold a guild member into slavery.
- Tiffany planned to attend services at the Temple of Savras in the afternoon
- Tiffany was considered a sister of Sune by those in the Temple of Sune in Port Nyanzaru, owing to her beauty and the color of her hair
- Tiffany learned of the dinosaur races and of the annual Na'buso's Haka (The Great King's War Dance), a relay race and of solo dinosaur races throughout the day
- Tiffany witnessed an execution in the Executioner's Run but couldn't bear to watch the rest of it
- Tiffany arranged for a meeting with Wakanga O'tamu in Goldenthrone to possibly pursue a sponsorship as a dinosaur racer for her brother
Session 3
- William Silverhand became the first and currently only member of the Maze Runners, a dinosaur racing team sponsored by Wakanga O’tamu. His bonded racing dinosaur is a young and prideful green triceratops known as “Ubtao’s Chosen.”
- In exchange for sponsoring William Silverhand, Tiffany Silverhand received a mission from Wakanga O’tamu that she promised to send word over to the guild for to handle: to locate the control amulet for a shield guardian known as “Vorn” and to bring both it and Vorn to O’tamu.
- William Silverhand tied for first place on his very first dinosaur race in Port Nyanzaru. He matched the race favorite, a young crowd-pleasing tyrannosaurus rex known as Big Honker, down to the last lap.
Tiffany and William were able to make their way inside Goldenthrone, to meet the merchant prince Wakanga O’tamu. They found him in a suite inside Goldenthrone, flanked by several guards, and he invited Tiffany and William in to sit. A variety of beverages had been laid out, from tej to tea to hot chocolate. William had some of the tej, while Tiffany partook of the hot chocolate. Tiffany explained that she had come to request Wakanga O’tamu’s to sponsor her brother, William Silverhand, to become a dinosaur racer for the dinosaur races in Port Nyanzaru.
Wakanga O’tamu was intrigued by the offer, for while he had no team of racers himself, he had been interested in getting involved in the dinosaur racing circuit. After conversation with Tiffany and William, was willing to extend his sponsorship, to provide William with a dinosaur to race as well as the shelter and care needed to maintain it.
There were a few contractual conditions to the offer, such as a percentage of William’s winnings going to Wakanga O’tamu. In addition, O’tamu had a favor to inquire of Tiffany in exchange for the one he was willing to grant to her brother: he had learned of a shield guardian out in the jungles of Chult, a companion of a wizard whose journal he had recovered some time ago. The shield guardian, Vorn, had remained dormant there for some time, and there was no trace of the control amulet that O’tamu had been able to find. He requested that Tiffany arrange for a notice to be given to the guild to set up a mission to find the control amulet and bring it and the shield guardian to Wakanga O’tamu.
Tiffany accepted the offer, and the deal was struck. William became the first and currently only racer of the “Maze Runners,” with William’s chosen steed to be the triceratops known as “Ubtao’s Favorite.” She and her brother then left Goldenthrone to make their way to Tiryki Anchorage to see to Ubtao’s Favorite and register for the race, having received a signed and stamped writ from Wakanga O’tamu. They made their way to the dinosaur pens where William was about to see to Ubtao’s Favorite, taking the time to familiarize himself with the creature before preparing to race in the evening.
William was warned by the trainer outside that Ubtao’s Favorite was a prideful triceratops that could be a handful, and it could be dangerous if she didn’t take well to William’s presence. William was determined to see it through however, and after some encouraging words and a spell of skill empowerment from Tiffany, he made his way inside to see Ubtao’s Favorite, quickly getting to know the beast and surprisingly forming a fast bond with it. William was overcome with sheer uncomplicated joy as he took his first ride with Ubtao’s Favorite inside the pen, the first time he had ever ridden a dinosaur.
Tiffany and William then registered for the dinosaur race in the evening, with William electing to race in the lucrative but dangerous “unchained” race for the evening: an open event where any dinosaur could race in, as opposed to the more regulated two-legged and four-legged races. In the end, Tiffany found herself in the crowd cheering on her brother as he and Ubtao’s Favorite made their way to the starting line. He had changed into a racing uniform provided by Wakanga O’tamu’s people, with the logo of a maze on the back and symbols of various business owned by Wakanga O’tamu as advertising.
The competition was varied, ranging from experienced race favorites to other newcomers to the event. In the end, a small magical burst fired into the air and the race was on! William and Ubtao’s Favorite came on strong, riding with great rapidity as the racers began a circuit around the city of Port Nyanzaru. Close at hand was an allosaurus and a tyrannosaurus rex, both ridden by experienced riders, while a deinonychus kept close pace, his new racer panicking all the while as they kept up. Trailing far behind were a dimetrodon and an aging hadrosaurus.
As the race progressed, some of the dinosaurs bit at and attacked each other, with the tyrannosarus taking swipes at some of the passing dinosaurs. William used his skill as a cavalier to try to deflect as much of the attacks away from Ubtao’s Favorite as best as he could, his own natural talent and Tiffany’s skill empowerment allowing him to keep a steady pace throughout the race. The deinonychus was forced to retire, giving out as its inexperienced rider had kept it on an unsustainable pace. In the end, three dinosaurs were racing for the finish line: Ubtao’s Favorite, the triceratops ridden by William; Bonecruncher, a determined but ill-tempered allosaurus ridden by a veteran rider; and Big Honker, a young but crowd-pleasing tyrannosaurus rex ridden by an ace rider as well, seemingly a match for William’s skill.
As the final stretch approached, perhaps out of irritation from the constant attacks or desperation, William had Ubtao’s Favorite charge at Big Honker, knocking the tyrannosaurus over! This gave William enough time to begin to retake a competitive lead, but Big Honker was soon enough right on him, with Bonecruncher not far behind. In the end, both Ubtao’s Favorite and Big Honker crossed the finish line in a blur, with Bonecruncher lagging just behind. The tally was called and the end result was a tie between Ubtao’s Favorite and Big Honker!
William was surprised and met with adulation and celebration for a stand out performance in his first dinosaur race, splitting the first and second prize pots with the rider for Big Honker. He was overcome with joy and surprise for doing as well in the race as he had, even if it hadn't been a fully decisive victory. He met back up with Tiffany, eager to share his experience with his sister. The siblings celebrated, a happy memory both would likely hold dear for some time, though Tiffany knew that the time for celebration would soon be at an end, and it would not be long before they would begin to head to settle the matter of Operana. Whatever future lied in store for them, Tiffany had a feeling they were going headlong into a mystery that was likely to be as dangerous as it was enigmatic…
Session 4
- Tiffany sent word of the mission to recover the shield guardian Vorn and its control amulet on behalf to Wakanga O’tamu to both the guild outpost in Port Nyanzaru and back in Hawthorne.
- Tiffany acquired transport to Neverwinter via Theodore, a platinum ranked adventurer and druid of the Hawthorne Guild, whom she and her brother met at Thundering Lizard Inn in Chult.
- Tiffany met with her former professor Trinklin at Neverwinter Academy, learning of the Sharandar ruins and New Sharandar within Neverwinter Wood, the center of the efforts to restore the elven nation of Iliyanbruen in both the Material Plane and the Feywild.
- Tiffany made her way to the Sharandar Ruins and spoke with the eladrin Captain Curdailen, who directed her to Iliyasha Guidingstar, a representative of the Iliyanbruen elves. Upon speaking with Guidingstar, Tiffany learned that the only other organized group of fey within Neverwinter Wood consisting of the dark fey within.
- Tiffany learned of a group of powerful fomorians active in Neverwinter Wood and the associated portion of the Feywild, led by a King Malabog.
- Tiffany entered New Sharandar in the Feywild via a portal in the greak oak tree of the Sharandar ruins and with Commander Merrisara Winterwhite. After speaking with Winterwhite, she learned that there had been reports of people steadily disappearing in the forest over the last decade or so, and that she knew that the dark fey were led by a powerful coven of hags.
- Tiffany learned of Winterwhite’s theory that the Academy of Magic she sought may be tied to the dark fey and the coven of hags that led them, with the teachers possibly bound by pact to the dark fey, with the students potentially being cultivated and used by the dark fey and the hags to enhance their power.
After William’s inaugural dinosaur race and after he and Tiffany had celebrated, they set out the next day to return to the matter of finding Operana. Tiffany intended to make her way to Neverwinter Wood to follow up on her theory that the Academy of Magic may lie in a planar bleed with the Feywild somewhere within Neverwinter Wood. However, Tiffany did not possess any teleportation sigil sequences near Neverwinter Wood. She reached out to a friend of hers—Rex Underhand—and she learned of a contact of his that was present in Port Nyanzaru: the platinum ranked adventurer and druid of the Hawthorne Guild, Theodore.
Tiffany and William met Theodore at the Thundering Lizard Inn, the three enjoying a breakfast prepared by Sal’avi. Theodore was currently on a vacation in Port Nyanzaru, though he still was more than happy to assist Tiffany. Tiffany explained her need to go to Neverwinter Wood to investigate a personal matter. She, Theodore, and William talked at length before Theodore used a spell of transport via plants to transport Tiffany into the heart of Neverwinter, in the Protector’s Enclave and by the House of Knowledge. Tiffany thanked Theodore, and he cast a spell of wind walk on both Tiffany and William before departing back to Port Nyanzaru to return to his vacation. Tiffany decided to return to her alma mater Neverwinter Academy to seek advice regarding her theories on the Academy of Magic and what she had learned of the Feywild. She returned to the institution with William in tow and managed to track down of her old professors, the half-elf Professor Trinklin. Trinklin taught classes on knowledge of the planes, with an emphasis on the Outer Planes. He was pleasantly surprised to see Tiffany again, as she had been one of his best students, and he was curious to see how far she’d gone since graduating.
Tiffany and Trinklin spoke at length, with Trinklin pleased to see that Tiffany had taken his advice of continuing her studies with a noted magus with the Hawthorne Guild, and that in her time with the guild, she had expanded her capacities and knowledge by leaps and bounds. Tiffany explained her situation with the Academy of Magic and her theory of the planar bleed with the Feywild. Trinklin thought of what Tiffany said, and he said that her theory had a degree of plausibility to it, as the Feywild was known for having a particular dreamlike quality, and that those leaving the plane often either did not recall their time within the plane or that their memories had been hazy or indistinct. He mentioned that she would do best to speak with the elves and eladrin by the burgeoning settlement in Sharandar, where they sought to carve out a place for what remained of the elven state of Iliyanbruen, both in the Material Plane and the Feywild. He provided Tiffany with a map and wished her luck on her task, though he warned of the dangers of the forest and of the dark fey that lurked within. He also warned of dealings with fey in general, explaining that the trick with devils was watching what they did say, whereas with fey it was a matter of paying attention to what they didn’t say.
Tiffany and William then set out, assuming cloud form via the wind walk Theodore had cast on them earlier. They made their way into the gloomy wood of Neverwinter Wood and they navigated towards Sharandar and assumed their normal forms directly outside the settlement. They saw appeared to be structures built into the trees themselves, as people milled about on patrol or busy at work. When they approached, they were stopped by elven and eladrin guards who wished to know of why they had come to Sharandar. Tiffany explained that she sought to learn more about the Feywild and after further discussion, she was allowed inside. She was introduced to the leader of the guard forces on the Material Plane side of Sharandar, Captain Curdailen, and she was told to speak with Iliyasha Guidingstar, representative of the Iliyanbruen elves, for further information. Tiffany and William made their way to Guidingstar’s office where they met with the elf.
Guidingstar greeted them, inquiring as to the purpose of their visit. Tiffany explained once more the situation with the Academy of Magic and her desire to locate it. Guidingstar seemed disturbed by Tiffany’s words, as she said that to her knowledge, no such academy was associated with Sharandar. However, as she explained, the only other organized group of fey within Neverwinter Wood were enclave of dark fey within the wood. They had frequently made attacks on Sharandar in the Material Plane and New Sharandar in the Feywild, with one of the most prominent forces among them being fomorians led by their king, Malabog.
This was troubling news for Tiffany, as it raised the possibility that the Academy of Magic was in truth associated with the dark fey of Neverwinter Wood. Guidingstar advised Tiffany to speak with Commander Merrisara Winterwhite, the leader of the settlement, presently in New Sharandar in the Feywild, for more information. She gave Tiffany a writ of passage, and Tiffany and William set off. They made their way to the massive oak tree in the center of Sharandar, where there was a great hole in the tree through which a forest on the other side could be seen, though one more vibrant and colorful. Tiffany presented the writ to the guards flanking the portal, and she and her brother were permitted entrance, entering the Feywild and into New Sharandar. On the other side, Tiffany could use a large and circular outpost amid a forest that seemed brighter and more vibrant than the forest they had walked out of.
They were confronted by a cluster of guards who relaxed when Tiffany presented the writ. She and William were escorted into a command post and taken upstairs to Merrisara Winterwhite’s office. As she and William made their way within, they met the eladrin knight, who heard out Tiffany’s tale told again.
As Tiffany concluded her recollection of the facts and her desire to find the Academy of Magic, Winterwhite opined that Guidingstar was on to something to believe the Academy of Magic may have to do with the dark fey of Neverwinter Wood. While there were a variety of dark fey present in the wood, both on the Material Plane and in the Feywild, among which were the fomorians and their king, they were in truth directed by a powerful coven of hags whose machinations had plagued Sharandar for well over a decade. She said that there had been incidents of disappearances over the last decade within the Wood and the regions around, and that she suspected it had been orchestrated by dark fey at the direction of the hag coven. Winterwhite put forward the view that the hags may well be using those who had been caught up within the Academy of Magic as essentially cattle to be cultivated and then utilized for their developed magical power, to be exploited or be sacrificed to enhance the power of the coven.
This possibility deeply disturbed Tiffany, who had some familiarity with the nature of hags and of their wicked and weird nature. She realized that of the students at the Academy of Magic, all that she’d known of had been at most in their late adolescence: ultimately still children. This implied that the teachers were in on the affair in some way, and Winterwhite stated that it was possible that the teachers may be bound in a pact to the dark fey and hags, either willingly or unwittingly.
With Winterwhite’s words echoing in her mind, Tiffany now began to grasp the scope of the situation she may be well be dealing with. Was she truly right that the Academy of Magic lay within the borders between the Material Plane and the Feywild? Was the case that the Academy in truth was nothing more than a place where its students were used as fodder to aid the dark fey and the hag coven that led them? Was Operana even still alive? Many questions remained before Tiffany, but one thing was clear: she was going to have to go into the fray of these dark fey to find the answers for herself. The only question was whether if she and her brother would make it through upright or if they too would be swallowed up by the darkness of Neverwinter Wood…
Session 5
- Tiffany learned of the Blighted Grove west of Sharandar where a contingent of dark fey had amassed a presence. Lysandra, an eladrin knight in service to New Sharandar, had seen a basin within the Blighted Grove during a scouting mission two tendays ago. Beside it was a tower that she could make out through mist, but the area seemed magically protected, as she was unable to find her way through to it.
- Tiffany learned of the eladrin warlock Zoramadria that had disappeared over ten years ago, though Merrisara Winterwhite suspected that she had turned traitor and was working with the dark fey against Sharandar.
- Tiffany learned that Zoramadria specialized in planar magic, and may be responsible for the nature of the Academy of Magic.
- Tiffany received an escort from Lysandra to make their way to the tower suspected to be the location of the Academy of Magic, receiving an escort by Lysandra, an eladrin knight of New Sharandar. It would take two days of travel at a normal pace, but could be reached within a day at a fast pace, though at risk of running across patrols of dark fey.
- Tiffany received a secondary task to find the eladrin knight Pelendethas Everstride, who had disappeared along with the rest of his scouting party a tenday ago during a scouting mission in the Blighted Grove
- Tiffany received a favor from Emrae Firesky, a priestess of Corellon within the Temple of Leaves of Sharandar, and received the benefit of a heroes’ feast, along with William and Lysandra, before they headed out together towards the Blighted Grove.
Tiffany continued to speak at length with Merrisara Winterwhite, seeking to learn more about Winterwhite’s suspicions. As they spoke at length, Tiffany asked just where these dark fey were amassed. Winterwhite replied that most of them were near Sharandar itself, in various enclaves around the forest. Among these was the Blighted Grove to the west, all manner of dark fey or other twisted creatures resided, most prominently redcaps and fomorians in service to King Malabog. Winterwhite spoke further of a recent scouting mission into the Blighted Grove had revealed a curious sight: a strange tower shrouded in mist, situated by a basin of water. However, the scout had found themselves unable to approach closer to the sight, magically foiled in some way. The scout had been Lysandra, an eladrin knight in service to New Sharandar. Tiffany recalled that there had been a tower outside the main campus of the Academy, where reportedly the headmistress and senior staff resided, but none other than they had ever been allowed to go there. Tiffany requested Winterwhite’s aid in finding this tower, possibly a concrete lead on the Academy of Magic. Winterwhite considered Tiffany and agreed, as it seemed Tiffany’s purposes ran counter to that of the dark fey, and in hence may prove beneficial to Sharandar. She told Tiffany to speak with Lysandra back on the Material Plane for further information, and that she would command Lysandra to provide escort to Tiffany through the wood to the Blighted Grove and to the tower.
However, she requested Tiffany to provide aid to New Sharandar by locating a missing scouting party that had disappeared a tenday ago. The group was led by the eladrin knight Pelendethas Everstride, and they had been investigating and collecting intelligence within the Blighted Grove. Tiffany accepted Winterwhite’s terms, and Winterwhite began to write an official writ declaring as such. Before Tiffany departed however, Winterwhite warned of the dangers of the Blighted Grove and of other fey in general. As she spoke, she filled the room with her presence, temporarily cowing Tiffany. The pressure in the room subsided, as Winterwhite grimly noted that Tiffany and William would need to steel their minds and will to avoid it being twisted by those of the dark fey. Winterwhite also spoke of one other possibility that had occurred to her. In the past, among the ranks of New Sharandar had been an eladrin warlock known as Zoramadria. Zoramadria had disappeared over a decade ago, thought to be dead, but Winterwhite suspected that she may actually be alive and having switched sides to join the dark fey. Zoramadria had been a powerful spellcaster and one who specialized in magic of the planes in particular: it was possible she might be responsible for the strange planar phenomena around the Academy of Magic or the strange effects on the Tower that had been seen. Mulling over this new information, Tiffany thanked Winterwhite and departed with William, heading back through the portal and back into the Material Plane into Sharandar.
Tiffany reached out to one of the guards to inquire where Lysandra was, and was told that she was out on duty at the time but that she’d be back by the eve. Tiffany elected to pass the time by visiting other locations within Sharandar, making her way to the Temple of Leaves, a temple to Corellon. Like much the rest of Sharandar, it was constructed up atop the trees, using leaves and wood for its construction. Tiffany made her way inside to pay her respects, as Corellon also was a god of magic. She spoke to the head priestess present, a sun elf known as Emrae Firesky. Firesky spoke pleasantly with Tiffany, curious as to her presence. Tiffany related the basics of her mission, and Firesky intimated that she had wished that Commander Winterwhite took direct action against the dark fey more often. As they spoke, Tiffany requested Firesky for aid before she and William would set out. Firesky found herself convinced by Tiffany’s words and promised to provide her, her brother, and those that came with her on her journey with a bountiful feast that would aid in granting one resiliency against the powers of fey magic upon the heart and will. Tiffany departed and headed to the Sharandar Tavern to relax and get refreshment and sustenance. She was served by a pair of colorful sprites known as Pax and Pox, as well as the eladrin bartender Alendra, and she gained some insight as to the day to day in Sharandar. The rest of the day passed until evening came, and Tiffany made her way outside to meet with Lysandra.
She found Lysandra near the gates, an eladrin with golden-red hair the color of autumn. She provided Winterwhite’s writ to Lysandra and explained the situation to her. Lysandra then spoke of the time she had been in the Blighted Grove two tendays ago during a scouting mission. She had stumbled across the sight of the tower by the basin, shrouded by mist, but had been completely unable to approach any closer. Every time she did so, she would find herself elsewhere, either back where she started or somewhere else. Some kind of powerful working had been placed upon it to prevent one from simply walking to it. Tiffany also spoke to Lysandra regarding Zoramadria, and Lysandra said that it was a possibility that she was alive and had defected, and may explain some of the strange phenomena. Lysandra told Tiffany she could take her out towards the Blighted Grove the next morning, but she reiterated the danger of the location. It would take a two day journey to arrive there, though they could attempt to move at a faster pace to arrive within a day, though they risked being more easily detected. In the end, Tiffany and William spent the night getting a well deserved rest before waking the next morning to make final preparations. She, William, and Lysandra enjoyed a fortifying breakfast at the Temple of Leaves before the three set out of Sharandar and into the foreboding depths of Neverwinter Wood, making their way to a den of malice and evil, but also perhaps where the answers to long-held questions lay...
Session 6
Tiffany participated in a funeral rite to Corellon Larethian for the sake of a fallen eladrin.
[Editor's Note: Expand on this section in the future]
Session 7
- Tiffany and her companions were able to enter the region of the Blighted Grove. Approximately 4 hours and 10 minutes have passed since the beginning of the day.
- Tiffany has charmed and since acquired the aid of an owl from Neverwinter Wood via the animal friendship spell for the next 7 hours.
- Tiffany learned that the survivor of the eladrin scouting party led by Pelendethas Everstride were likely held at Fort Blightmourne, one of the main dark fey strongholds within the Blighted Grove
After exiting and recuperating from their run-in with an ettercap and its minions in its lair, Tiffany, her brother, and the eladrin knight of Sharandar, Lysandra, continued on in their journey in Neverwinter Wood. By now, they were making their way out of the Webwoods and towards the Blighted Grove itself, with the plants and trees seeming more twisted and withered as they advanced. Along the way, Tiffany spotted a brown-colored owl that she decided to charm using her ring of animal influence. The owl flew to Tiffany, and she politely asked if the owl would be willing to keep an eye out for herself and her companions. The beast agreed, and the three continued, with the owl scouting ahead for them. As they went further westward, the owl came flying back, hooting rapidly and flapping its wings—indicating danger ahead. As Lysandra took a look, she said that they were approaching the tree line bordering the Blighted Grove, and that the owl may have seen the various blights within it.
Making their way through the treeline would be a tricky matter: it was a dense area of trees, filled with all manner of twisted plant creatures. The group could elect to try to simply fight their way through; they could try to sneak through unseen; they could try to find an area not as heavily guarded and try to enact and ambush and use the opening to pass through to the other side; or they could try to find some way to simply bypass the area entirely, perhaps by flying over surreptitiously or some form of magic. However, simply attempting a brute force approach could be taxing, and might use a significant amount of resources before they would even make it through. As for stealth, while Lysandra excelled at stealth, and Tiffany could perhaps do a passable job at it, William would likely prove to be a liability on that front. And finally, while Tiffany did possess the magical prowess that could allow the group to simply bypass the tree line, some of the key spells she either did not have prepared or would use a considerable amount of magical power from her, and she intended to try to hang on to her reserves for the day. The group decided to attempt an ambush strategy: sneaking up into the Blighted Grove partway and searching for an area they could enact an ambush on to create an opening for themselves. They made their way into the treeline initially undetected, before orienting themselves in the right direction and spotting potential danger to avoid. They found a prime area to set an ambush and prepared themselves for it, sneaking up to an unsuspecting group of blights before they sprung the trap! In a flurry of motions of arrow shots, halberd strikes, and spellfire, the three felled the blights before them before rapidly proceeding past, shooting beyond the treeline and into the Blighted Grove itself.
The Blighted Grove was an area overgrown with twisted trees, filled with everpresent gloaming dim light, and the sense that there was always something watching. Now within the Blighted Grove, the group had additional options to consider. At Tiffany’s request, Lysandra found an area for them to talk within and plan further. Lysandra expressed her desire to search for Pelendethas Everstride first before seeing to the matter of the mysterious tower and the prospect of the Academy of Magic. Tiffany explained that there was a friend of hers she was seeking to rescue at the Academy of Magic. As Tiffany and Lysandra conversed, it became clear that Lysandra had been given orders both to assist Tiffany in the finding of the tower, but also to assist Tiffany with entering it and handling the threats within, as Lysandra’s other assignment had been to attempt to collect intelligence from within it. Tiffany asked if they did rescue Everstride, if he would be willing to aid them on their shared goals, and Lysandra said that he likely would be, as he was a skilled eladrin warrior. But where was Everstride and the members of his group? There was an entire region of forest to potentially cover, and only the three of them. They could attempt to go to a fey fort and try to recover intelligence from there: if Everstride or his group were still alive, then they likely were being held prisoner somewhere to extract intelligence from or even potentially to be turned. They could try to ambush a dark fey patrol and try to interrogate them for further information. They could also try to investigate the scene where Everstride had last reported in.
Tiffany considered attempting to scry on him, but Lysandra said that it had already been attempted and failed. She warned that the dark fey had protections against divination magic like that, which could have more severe consequences than the spell simply failing: it could rebound on the caster, and cause their position to be revealed instead! Tiffany decided it wasn’t worth the risk, and that traditional investigatory means would have to suffice. The group decided to search the area where Everstride had last reported in, and where his area of duty within the Blighted Grove at the time had been. Along the way, Tiffany offered a plan to potentially disguise herself and the others with an illusion: Lysandra thought it was a good idea, for while there were those among the dark fey that could see through any glamor, such beings were rare, and the group would likely not run into them unless things had gone well and truly wrong. As the group made it to the site, they found the remnants of a battle, with bones, bits of broken armor and weapons, and so forth strewn about. Tiffany and Lysandra spent some time going through the remnants, combining Lysandra expert tracking skills with Tiffany’s keen investigatory sense. In the end, they were able to determine that of the four eladrin scouts that had come to this area, they had been ambushed by a group consisting of creatures of all sizes, and that only one of the number of them had survived. As for where the survivor had been taken, it pointed into an area deeper into the Blighted Grove in a slight northerly direction.
Lysandra paled as she saw the direction it pointed. As she explained to Tiffany, in that direction, the closest dark fey holding was Fort Blightmourne. Fort Blightmourne was no mere outpost or encampment: it was one of the main dark fey strongholds within the area, and where a significant number of dark fey amassed. If the survivor of Everstride’s mission was at Fort Blightmourne, that made the task before Tiffany and the group significantly more complicated. Just what Tiffany would decide to do next could well determine the course of the group’s fate within the Blighted Grove, and with it, the prospects for whether or not they could at last reach the Academy of Magic…
Session 8
- Tiffany elected to try to ambush a dark fey patrol to obtain more information regarding Fort Blightmourne before attempting to rescue the survivor of Pelendethas Everstride’s scouting party - Tiffany captured 4 redcaps, 2 quicklings, and Soveliss and Seriss, twin winter eladrin sisters in league with the dark fey of Neverwinter Wood
[Editor's Note: Expand on this section in the future]
Session 9
- Tiffany spoke with Fipple, a quickling associated with the dark fey, as well as the eladrin sisters Soveliss and Seriss.
- Tiffany learned, as reported by Fipple in conversation, the basic layout and troop assignments of Fort Blightmourne. She learned of the presence of multiple kinds of dark fey and other creatures present, including eladrin, trolls, fomorians, displacer beasts, meenlocks, darklings, and more. She learned of the presence of ballistae as well as of the commanders of the fort: a pair of eladrin Fipple called “Cinder” and “Sleet” respectively, and the use of passwords, and that “Cinder” and “Sleet” directly answered to the mysterious beings who led the dark fey.