session XXIII - Windvane

While Halvarth collects the remaining incense from the fuming pots scattered on the edges of the room, Elthas chases after Savra who had silently left, defeated and without purposes. He easily finds the young human, dragging her feet and sobbing alone in the darkness of a now deserted dwarven city, aside from the litter of corpses left behind from their earlier passage. 

Her heart jumps at the promise of redemption for the recent atrocities she's committed, willingly or not, but her enthusiasm is quickly curbed as the high elf threatens her with violence and death were she to turn on them. Nevertheless, she promises to do everything in her power to make due for the horrors of which she took part and follows him back to the throne room.

Meanwhile, the party is still questioning Bruldenthar, attempting to formulate a plan for what follows. The dwarf reveals the general structure of Tyar-Besil. Four general areas, admittedly refuge to the four elemental cults form the first and principle level of the ancient dwarven city. 

All four quarters are not only connected to two other quarters but also to a lower level which consists of a main chamber where the Besilmer barely had time to dig out before deciding to forgo their usual ways of building underground and mostly become a surface dwelling empire. 

Legend says horrors untold were uncovered and were deemed better left alone. 

This lower level subsequently leading to a series of cave system with eventual passages towards the underdark were but summarily explored by the dwarven historian during his first passage here a few hundred years ago. 

Suspecting a confrontation with Yan-C-Bin would occur either in the lower level or the caves, Halvarth decides to expend some of the incense just gathered to perform a ritual allowing him to peer into the legendary mysteries of Windvane.

Focusing on Queen Aerisi's spear, the bard enters a trance during which he sees visions of the renegade drow, Vizeran De'Vir, dressed in rags with a retinue of evil looking comparse forging a dismal hammer with evil intent in reverence to a foul, god-like entity called The Elder Elemental Eye. 

With their work done, the implement is left on the altar at a shrine they call the Fane of the Eye, and forgotten for countless years before visions of Besilmer dwarves stumble upon it, unaware of its malice. The hammer, baptised Morabrond by the dwarves, is handed to Harbet Greyforge, the king's smith, who, led by visions of his own, uses it to craft Windvane, a nearly indestructible spear that's as light as a whip. Unbeknownst to Harbet, through the evil sorcery infused in the hammer, Windvane inherited a spark of Yan-C-Bin's soul, the prince of elemental air. Granting its wielder mastery over air and lightning, king Torhild offers the weapon to his beloved son, Throndild, who wields it masterfully, defending the realm against its many enemies.

As years go by, Throndild becomes secluded, uninterested in affairs of state and focused on personal gain and fame. So much so, that, upon leaving Tyar-Besil for good, king Torhild Flametongue himself pries the weapon off his son's hands and throws it away back into the Fane of the Eye where Windvane patiently waits for a next soul to corrupt. 

Halvarth's vision ends with the sight of Aerisi Kalinoth, led by a hooded figure to the altar, grabbing the spear and letting it take away her agency. He sees a sheltered, petulent child of royal elven blood in the body of a tall slender woman. Vain and uncompromising, Aerisi made herself queen by populating her royal subjects with tortured cultists and using her natural beauty to seduce a contingent of warriors mounted on hypogriffs who served as her knights, fulfilling her childish visions of fairy tale nobility.

The bard finally opens his eyes to find Bruldenthar, insisting once more on being the handler of Windvane, the dwarf seemingly concerned for the adventurer's integrity. Halvarth shares the rest of the spear's secrets with the group. It makes its wielder break its most sacred vows, it traps the souls of those it kills that can then offered as sacrifice to Yan-C-Bin in an elemental node of air to produce a devastation orb and the only thing that can destroy it is Morabrond, the cursed hammer that forged it. In a wicked twist, when destroyed, Windvane banishes any soul it hosts from the material plane. 

After resting for an hour, the adventurers finally gather their things and move to the temple's first floor. Savra having remembered that prisonners were sometimes thrown down the air shaft, Halvarth and Trash fly down to investigate. 

With no time to take in the scene, they find themselves face to face with an air elemental. In a moment of panic, Halvarth traps the creature in a wall of force, giving enough time for the rest of the party to make the descent. Making use of the bought time, through some clever use of his sorcerous abilities, Tico manages to communicate with the elemental and quickly understands he's expecting sacrifices. Looking around, the party is perturbed at the grimy sight of gore spattered on the floor and walls of this windy cave. The floor strewn with dismembered humanoid corpses. Amongst the horrendous sight, they notice heads on which the symbol of the howling hatred is carved in the forehead. Wasting no more time, in a moment of disgust, Halvarth drops concentration on the spell and the group makes quick work of the monster. 

By a stretch of one of his spell, Tico understands that Bero's wife, Annabelle, is scattered amongst the remains. Breaking the news to Bero is first met with denial but the latter soon gets to his senses and becomes resigned on helping the party root out this evil. 

Making their way back up, led by Bruldenthar, our heroes make their way north towards the north-western quarter of Tyar-Besil where, the historian confirms, the city's lead architect is said to be entombed.  

The welcoming party to this neighborhood turns out to be a group of unceremonious hobgoblin who answer Halvarth's best attempt at diplomacy with swords and longbow. Elthas lets his arrows fly, Tico launches psychic attacks, Trash is the party's shield and the group let's Kella loose who, as always, is hitching for a fight.