5, War of the River Kings

Session 46, Lamashan 4722 - Gozran 4723, Peace and Quiet

After a period of intense excitement, the barony of Greenhaven settled down for the winter. At some point during this period, the dragon Iluthliak was confronted and hopefully defeated!

Lamashan Jamir worked to establish control over Vellara's spy network and ensure its loyalty to the barony. The new grnad diplomat, Kassil Aldori spent time hob-nobbing in Restov and revealed that House Garess had finally joined in with the Rostlandic side. There would inevitably by at least one more major battle, but the dissolution of Brevoy seems all but inevitable.

Neth The followers of Erastil presented the barony with a magical fruit that had grown in their orchard, a panacea fruit with amazing healing powers. Somewhat suspicious of plant-related matters, Marcus queried the clerics, who mentioned seeing a dryad around the orchard at times. Fraxinus and Tamlane investigated the fruit and saw nothing amiss - but Voldea's sharp eyes say the mutable fruit look briefly very like the plants associated with 'the dryad'. The panacea fruit was promptly placed in a lead-lined bag within the bag of holding, along with the other items of dryadic origin.

Jamir successfully gained control of the spy network this month, and confirmed the validity of Vellara's notes and instructions. It was immediately directed westwards, towards Pitax.

Kuthona A smuggling ring had grown up within the barony, smuggling semi-legal goods from Restov through to Mivon and beyond. Under's Kesten's command, it was swiftly shut down before it could grow too large or powerful.

This month, Fraxinus was also approached by an agent of the Red Mantis cult, who were offering a bargain contract on Hannis Drelev. Their price was simply some of Fraxinus's time and labour as a master crafter. In the end Fraxinus decided against taking them up on their offer, but mostly because Drelev wasn't enough of a threat to be a worth a major incident if Dolgrin or other members of the council found out.

Abadius 4723 The new year brought with it an envoy from Pitax, a bard named Linzi. She brought invitation to the Rushlight Festival, a grand celebration of the arts, culture and crafts of the River Kingdom. King Irrovetti would host it near his capital that coming summer, and all the River Kingdoms were invited to exihibit alongside Pitax. Though realising their attendance would help boost Irrovetti's prestige, the barony eagerly began planning their contributions. Jamir's spies confirmed that Irrovetti was building a great festival grounds near Lake Rushlight, about a day's distance from his capital, and that both the Bardic College and Artificer's Guild were planning magnificent displays.

Calistril The famed author and explorer Jubilost Narthropple arrived in Greenhaven, announcing that he was investigating the barony to help research his latest book on links between the First World and the Material Plane. Despite his overwhelming arrogance, the barony agreed to sponsor his investigations, figuring that any information he found would be useful.

Pharast Another invitation arrived this month, from Helena Lebeda. The spring thaw was proceeding rapidly this year, and the armies of Rostland and Issia would meet upon the field in a few short weeks. Her letter invited the leaders of Greenhaven to fight alongside her, to share in the honour and glory (and danger).

Gozran Before departing for the battlefield, Jubilost gave his first report back to the council - there was an odd patch of 6-foot tall mushrooms in the Narlmarches, near Tiressia's grove and their road through the forest. He'd caught a mandragora, a strange plant-like being more normally found in the First World.

The heroes paid a quick call on Tiressia, and found her gloomy and upset. Her satyr lover Falchos had left some time late last year, and the dryad was still heartbroken and mourning. She knew nothing of the mushroom's Jubilost had found, as they were too far from her grove and area of dominion. They also visited Bartholomew, the reclusive wizard, and found his house was abandoned. He'd packed up neatly and in good order, probably sometime last year as well. There was no indication of why, or where he'd gone.

Session 47, Kuthona 4722, Ithuliak's Fall

Using the information from the lizardfolk, the heroes were able to locate the entrance to Ithuliak's lair, an underwater cave in the side of a small hill that rose out of the swamp. Using the water breathing potions acquired in Varnhold long ago, they entered the flooded tunnels. After a short while, their path forward was blocked - but only temporarily, as they easily saw through the illusions hiding the onward path. Moving onwards, they also spotted several warding glyphs which Marcus was able to safely deactivate.

When they finally reached Ithuliak's lair, they retreated back a short distance for Tamlane to do the final scouting with clairvoyance. As well as Ithuliak and his druid follower, there were also two gargantuan scorpions on the lower level of the cave. They made their final preparations and joined the fray.

Fraxinus's Prismatic Wall was able to separate Ithuliak from the rest of the combatants for a few critical rounds. The druid was the first to fall, as the heroes focused their offensive powers upon him. The two scorpions proved to be dangerous foes, especially to Tamlane who spent a large amount of the fight grabbed by one of the pair. By the time Ithuliak freed himself from the Prismatic Wall, one scorpion was dead and the other so badly wounded it drew back from the fight. Ithuliak's mobility proved dangerous even in the tight confines of the cave, as he employed hit and run tactics in between using his breath weapon. It wasn't enough though, and the Tyrant of the Hooktongue was finally slain by a single magic missile from Fraxinus's wand of manifold missiles.

When he died, the dragon's body disinterested into a cloud of leaves and flowers, looking very similar to the ones on Marcus's and Drelev's necklaces. The cloud of vegetation drew into a small point, and vanished in a flash of green light. The heroes speculated whether Ithuliak counted as a ruler, as clearly the dryad was involved here somehow.

Ithuliak's horde was massive, a vast array of gold and gems. The heroes weren't the first brave warriors to have faced him (though were definitely the first successful ones!), judging by the array of powerful magical items jumbled in with the treasure.

They returned to Fort Drelev for another hero's welcome. The main tavern was renamed 'Dragon's End' in honour of the day, and the landlady began brewing up 'Ithuliak's Blood' a special and potent brew.

Session 48, Gozran - Desnus 4723, The End of Brevoy

Towards the end of spring, the heroes headed north to help their Rostlandic allies in the final battles of the Brevoyan civil war. While Mourgrym helped to lead troops on the field, the other four assaulted a fort that held a key mountain pass. They were easily able to overcome the defenders, and the forces holding the fort surrendered quickly. The final battle of the war was fought soon after, and the Issian armies were unable to force their way south - forcing them to agree to a peace negotiation. Over the next month of complex negotiations, the kingdom of Rostland was re-established, and Helena Lebeda planned her coronation.

Returning home, the heroes decided to investigate the strange First World plant they'd found in the caves of the Lamashtu cultists. Tamlane had worked out that there was another offshoot of the plant somewhat to the south, and they ventured there. The plant itself was dead, unable to find succour in the relatively bleak environs of the Material Plane. Sat nearby was a dark-robed woman, apparently identical to the one they'd met outside Armag's Tomb. Like last time, much of her speech was vague and obscure, but she did tell the heroes that the dryad's death was on the march. Her answers made it sound like King Irovetti of Pitax was involved, though it was hard to certain. She mentioned a fabled First World kingdom of Thousandbreaths, which both Tamlane and Fraxinus recognised from old stories. Finally, she spoke of a prophecy pertaining to the dryad's end, one that sealed her doom. The woman was surprised when Fraxinus explained that prophecy held no power on the Material Plane any more, and that this was the Age of Lost Omens. The woman left almost immediately, opening a portal within the dead plant, the sound of hope in her voice.

After she'd gone, the heroes researched Thousandbreaths. It was a fabled kingdom, whose ruler had challenged the lords of the First World and been cast down for their daring. all the facts matched up with what they'd been told of the dryad, and also led them to think that there could be a link between their barony and Thousandbreaths - maybe this was why portals to the First World were so common? The only documentary evidence about Thousandbreaths was the account of a gnome named Zuldigger. Fraxinus headed to the Magaambya, as they had a partial copy of the gnome's fairy tale story. He was able to restore the missing pages of the book, but sadly the Magaambya copy was missing the map that the original was said to possess.

Not entirely sure what to make of all of this, the heroes decided to seal up the various portals to the First World in their realm. The one at the centre of the realm was left partially open, a gateway that they could use to pass through.

The following month, the heroes returned to New Stetven to attend Queen Helena's coronation. The banners of Rostland were raised in the halls of the Ruby Palace for the first time, and the red dragon banners of Choral the Conqueror were burned to ashes.

Session 49, Desnus - Erastus 4723, The Rushlight Festival

The start of summer passed peacefully and quietly, as Greenhaven expended into the region north of Lake Hooktongue, establishing new farms and fortifying the East Sellen River. In Erastus, they headed overland to the Rushlight Festival, the grand celebration of the arts and culture of the River Kingdoms that Pitax was hosting.

Their travel route took them through the busy city of Pitax, and then into the hills nearby for the festival proper. The Greenhaven contingent was housed in some style, making use of the both the Instant Fortress and Resplendent Mansions to outshine the tents and pavilions of the other attendees. The Festival itself went well, with much celebration and enjoyment. One of the grand highlights of the Festival was Spicy Gobble's amazing pyrotechnic circus act, which wowed the crowd. The grand finale was a stirring performance of one of the grand plays of Golarion by the Royal Bardic College of Pitax.

As well as the open parts of the Festival, there was a lot of political discussion - the southern River Kingdoms were worried about the Whispering Tyrant, and Greenhaven informed both Pitax and Mivon about the dryad (King Irovetti of Pitax invited them to his capital to talk business after the festival). Agents of Pitax also approached several key Greenhaven figures, sounding out their loyalty to Marcus. Fraxinus pretended to be disgruntled, hoping this would lead to more information about Pitax's intentions. They also got to meet Yangri Kotrison, the dwarven genius behind Pitax's clockwork soldiers and guards. Though he hid it well, he had a grudge against Mourgrym - Kotrison's ancestors had founded the dwarven ruin now known as Forgeheart, and he saw Mourgrym as an upstart interloper.

After finishing up at the Festival, the Greenhaven group returned back to Pitax. Marcus and his senior advisors stayed to talk to Irovetti, who was lagging a few days behind, while Julia and the rest of the Greenhavener's made their way home forthwith - not entirely trusting Pitax's intentions towards them. When he returned to the capital, Irovetti spoke briefly with Fraxinus, who repeated his faked disgruntlement, but the king didn't fall for the bait, and Fraxinus had to settle for vague platitudes. Irovetti met with the heroes as ag group to discuss the dryad, and her actions. The heroes held little back from their side, but the Pitaxi king was more reticent. He did confirm broadly the same story, and spoke with particular anger about his dislike of being controlled by others (Fraxinus noticed a vague Numerian accent, and wondered if the king had once been a slave there). Irovetti spoke of his hatred of the dryad, and how he wished to strike her down - but was unspecific about how far along he'd got with his planning. He didn't trust the Greenhaven group, in part due to the obvious fey influence Marcus and Tamlane both displayed, courtesy of their interactions with the plant.

In the end, Pitax's distrust won out. He summoned the heroes to his throne room that evening, and ordered them to stand down and let his army into their barony. They refused, and a pitched battle broke out. In the end, they defeated his clockwork soldiers and Kotrison, but the king himself managed to escape, leaving them battered and bruised in the heart of their enemy's stronghold...

Session 50, Erastus 4723, Invasion

22nd of Erastus In the immediate aftermath of Irovetti's attack, the heroes paused to heal and regroup. While Voldea and Tamlane tended to the worst of their wounds, Fraxinus cast a Dream Council so they could alert their allies at home. It was agreed to send word to Rostland to activate their defensive alliance, and also to call upon the Temple of the Elk.

Next, Marcus and Fraxinus went off to scout out the castle, which was deserted. The returned to the council room where they'd met with Irovetti and investigated the adjacent study. Irovetti had removed a folder from the shelf, but left behind various sundry notes and documents. The documents included a map of Greenhaven (carefully annotated with their latest defensive developments), a partially-destroyed copy of Zuldigger's Picnic, some notes mentioning Tartuccio, and other general administrative documentation. Back in the throne room, Tamlane spoke with the stone walls of the castle, and unearthed one of Irovetti's treasure stashes. He also looked into the past of Yangrit's items, and saw two significant scenes: firstly, a very young Yangrit being told about the destruction of his ancestral homeland by a vengeful dryad and being sworn to vengeance, and secondly, Irovetti revealing a wooden sword that he said could kill the dryad. It looked exactly like the shadow blade that Marcus carries. Shortly before Marcus and Fraxinus returned, one of Irovetti's staff ventured to peer into the throne room. Gedonius the Sommelier was clearly rather intimidated by finding his king missing and several rather angry Greenhavener's, but managed to mostly keep his cool - and ended up receiving a job offer from Marcus. Gedonius revealed that Irovetti had ordered the staff from the castle that evening, and also confirmed the rough location of the factory where the clockwork soldiers were made - and repeated a rumour about a clockwork dragon that his cousin's aunt's friend had seen!

The heroes then headed to the factory via the Shadow Plane, and after a brief diversion through some delightful caves, managed to locate it shortly before midnight. The factory was guarded by more clockwork soldiers, and their repetitive routines were no match for Marcus and Fraxinus's stealth. They made for Yangrit's workroom, and Fraxinus gleefully stole every scape of formula book he could find. Looking at the production line, the factory was still producing troops but at a slow rate - maybe one a day. Given this was unlikely to change the course of the war, they decided to leave the factory intact. After this, they finally teleported back to Thornmouth.

23rd of Erastus The next day, a flurry of investigation and communication occurred. Fraxinus's study of Yangrit's notes revealed a lot of details about how the clockwork troops worked, and confirmed the truth of a clockwork dragon. Searching through Irovetti's notes allowed the heroes to finally piece together Tartuccio's story - he'd been sent by Pitax to prevent the expeditions into the Stolen Lands. After setting Jamandi's manor aflame, he'd fled via the Shrike River. He saw the Old Sycamore, and paused to investigate - and sent word back that something powerful lurked under the tree. His finally report was a plan to take over a tribe of kobolds and use them to displace the mites that prevented him accessing the tree's root system. A careful casting of Hidden Lines upon Irovetti's map of Greenhaven revealed that his true target was the formerly-broken stone circle. Given that, he was likely to strike north of the Narlmarches, to avoid the well-defended forest path and castle at Tuskglen.

Shortly before another dream council that evening (this time with Queen Helena of Rostland and Lady Jamandi), Mourgrym received word from Bridgton that Irovetti's clockwork army had been spotted just beyond their borders. In the meeting, Marcus formally called upon Helena's aid, and she confirmed she would answer his call. She was more than a little confused about Irovetti's goals, even when the role of the dryad was explained. After the meeting, Marcus asked Fraxinus to return to the factory and destroy it, not liking his cousin's off-handed musings about what she'd do with a unfatigable clockwork army!

24th of Erastus Mourgrym received a sending at first light from Bridgton, giving more details about Irovetti's army. It consisted of 300-odd clockwork soldiers, five amalgams and one dragon. Somewhat concerningly, he received a second sending from the wand a few hours later. This message wasn't in their elaborate code, and told him that Irovetti's army was marching through the East Sellen and ignoring the well-guarded bridges. Their pace was incredible, two or three times the pace of any normal army.

Session 51, Erastus 4723, Invasion Part 2

24th of Erastus While Irovetti's army continued to advance, the heroes scrambled their own armies, marching them towards the Broken Stone Circle (their ultimate target), and also moving armies from Fort Drelev up to reinforce the East Sellen Riven.

25th of Erastus Fraxinus and Tamlane headed out to demonstrate the folly of invading a barony with high-level spellcasters on side. It took them most of the day to catch up with Irovetti's army, but then they struck with a terrifying barrage of evocation magics. All of the engineers Irovetti had brought with him were slain, and about 25% of the troops were rendered unusable. The pair were defended by powerful illusion spells, and Irovetti was unable to even locate them, let alone hurt them.

26th of Erastus Fraxinus remained to harry Irovetti's army, taking out another large chunk of clockwork soldiers. The rest of the heroes assembled with their forces around the Broken Stone Circle, and Mourgrym arrayed the army in a powerful defensive position. Their scouts reported that the armies of Rostland were on the move - Lady Jamandi's forces were a few days from the north-eastern front, while Queen Helena's forces had made it down to Bridgton and were moving to strike westwards.

27th of Erastus Battle was finally joined. Julia and other council members led the main part of the Greenhaven forces into battle, while the heroes moved in to engage Irovetti, his clockwork dragon and two huge clockwork amalgams. The clockwork creatures were relatively easily taken down, though the clockwork dragon exploded, inflicting massive wounds on the heroes. Irovetti's use of Wail of the Banshee was largely countered by Marcus's Counter Performance - though his last gasp of rage was enough to slay Voldea outright and bring the rest of the heroes to their knees. Fraxinus finally slew Irovetti, nearly taking himself down in the process.

Voldea's spirit lingered long enough to see Irovetti's death, and the look of loss and despair on his face. A moment later an angel approached, and took Voldea's hand to lead her forwards to Sarenrae. Sarenrae met with her champion in a gleaming palace of sunlit white and gold. She told Voldea that Nyrissa (the dryad) was not beyond redemption, and that she would send Voldea back for this purpose - or to slay Nyrissa if all else failed, before the dryad could kill any more innocents. Voldea accepted her god's blessings, and was returned to light - though somewhat changed by Sarenrae's powerful blessing.

Marcus searched through Irovetti's belongings, and found the sword Briar - the wooden twin of his shadow blade. He kept the two blades apart for now, but there was clearly a powerful link between them. They also found a completed copy of Zuldigger's Picnic, including a map of the mysterious realm of Thousandbreaths.

Session 52, Erastus & Arodus 4723, The Fall of Pitax

28th Erastus After licking their wounds, the heroes travel back to the clockwork factory to destroy it before Queen Helena can claim it. Tamlane and Fraxinus's spells make quick work of the isolated building, and it's reduced to a heap of rubble in short order.

The heroes then speak with their allies via Dream Council, and all agree to meet in Pitax city in a few days time. Helena reports seeing a Pitaxi army on the plains to the north-east, and she wants to deal with them first. There's something slightly off about her story, but the heroes aren't quite sure what's up.

29th Erastus The heroes travel to Pitax itself to start setting up meetings with Pitaxi representatives when Helana and Jamandi arrive. Marcus consorts with the nobility who were displaced by Irovetti, while Fraxinus tries to recruit from the bardic college, and Tamlane and Voldea speak with the religious leaders. No-one has heard anything about the army Helena mentioned.

30th Erastus Tamlane and Voldea consult with one of Sarenrae's divine servants, who reveals that there's no Pitaxi army still in the field, and that Helena's goal is to loot the undefended city of Pitax. They rush back to Pitax to warn the city, though there's little time to muster a defence.

31st Erastus The great council occurs in Pitax. Representatives from the city ride forth to meet Helana and her army a few miles from the city, and offer her tribute to keep her from sacking the city. A new order is proclaimed in Pitax, and the reign of Irovetti officially ends. There is no new king, and the five noble houses resume their squabbling rule, with the bardic college displaced and out of favour.

That night, the heroes all have strange and unsettling dreams. Only the fey-touched Marcus and Tamlane can remember the details -they see a pile of rubble (including a broken stag antler, chunk of a greatsword blade, and fragment of troll skin) before them. A delicate hand places a broken flute atop the pile, completing it.

1st Arodus Disturbed by the dream, the heroes begin to research the dryad Nyrissa and the sword they recovered. They find out that Nyrissa was once the lover of one of the Eldest, Count Ranalc. He was banished from the First World to the Shadow Plane in the distant past for an unknown crime - perhaps related to Nyrissa's offense against the rest of the Eldest? The sword Briar is her heart, and this perhaps explains why an artifact of the First World created a copy of itself on the Shadow Plane. Marcus joins Briar with its shadow, and feels Briar begin to awaken. The sword still slumbers, but the heroes can tell that it will awaken if exposed to the energies of the First World.

2nd Arodus The heroes travel to Jatembe's Gift to study the plant (the one that Nyrissa's servants had entrusted to the Cult of Lamashtu to mutate their people into monsters). Fraxinus spoke with the plant, and it was willing to allow itself to be slain to help awaken Briar - so long as he agreed to eat of the plant, and partake of its strange fey nature. He agreed, and Briar was plunged into the main vine of the plant. The death of this part of the plant stirred the sword towards wakefulness, and Marcus was able to feel its emotional state.

Shortly afterwards, their received word from Istranda Arel in Fort Drevel. Strange whirlpools had been sighted on Lake Hooktongue, and black swans were seen flying overhead. Any resemblance to the start of Zuldigger's Picnic was almost certainly merely coincidence!