#JustDemonLordThings

We continue the battle. It is tough. I won’t lie.

Graz’zt manages to take down several of us throughout the battle. We are able to break Pearl out of the Bone Cage creature in the middle of the battle. Eventually Graz’zt turns invisible and he continues to go after Brylwynn and RC, as Caulkin and Baptiste shoot into the spaces they believe him to be in while invisible.

• Pearl very wittingly uses Dispel Magic on Graz’zt invisibility, revealing him to all of us. 

Then, Glittr uses Destructive Wave on Graz’zt, landing a final blow, killing Graz’zt. As he dies, the shadow shard in the corner loses its purple hue and begins to glow in the colors of Lliira. 

Caulkin runs over to Fey’s body and casts Revivify that Pearl herself had placed into his ring of spell storing. The icy magic from the spells flows into Fey, awakening her.

She has been in the Abyss for a long time, so her eyes barely flutter open as Fey lies exhausted on the floor. 

• Caulkin helps her sit up to see Graz’zt body laying on the floor in front of her.

Pearl then runs over and holds Fey up. Pearl speaks with Fey and 

Fey reveals that she stole the Raven Queen’s Sword, and that it was hard for her to see Graz’zt bear it. Fey is suffering from all 5 levels of exhaustion.

Pearl picks up the Sword per Fey’s request, and as she holds it, the sword resizes from Graz’zt size to hers, just as magical weapons do. 

Brylwynn uses the Scroll of Teleportation given to us by Krowen and brings us back to Waterdeep. 

When we arrive, we are met by 2 attendants who are not normally there. The say Lady Waterdeep has requested us immediately. One of them will shop for us and one of them will escort us to the Keep of Waterdeep. 

As we make our way through the city, everything seems to be normal in the city. Everyone is going about their routine and daily activities. One of the guards tells us to rush as we make our way through the city.

Once we enter the Keep, the castle itself seems completely abandoned. Instead of the normal hustle and bustle we are used to, we are met with silence.

We look at Larael’s office, and inside there is a teleportation circle. The sigil leads to where Larael’s true research lies and they encourage us to stand on the Sigil. We are somewhat suspicious of this entire situation; from being intercepted at the Teleportation Circle to the strange state of abandonment in the castle.

• We are distrustful of the Squire in front of us. We use Zone of Truth on him and interrogate him briefly to make sure he is not lying. We don’t detect anything off, but some of the group remain nervous.

We step on the sigil and find ourselves in a Sanctum. Around us are tables with paper strewn about. A bit further back, we see a crowd of figures, a pool of water that is turned into a dark, murky shadow. Near the pool are the bodies of two shadowy creatures. We hear the voice of Larael enacting near the shadowy pool.

• From the surface of the water, we see an almost cartoon-like image of a force trying to break its way out from the water.

• Larael is expending a lot of energy to stop whatever is happening.

As we orient ourselves to what is happening, we recognize a variety of faces in front of us. We see Queen Titania, Valyun and his druid friend, Sythryn, from the High Forest, Captain Thunderhale, Caulkin’s sees the High Harper, Ruyvel.

Larael says, “You’re here, and not a moment too soon! The seal on Hae has broken and he is attacking our plane as we speak.

The Shadowfell is starting to bleed onto our plane as we speak. There are other reports across the coast that Shadow creatures are breaking through all over. There was a portal break over the ocean and one in the High Forest, hence why Thunderhale, Valyun, and 

Queen Titania steps up and says “A pleasure to see me again, I’m sure.” She shares that the Feywild has also been compromised. 

Valyun reveals that the portal opened near the Grandfather tree and that he left some of their best spellcasters there to deal with the creatures.

Caulkin asks where Hephaestus is going to break through, but Larael states that she does not know. Queen Titania states that she will be joining us for the battle. 

Larael states that our work on the Infinite Staircase has gone noticed by the Gods, in a good way. Selune has conveyed that our deities bear a final gift to us all. We all feel the warmth of our deities as they infuse us with energy and we prepare for the final encounter.

• Pearl hears the Raven Queen speak to her. Pearl has her staff, Fey is free, and she needs to free Jaerynos’ mind. 

• Baptiste hears the Obsidian Blade call out to him. The swords tell Baptiste to yield it and to expunge the evil that lies ahead. As he picks up the sword, he feels the divine energy of a deity flow through it.

• RC hears Bahamut’s voice resonate within himself. Bahamut asks RC to take up his fight one last time, go forth in his name, and end this dragon threat once and for all from this plane. 

• Glittr hears Lliira’s blessing in his head. She asks him what he will do now, and he says that he will fight Hephaestus and rid this plane of the being that is removing the joy from it.

• Caulkin feels his two twin daggers warm at his side. While he has not spoken to Kelemvor directly, Caulkin feels the strength of being #1, and his head assassin. He feels himself come under the effect of the Death Ward spell. And the Dagger that can cast Greater Invisibility can do that two times now instead of just once. 

• Brylwynn feels Mystra’s magic fueling inside of her. Mystra says that she contains the bravery and determination to fight against evil with her magic. Mystra states that she needs to fight evil one last time.

We step through the Portal and we see the Raven Queen’s Citadel in front of us. Hephaestus has taken it over. We are facing a field of shadow monsters between us the the Citadel. Atop of the tower in front of us is a large Shadow Dragon.