Tl;dr: A group of adventurers sought out the Fountain of Aging across the mountains to the southwest of Port Mirandia. After finding it they disenchanted and then destroyed said fountain. Will there be repercussions? We will find out.
Future Adventure Notes:
•The Fountain of Aging was destroyed to stop white dragons abusing its aging magic.
•Roschutto the Aging Merchant had sought this fountain, may possibly be unhappy with its destruction.
•Possibly there is still an aging effect upon entering the plains beyond the mountain passage.
•Argentius and the frost giants have reached some sort of accord.
•Magical Cold damage will reverse magical aging.
Session Title : The Lonely Fountain
Session DM : Calmseeker
Session Date 30 Dec 2021 @ 16:00 UTC
Session Risk : 5
Characters:
“Scout” Bardy (Bard 13 / Cleric 1) with Sisyphus the Pegasus (played by Tootired78)
•Dimble (9 Sorcerer) (played by TheOddity)
“Trailblazer” Gau (Druid 10) (played by Konopa)
Marcus (Cleric 10) (played by Genthrock)
Recounting my latest adventure here, as always I note I am a few drinks down.
~Bardy
I was enjoying my time in Port Miranda when I overheard someone saying they were going to be heading for the Fountain of Aging at the request of the Roschutto (the creator of all those dangerous enchanted items that seem scattered all over the island, notoriously aging the person who first touches them. Application of magical cold damage will reduce the aging effect as I recall.) (It seems some adventurers had encountered Roschutto during an expedition across the mountains.) Being available, I offered my services to assist them on their journey.
Our first two days of travel, first along the road southwest of Port Mirandia, then across the river, heading southwest towards the mountains, were uneventful. (Sisyphus proved to be a convenient way of cross the river, if tedious, one person at a time.) On the third day we saw a petrified hellhound. (Poor Bagheera, I hope Gau manages to restore him.) As we approached the mountain, (apparently there is a pass that some of my party was aware of) we saw some ancient pillars with the name “Leonid” carved in the language of the primordials.
The pillars were all magical, radiating abjuration, transmutation and necromantic energies. (Brave Sisyphus volunteered to see if what would happen upon contact, he was aged.) Unlike previous aging effects I’ve encountered, this one remained after usage. (This was curious, if I was younger I might have risked contact to understand it better.) The rest of the day was uneventful again. We continued in the morning to cross the mountains, sleeping there once.
On the afternoon of our fourth day of travel, I saw a silvery dragon in the distance. Chancing that it was Argentius (a silver dragon who considers this area his territory), I called out to him, which it was. Argentius said he was on his way to a cave in the Speckhome Mountains, for a meeting with the local frost giant leader, Chief Nifil. (said meeting was apparently arranged by adventurers) Argentius invited us to come along, which we did. (I used a little trick I learned recently, discovering that Argentius, occasionally will lick the hair samples he collects from travelers.)
Since we arrived with Argentius, the frost giants did not question our presence and let us enter their cave. Wearing a giant cloak in the middle of the cave, was Frost Giant Chief Nifil. Chief Nifil spoke of how the giants had been seeing a unusually large number of young white dragons passing by to the east. A concerning amount of dragons, and also, an improbable amount for their size Possibly something was accelerating their growth. Argentius asks us to investigate these dragons.
Seeing as we were looking for the Fountain of Aging (which we mentioned), it seemed possible that these dragons might be partaking in the effects, causing their growth. We agreed to Argentius’s request, and spend the night in the frost giant cave, with them watching over our sleep. (I used the same trick on Chief Nifil discovering his favourite food is roasted yeti.)
The next day we continued our trek across the mountains, heading generally southwest. Near the end of the day, we saw an old fat elf being attacked by a yeti, and promptly rescued him. His name was Gilius, and some of my party had encountered him before. (The poor fellow was redolent of cheese, I did my best to clean him up, I expect it was a temporary solution.) Gilius was from a village called Elmfield, roughly ten miles away. (apparently other adventurers had been there.)
We invited Gilius to camp the night with us which was uneventful. (Sisyphus spotted a very lightly enchanted waterfall, but we spared no time investigating it.) As we finished crossing the mountains and entered the plains area, we were struck by a magical effect, aging some of us slightly. We reached Elmfield by the afternoon, finding the village mostly populated by elves and furbolgs. (noticably, some of the longer lived races.)
The village chief was a druid named Rengamir, who told us the general location of the Fountain of Aging, (somewhere off to the east of the village.) He mentioned that the aging magic of the fountain permeates the plains, getting stronger the closer you get, but eventually continued exposure no longer has an effect. Rengamir talked about how a follower of Leonid made the fountain for an unknown nefarious purpose. (Gau spent a moment trading with the villagers, getting a diamond necessary to restore Bagheera. I hope and pray he succeeds.) We spent the night in the village inn, paying for the stay.
In the morning, Rengamir mentioned that a nearby stream is thought to originate at the fountain, and if followed upstream, it might lead to its location. We travelled east to locate the stream, then start following it upstream. (Along they way we saw some lovely lotus flowers, also the stream was faintly magical.) Further along, somewhere to the east we see a structure of some kind on a hill covered in dense foliage and pillars resembling those by the mountain pass.
Inscribed on a wall are the words “speak the name of the Inspirer to reveal the Passageway.” We tried “Leonid” but nothing happened until Gau said it in primordial, which caused a large opening to appear. This revealed a cave entrance. We entered and followed the cave into a ruined building. On the wall of a room was a drawing a giant construct and carvings that read in primordial “The fountain guardian lies sealed away, preserving the structure in the name of Leonid, the one who observes time.”
Further along was a second drawing of a construct with (again written in primordial) “The flow of time is channeled through the water. The fountain guardian will preserve the true essence with all of its might.” Our continued exploration eventually led to us seeing a group of three white dragon wyrmlings who were (rather gleefully, but also maliciously) intending to drink the water. We tried to warn them of the dangers (of aging) but that was precisely why they intended to drink. Before we could stop them they drank then grew in size, attacking us after.
During the fight, (possibly due to necromantic magic I used, hard to know) a massive construct burst forth from the ground underneath. It said it was “protecting the fountain from all intruders” and that we did not “bear the mark“. It attacked both the dragons and us, and we were forced to destroy it in defense of our lives. After the fight Gau found a lever and pulled it (again! pulled it again! Without thought or asking our opinions but I digress,) which seemed to cause a heavy rumbling sound in the chamber to the west.
As we entered the chamber, it was apparent that a new passageway had opened, beyond which was a stairway. We rested to recover from the fight and then ascended the steps. At the top was a room with a large fountain within, water splashing away. A clock was inscribed on the side and on one wall of the room was a drawing, with the inscription, “The closest depiction to our patron entity Leonid”. The fountain was heavily magical. We agreed to attempt to dispel the magic, and the first attempt seemed to work.
With the magic gone, the water was no longer causing aging. Due to the strength of the enchantment, (and I have no idea how long it has been active,) we decided it would be prudent to destroy the fountain physically as well. Gau does some of his earth magic to smash it to pieces, after which more rumbling happens. Unsure of what the cause was, Gau became a watery elemental form, and I guess he swam up the fountain source, trying to discern what happened but he could not.
Seeing as there was unknown rumbling in a ruined structure of indeterminate age we quickly decided to get out of there. We elected to head straight for the frost giant cave as we did not want to double back to get to the village of Elmfield. The night passed by safely, and then the next afternoon we reach the frost giant cave. We informed Chief Nifil and Argentius about our destroying the Fountain of Aging for which they were glad to hear.
After leaving the cave, we continued for a the rest of the journey travelling back to Port Mirandia without notable incidents. (Along the way I began to ponder, if Roschutto had wanted the Fountain of Aging destroyed of simply located. We may have overstepped here. Someone will be the person to tell him of these events, hopefully that goes well.)