Tl;dr: A third node at The Forge Citadel area was successfully ritually cleansed. All party members survived.
Future Adventure Notes:
•The dwarves continue to add items to their shops at Fort Custer
•The node at A-4 was ritually cleansed.
•The cold in the A-4 area requires protection or resistance. Risk of exhaustion if unprepared.
•Forge effects in uncleansed areas include, but not limited to: sudden movement; wild/null magic zones; damage; exhaustion; more/less healing; less spell range; more/less movement speed.
•Reminder to that the Forge defense will disintegrate anything that goes above one-hundred feet.
•There is a missing dwarf scout named Ivan.
•Two new inhabitants at Fort Custer, a blue skinned elf and her golem.
Session Title : Forged in Blood
Session DM : Geokhan
Session Date : 18 Sept 2021 @ 22:00 UTC
Characters:
•”Traiblazer” Bardy (Bard 13/Cleric 1) with Sisyphus the Pegasus
•”Scout” Eight (Monk 13/Wizard 2)
•Griters (Wizard 10)
•Uzza (Warlock 15) with Ral the Familiar
•Valorean (Paladin 6/Sorcerer 9) with Azure the Griffon
A fourth entry (or the third update) to an ongoing adventure, previous entries located here in the archives:
•https://sleeperisland.eu/three-amiigos-go-to-the-forge/
•https://sleeperisland.eu/three-amigos-minus-one-plus-three-go-to-the-forge/
•https://sleeperisland.eu/three-amigos-reunited-plus-three-go-to-the-forge/
~Bardy
We found ourselves at Ruined Oak with time to continue our work helping the Rehope dwarves reclaim the tainted area around The Forge Citadel. We had no trouble travelling throughout the day to the teleportation circle. The dwarves there greeted us and swiftly teleported us to Fort Custer, the dwarf fort newly erected at the other side of the circle. They had continued to add new items to their stores.
Klorpmunder asked us to keep an eye out for a missing scout named Ivan, who had last been seen heading towards the area (A-4) we were going to be trying to clear. (We did not find Ivan but it is possible he was one of the poor unfortunates in the traps of the crypt.) In the morning Klorpmunder brought to out attention a raging blizzard directly where we intended to go, warning us to make sure we were protected from the cold. (Sadly we had no such protection for the two large mounts, Ral seemed to be unaffected by the extreme cold.)
The blizzard made it difficult to see (in addition to being extremely cold!) Shortly after entering the A-4 area we were swept into conflict. (Split by the icy walls and the obscuring blizzard, the following moments were confusing, I will very likely miss important details.) Griters, Sisyphus and I found ourselves along the central icy ravine. (Sisyphus was affected by the cold but managed to continue.) To our south, blocked by a ridge, Eight, Uzza and Valorean were advancing.
Valorean met two creatures (who surprisingly did not attack him on sight, a first for the area). A blue skinned female elf and a stone golem. Shortly after this he stepped into a rift in space, moving as if with magic in a blink of the eye. Then he stepped into another rift finding himself in a trap and undead filled crypt. He spent the rest of this minute killing undead and zooming around trying to find a way out.
Uzza summoned a giant insect that she then sent through the rift, and then (perhaps unwisely) went through herself. She came quite close to death after finding herself surrounded by many large creatures. Eight was moving around so fast I could have no idea what he did. Eventually Griters and I could see where they appeared, and the various creatures that were around them.
There were some type of constructs wielding radiant blades, some blue-skinned felines, some wyverns and some icy lizards that I do not recall seeing before (there may have been a caster of some type beyond where I could see). We struggled under the shear amount of creatures coming towards us, throwing fireball after fireball trying to thin the numbers. During this it became clear the two encountered by Valorean were also fighting these creatures. (Eight gave them directions to Fort Custer, seems they we here by accident.)
During all of this we were also contending with the Forge itself, and how it warps the area around it. (Shoved, pushed, exhausted, wild and null magic zones, more or less healing magic power, etc., I still wish I knew how Eight and Griters are able to resist these,) Eventually we culled enough the rest fled and we had opportunity to join Valorean in the crypt. More confusion as we split off into different directions.
I found myself occupied by a page written in writing I did not recognize. (Shortly after using magic to understand it I realized my folly in reading this page. I was fortunate to learn something amongst the alien prose without loss.)
There was a powerful spellcaster remaining who seemed very angry at our presence in this tomb, demanding us to leave. He managed to escape though, through an illusionary wall.
We realized when we had a moment to think that a large glyphed door was in fact the node we were here to ritually cleanse. Finishing the ritual allowed it open (and a palpable sense of ease as the Forge was controlled here.) We found a spiral staircase that led to a ramshackle ransacked room. (it seemed like someone, most like the escaped spellcaster, had hastily gone through the room to collect some belongings before leaving.) We found some gems, an axe and some of the magic stones that the dwarves are eager for.
We returned to Fort Custer with the dwarves cheering our success at the A-4 node. In our exhaustion we did not take a moment to converse with the blue elf and her golem, but they seemed to be getting along with the dwarves. We returned to Ruined Oak to by the end of the day.
