| Session Date | September 2, 2023 |
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| Base XP Gained | Carry Over |
| Player Notes | ZZ's Notes |
After a night in Far Andor, the party went differing ways. Sirius and ZZ made their way north to visit the Lady of the Dry Tree. There, they negotiated with her for aid in casting several Enchant an Item spells, as well as to make some scrolls of the same for them. She was happy to do this and was clearly happy to be visited by ZZ and to get word of recent events in the south. They two spent a total of eight days with the Lady before returning to Kazakh in the Dwarf Kingdom. There, Sirius commenced preparing numerous potions and scrolls for use in their upcoming adventures.
Helga, Burt, and Hans went southwest, returning to Kazakh City briefly before journeying on to visit Iban in Grilbie. There, they exchanged news and returned his Crystal Ball which the party had been using for some time. They did not stay long, returning to Kazakh after a short visit and linking up to aid Sirius with his endeavors.
Deaglan went south, crossing the Greensward into the Elven Kingdom, where he brought word of the Drow presence, as well as verifiable proof. The normally aloof High Elves were much taken by this news and Deaglan was brought to Elsinore, the White City of Neldoreth. There the half-elf was questioned at length about what he had seen and learned. The questioning became monotonous as he was grilled by differing elves repeatedly, usually over the same buts of information. Finally, that gave way to a more friendly (though maybe not exactly relaxed) attitude. He was given the freedom of the city(I failed to give you a proper description so I will send separately). After a time, he learned that the Elves were sending a delegation to the Dwarf Kingdom for a council of war, led by no less a luminary than Lydon, Crown Prince of Neldoreth, who had not left the kingdom in over a century.
Deaglan learned more of the Drow during this time, mainly that there had been an unquiet, watchful peace to the south for many centuries. Skirmishes, spying, and the like did occur, but were not serious and had been in decline in recent centuries. Still, the border was closely watched by both sides. For their part, the Drow capital was at Morlin, once a High Elf city in a deep cleft and since renamed the Dismal Delve. In truth, this was a colony of the Drow established long ago. Their chief realm lie further to the south, but was seldom a concern as the ever-warring factions and oligarchs of that realm kept it disunited and chaotic. Not so the Drow of Morlin, who had an actual ruling monarch. Deaglan inquired about spying on the Drow but was warned it was exceptionally dangerous as the Drow magics made success almost impossible. Deaglan even had a brief audience with the Crown Prince, who seemed genuinely grateful for his efforts, presenting him with a magic ring of great antiquity.
Deaglan accompanied the Crown Prince’s small party to the Dwarf Kingdom, arriving about the same time as the Dwarf King himself, Therrin II, arrived from his capital. Although a closed meeting, the party was directed to attend in order to provide their insights and information firsthand. There was some grumbling about their presence, but the Dwarf King made it clear it was his idea and that silenced any opposition. The council of war discussed plans for coordinated operations across the entire region. It was clear they were in no hurry to act, first desiring to gather additional information and to better prepare their own forces. But hey were clearly serious, too. At the Council, it was reported that Far Andor had fallen to assault by both land and water – a fleet of pirate ships from the young Kingdom of Wellidar had joined the Giant King’s forces and begun his avowed plan to link up the entire Blueflood region under their new alliance. The Elves would NOT allow penetration further up the Blueflood, into the depths of the Grand Forest.
More immediately, the Dwarf King expressed his concerns at the close proximity of a previously unknown dungeon to this city, the very one the party had discovered and partially explored. The fact that there were Drow there (even if not affiliated with all of these happenings) was of grave concern. There had already been a small invasion of the Dwarf Kingdom from this place that resulted in a terrible battle but last year where hundreds of Dwarves were slain (in fairness, most by a dragon that did not come out of the dungeon). Still, this threat could not be ignored, and Therrin asked if the party would accept a task to thoroughly explore this place, seeking to determine if it was a danger and how to possibly end it as such. Although there was though among the party that aiding in the war that was coming would be a good use of their talents, the King was clearly more interested in this, so the party acquiesced. Therrin was pleased and gave all of the party members new or increased honorary rank in the Dwarf Army.
The war council soon concluded their first day’s business and the party was released. They told the Dwarves they needed another four weeks of preparation prior to their descent. They were none-too-thrilled by this but really had no choice but to accept the party’s requirements and to hope it was not too late. The party would probably be entering the dungeon about the time the first Elven and Dwarven forces began to go into combat…