Chapter 19 - Oberon's Will
A'horangi invited me to join her back up the Throal Mountains. She wants to investigate the shrine we saw there when we faced a swarm of Gnashers and a Crystal Entity. She also invites Zivilyn, LaShanna, and Moe'uhane for this archaeological expedition. We gather up some cold-weather gear, and fly up the mountains near the Iceclaw Moot, then over to the shrine. This route removes several days of travel, by not visiting the Cloister of Silence.
When we arrive at the plateau, there is fresh snow on the ground and the shrine is no longer glowing. Approaching closer, we discover two large statues flanking the entrance; one human, one troll. Above them, a large draconic wing of stone shelters the statues. There are some broken glyphs upon the entrance as well. A’horangi confirms that the palanquin was made of a dragon-like skin and lots of bones.
LaShanna heads in first. The cave is crumbling inside. It’s extremely dark without the light. We travel about a kilometer into the caves. The area opens wider before us. There’s the sound of dripping water. We see some cobblestone roads, the ruins of buildings, and large openings in the walls. A’horangi determines the buildings were hastily built, but the walls were destroyed, then neatly stacked in a strange pattern.
LaShanna approaches the central meeting area. It has 8 pillars, a community well, and 6 staircases leading up to it from different directions. There’s a small wall separating the grounds from the rest of the city. She notices some writing on one of the walls as she hears some moaning and movement around the pillars. She sees four Boneless creatures. She returns to the group and reports her findings.
Zivilyn prepares Ferret Reflexes for all of us. Moe casts Monstrous Mantle on all of us as well. Their tentacles reach 10 yards, so we quickly abandon the plan of drawing them out of the building. We make quick work of them after that.
We find some writing on the inside of the exterior walls. It’s the history of the kaer. Including a mural of two climbers, a human and troll, with a group below them. I translate the writing below the murals from Theran.
- The village of Sturben must flee the scourge.
- They present something to the dragon Oberon to grant protection.
- A supply cart going up the mountain. Hard work and wisdom allow us to prevail.
- Gathering in this room, 3 leaders. Life has been a hard adjustment, we need a new leader as the dragon slumbers.
- The elven leader with a crown of bones. People kneel in reverence. Our life for the greatness of our leader.
- Murals after that are mere scratches and blood.
The drakes breath weapons are still functional, but only target one of us.
A’horangi heads up to one of the Crystals while I charge the first Drake. Zivilyn protects us with Astral Shields, while he sends Haze to ambush. Moe casts Monstrous Mantle on me and A’horangi. LaShanna snipes distracted drakes.
The crystals seem to cocoon corrupted things. One of which is not corrupted, but large enough to be drake size. It’s got some magical symbols on it. They’re protection runes, similar to kaer doors and walls.
There may be a corrupted dragon. There are certainly more Crystal Entities. The leader is still unaccounted for. The uncorrupted crystal seems to hold memories, so we detach it from the wall and go through considerable effort to bring it back to Throal for more investigation.