from the thoughts, letters, and musings of Delamor Campion, Chosen of Sehanine

Lady Saharel stood before us proof that not all undead creatures were evil and needed to be feared. As we had provided a service to her she chose to answer a question posed by each of us in turn.

The first to ask his question was Athon who simply wanted to know what hope we really had against a being like Diker Thane. Lady Saharel revealed to us in her answer that Diker is but, a pawn in a wider plan. He serves Ssazz Tam, the Lich Lord of Thay and in order to defeat him someone will need to gather up the Narselkin. Three swords made by Diker’s mortal father and strewn throughout Faerun by time. Clues to the locations were revealed to be at Candlekeep and Stormkeep (which we had already planned to travel to) will help us find the others. I can not help but, think that if we do not embark upon this quest than no others will and that much pain and misery will be brought upon the world. Something we have all experienced too much of in the centuries since Cyric through his lies and deceit convinced the Goddess to help him slay Mystra. I hope that somehow I will be able to aid in healing her mind through the betterment of things on this mortal plane. With that goal in mind I ask my question of Lady Saharel and that simply is “Is there anyway for the Darano clan to be cleansed of their lycanthropy without putting them to the sword?” It is something I am compelled to ask by the Goddess’s divine will and knowing that her empowerment over the lycanthropes has not been the same since that fateful day. It is also something I promised the Daranos I would ask on their behalf. The answer is simple though the solution is not. They must travel to Wealdath Woods and pray for forgiveness to absolve themselves of their ancestors’ sins.

Aradon asks the next question. I do not remember the exact words only that it had to do with whether or not the Company of the Purple Eclipse had a greater destiny. Much was said by the Lady Saharel in response to this and the order of things is mixed up in my head but, I have no doubt we do have a destiny and that it involves many adventures and campaigns. She says we will go to Baldur’s Gate, across the sea, into the Underdark, and that we will indeed return to Cormyr and Wheloon someday. Also that we will travel to an earthmote and to other planes.

Then Belgarath asks something about becoming more powerful both individually and as a group. The Lady chooses simply to point us in the direction of Baldur’s Gate and a mage named Gilthan.

Next is a question from Gregg and one I must say I found rather insightful. Knowing that we needed to go to Stormkeep to learn more about the Narselkin and that the tower had no visible doorways he enquired as to how we would get into the place. The answer was to follow the black dove upon the plane of stone a riddle which later became more a statement of fact and much straighter forward than many of us had thought.

Lastly, Zyanne was looked upon for her question. It was obvious to me and somewhat evident to the others that she was struggling for a question to ask. Did she ask something that was going to propel the Company forward into more adventures? Perhaps something of a flippant nature? In the end her true heart and love shone through when she quite simply asked the Lady “How can I ensure success and happiness for my family?” Lady Saharel then spoke of how Zyanne should let her father know of the Korinn Isles and explain that the waters off the North-western side would provide enough money to secure success and a limited form of happiness for all of them.

Upon answering Zyanne’s question the Lady Saharel faded away and we set about the business of packing for our journey back to Loudwater via Stormkeep.

Aradon and I sent the wizards (Laurel & Hardy) off with Thurr Gargengrim back to Cormyr to set-up the first Chapter House for the Company of the Purple Eclipse and have begun discussing the ideal layout and provisions for the Chapter Houses. I took a few moments to impart to the Daranos the information I had gleaned from Lady Saharel and to offer them the Goddess’s blessing upon their travels.

After an extended rest we set out for Stormkeep.

About a day later we came upon the stone plain that Lady Saharel had spoken of and eventually spotted a flock of white birds with one of black among them. I slowly approached the bird and the rest of the flock scattered to the four winds. This one did not move until I reached for the green stone at its feet. I used the knowledge of the Art that Athon has thus far imparted upon me to discern that this stone was in fact the key to Stormkeep and we made our way inside.

We were quickly faced with the need to make a decision about direction of travel and decided to descend down some spiral staircases before getting too far into the keep itself. We found at the bottom of these stairs a flooded room with water up to our knees with broken skeleton and festering mounds of flesh. Stepping into the room to inspect the corpses and ensure the souls were lain to rest I set off some sort of blade trap and the undead revealed themselves for what they were. Two Corruption Corpses, a Mad Wraith, and a Zombie Hulk with the assistance of some skeletons attempted to add us to their ranks. I called upon the Goddess and inscribed a hallowed circle about us in order to bolster our defences. Aradon was damaged by the trap and Zyanne... well Zyanne amazed us all yet again by running down the stairs, leaping over our heads, and nearly killing one of the Corruption Corpses in one hit. She then busied herself disarming the trap so that it would not be able to harm us again.

Belgarath used some kind of Sun power and Athon used a flaming cyclone to wondrous effect. Neither of previous actions did much to impress Gregg as he was caught in the blasts from both effects (although, his revenge was coming thanks to our later encounter with a Brain in a Jar).

Eventually, we whittled the enemy down to the last corpse and Zyanne flings the Horn Totem at it only to miss critically and have the dagger return to her hand just in time to see Gregg decapitate it with his axe and for many of us to be caught in the resulting explosion.

After investigating the room I give the Jade Behemoth statue found within to Zyanne and consecrate the room against future undead outbreaks (and taking copious notes of the traps design) we vacated back up the spiral staircase where the choice was again which direction to go in. Our strategy for this particular building has been decided as left first, the rest later and so we ascend the stairs on the left only to encounter a ten foot gap in the stairs with a seemingly bottomless pit between the edges. Gregg makes a fantastic leap only to come up feet short. He barely manages to grab hold of the opposite side and haul himself up. We then use our rope and combined strengths to rig up a failsafe device for the others. Something that seems totally unnecessary by how easily everyone makes it across until Belgarath fails and uses the rope to finish his way across. Zyanne is next and decides to show off by tightrope walking across, ever a show woman sometimes that one. I get Athon who is much stronger and athletic than me to carry the armour across and follow behind. Ensuring to don the rainment again upon reaching the other side.

Once we get to the top of the stairs we come to a wide and open room and are assaulted by undead and the previously mentioned Brain in a Jar. Some sort of trap goes off and a body swap or mind swap or whatever occurs. I find myself somehow in Aradon’s body or Aradon in my body (none of us are really sure). The Brain dominated “Gregg” and sets about smashing the party to tiny pieces a little bit at a time. We all slowly get used to our new surroundings and make some progress against this new threat with Zyanne’s pet and “Athon” managing to destroy the Brain. We discover though that the zombies in this room are only permanently put down by radiant damage so I set about trying to put the final nail in the coffins of those undead still fighting.

The battle is ongoing…