Evermoor Way IV: The Gem of the North!
…The body that was slumped over the chair snapped its head back from over the chair and back into position. The party recognized her from the apparitions of the manor: it was the dark adviser, Gertrude! She grinned wide and evil, and cackled a haunting laugh as her features grew long and haggard. Her skin turned midnight blue, and her pupils the red of the nine hells.
Gertrude raised her arms and spoke an incantation, causing the green mist to coalesce into four ghouls, surrounding the party. T’Sai charged the night hag, slashing her with his dark blade. Pix, Thaminor, and Molish prepared themselves and entered the battle. Sigismund, having heard the sounds of fighting from downstairs, tried to enter the room and found the oak doors locked… So he decided to knock with his elven blade, opening a hole on the first strike.
Surmising that the green gem embedded in the body on the ceiling was the source of the night hag’s power, T’Sai kicked off of her, did a somersault, and slashed at the gem. Upon the gem being struck, the entire building shuddered. He called out to Pix, asking him to direct his attack at the gem as well. When he did, Pix’s arcane assault shattered the gem and released a powerful explosion. The blast hit our party hard, but it also incinerated the ghouls and blasted open the oak doors.
Finally able to enter the fray, Sig charged in and joined Thaminor to face off against the fiend. She raised four more ghouls to replace those lost in the blast, as the building continued to shudder around them. As the battle raged on, the vines that had been feeding off the General on the ceiling began to wither and die. Ghouls were dispatched, and Sig landed the final blow against the night hag, reducing her to a pool of black ooze. The ghouls disbursed back into the green mist from which they formed, and the withered vines released their victim from the ceiling. General Montarthas fell heavily to the floor with an ‘oof’. Later, some of our party would say they thought they heard him whisper ‘thank you’ before breathing his last breath and finally disintegrating into a pile of ash.
The shuddering of the building intensified, as chunks of the stone mansion began raining down upon them. Sigismund tried to break through the front window, but it took the combined force of both T’Sai and Sig to do so, as the Yuan-ti launched into the paladin and drove them through. Thaminor and Pix followed, while Molish ran back downstairs and grabbed Reynard from the foyer, dragging the ranger to safety.
The night hag, Gertrude, had been defeated, the horrifying evil doll was removed from Faerûn, and the undead were laid to rest among the piles of rubble and decayed remains of the manor; finally resting in peace. The night began to grow old, as the first hints of dawn started to creep over the horizon. Our party spent the day taking a nice long rest to recover their strength, and repaired the broken wagon wheel with supplies found in the old stables. The next day, the reunited party resumed their journey to Silverymoon.
Two days later, and nearly two tendays since leaving Westhill, the party finally made it to the Gem of the North. Entering the South Ward through the Mulgate, the party dropped off Pix and Reynard at the University so Pix could begin his research. Crossing the Moonbridge, Sig lead the way to the High Palace, where the paladin requested an audience with High Mage Taern Hornblade. The highest ranking member of the court that was available, however, was Alvaerelle of the Spellguard. Sig’s attempts to share the important threats to the Weave seemed to be ignored… though not as ignored as T’Sai’s invitation to come see them again at the Golden Oak.
Moonbridge of Silverymoon