Mhiilamniir’s Great Library
…Pix‘s mage hand was repulsed by the magic encasing the Rod. Suddenly, the undead elven wizard flew up in front of him, and reached out in an attempt to grab him. T’Sai raced up to the third floor, with Leo and Thaminor following as quickly as possible. T’Sai took up a watchful position on the third floor, while Leo did the same on the second. Pix summoned Bigby’s Grasping Hand to grapple the wizard, while Molish summoned a spiritual weapon from down below.
The elven ghosts from throughout the Great Library began converging upon the encounter, the first taking Leo by surprise from behind. The wizard used his own magic to transport himself out of the Hand and down to the second floor. Leo struck the wizard, then Thaminor finally got a good look at him… and shouted for everyone to hold their attacks. There was something eerily familiar about this undead creature, and Thaminor had to trust his gut and question:
“Aelar Oakenshield?!”
The wizard stopped and turned to him, asking “Who are you?”
Removing his helmet, the eldritch knight replied, “Thaminor Oakenshield, your grandson.”
Over the next few minutes, the party learned that Aelar had indeed slain members of the Starclover clan the night he disappeared so long ago. The Starclovers were working for Netherese, and were after the fourth piece of the Rod. Aelar, barely clinging to life, traveled to Mhiilamniir and pledged himself to the Seldarine. He become a baelnorn, pledged to protect the Rod segment from the Shades in his undeath.
Thaminor assured Aelar that the party was collecting the Rod in order to defeat the Shades and protect the Weave. Aelar informed them that the protective spell around the Rod was tied to another artifact–the Oakenshield. Thaminor had heard of their family’s namesake heirloom in his youth, but it was lost in the Giants’ War millennia ago. Aelar informed him that it was still in the possession of the giants, in Deadstone Cleft.
Deadstone Cleft
The party decided to rest for the night in the library. Pix, of course, took the opportunity to peruse some spellbooks in the collection, and T’Sai familiarized himself with the building. In the morning, Leo felt a new blessing from Silvanus and called upon his divine blessing to transform the party into wisps of clouds. They took to the air, flying twenty times their walking pace towards their destination in the Star Mounts.
As they neared the valley, the party spied a roc swiftly flying up to intercept them…
