Passing Through

Synopsis
While Eric is still confined to bed, Sebastian decided to scout out the city of Melvaunt before the group made their way in. He was given a pendant by Miriam that will keep the cultists from being able to track him by magical means. Upon scouting the town from afar, he notices signs of activity, showing that the city is not completely abandoned. After returning to the group and relaying what he had seen he asks Miriam and Meredith if they know where the cultists are holding up. The women tell the group that at dust, a ship has been seen to appear as if from nowhere out on the water. They think that the ship is sailing in to port from a portal out on the water from the Shadowfell. It is assumed that if the group could find a boat that they could possibly pass through the portal also. Meredith and Miriam have a plan but they haven't carried it out because it is to dangerous for them. Miriam brings in a medium sized urn and tells the group that the contents inside are highly explosive and that if the group can reach the cultists stronghold on the shadowfell side, they may be able to detonate it and take them all out, though they need to move quickly to get out of range before it blows. Sebastian gets the strong feeling that the two women are using them, but he doesn't call them out on it. The rest of the group are given the same type of pendant that was given to Sebastian and they rest for the night, waiting until morning to start making their way into Melvaunt.

As the group is making their way towards Melvaunt they encounter a small group of goblins torturing a man and had already cut out his tongue. Mogrin steps forward and yells at them to stop but the goblins are unswayed. Cirra conjures an illusion of a large hellhound that snarls at them and that makes them back off. The step backwards slowly but do not run. The group decides to bring the man with them as far as Melvaunt. Once the group reach the walls, the send the man on his way, and Cirra transforms into a swan and flys to the top of the wall with a rope in her mouth. Once at the top she shifts back to human form, ties off the rope and drops the other end down for the rest of the party to climb up.

Once inside the city, the group spends a little time making their way towards the docks where they hope to find a small boat they can use. The group does eventually find one, but it is full of dead bodies and there are a couple of pirates sitting on the dock nearby. Sebastian casts a dome of silence to keep sound from escaping while Mogrin and Eric use their spiritual weapons to bludgeon the two pirates to death, the group then uses the silence created by the dome to empty out the boat of dead bodies. With a boat now in their possession the group hides under one of the docks to stay out of sight until dusk.

At the onset of dusk, the group take their small boat out onto the water towards the middle of the bay, to try and see if they can witness the approach of the ship from the shadowfell, learning the location of the portal in the process. At this point everyone notices the distinct lack of any other ships. The group starts to feel like they are being watched and start to head back the way they came. As they start to row back the group almost collides with the ship they were looking for. The ship is nearly invisible by some form of magic, and they were only able to avoid it by Cirras watchful eyes catching sight of it at the last moment. The group stays quiet and go by unnoticed, making their way past the boat in the direction from which it came, looking for the portal that it came through. As they continue to paddle they do not see the portal but they notice that the air is now colder and the water is dark, almost black. Turning to face back towards the city, Melvaunt is no longer there! In its place is a more vibrant city with lights in windows and many more signs of life. Surrounding the city on ALL sides, are figures cloaked in darkness at least 100 deep, standing as if some invisible line is keeping them from crossing into the city.

Player Characters

 * Eric Smith
 * Cirra
 * Sebastian Rattlecap
 * Mogrin