Sleeping Giants Game 29

Intro

Recap

Our story began, arguably, with Stratton Traushaft. The Cirque deLirium was finishing up its tour through the Sterile Sands, in the city of Shahz Inem. It was there that he met Misha, a gnomish woman traveling through the Sands. After a night of heavy drinking followed by a fiber-heavy lunch the next day, Stratton did the unthinkable and pooped into an alleyway.

It would have been an ordinary poop, if Ford Betrom hadn't come along. In the middle of a job from Hector, the Shahz Inem military commander, Ford stepped directly in the Butterfly Poop. This alone would have been fine, but Ford's curiosity led him directly into the commander's private quarters a few days later. It was here that the poop fully solidified and fell off of his boot. Hector discovered this, connected the dots, and sent Ford on a follow-up suicide mission in Sulta Ixen.

Narrowly escaping certain doom, Ford ran into none other than the princess of Sulta Ixen, Elaina Nile. Or, as she prefers, Nil. Fed up with her people's unjust subjugation over the years, Nil was running away from home to escape an arranged marriage she wanted no part in, hoping to one day return and free her mighty people. So, the two absconded, and began taking investigative jobs undercover. One of the earlier jobs was in Riverlake, wherein Ford infiltrated a house to retrieve a letter, and made note of 3 small cages with mechanical birds inside of them.

It was several months before the two stumbled upon the now-dejected Stratton, wallowing in his own pity after he was kicked out of the Cirque deLirium. He immediately attached himself to the group, and the duo became a trio. They sailed across the Sea of Horses, and it was in Aurora that they not only ran into the Fecal Bandit himself, but also heard rumors of a dragon cult near a small village called Oakhurst. And so there they journeyed.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the continent, little Lyla Hellebore was always mild mannered. She fit in well, in stark contrast to her brother Elliot, the "Golden Boy" of Kittiwake's Edge. That all changed one day, when Lyla was reading a book in a nearby grove and was approached by a magical leopard that granted her power beyond belief. It was around that time that Elliot also disappeared while investigating some problems on the road. With a new glow about her, Lyla proudly announced that she would go find him, and she set off.

Her journey would bring her to the village of Oakhurst, arriving shortly after a patrol from Skyhammer was passing through. Part of that patrol was Jordan Steingard, grand-son of the High Priest of all of Skyhammer. The younger of two Steingard brothers, Jordan was built for combat and had a one-track mind. His duty was to Skyhammer and no other. He parted ways with the patrol in Oakhurst, to investigate a fellow acolyte that had gone missing, Erki Timbers.

As a group of black-veined goblins committed murder and then tried to run away, the adventurers intervened. During the fight, a sixth being appeared from the shadows. Athanatos, a tiefling from the realm of Shadow itself, stepped out into the sunlight and joined the group in defeating the goblins. She played her cards close to her chest, never fully revealing why she was here. But from time to time she could be heard whispering to the shadow itself, and more often than not the shadow would whisper back.

The group of six was immediately asked by the mayor to investigate the nearby ruins, which would quickly come to be called The Sunless Citadel. They agreed, and all worked together to clear the citadel of most of its inhabitants. Nil laid claim to the citadel itself, after she discovered the name of one of her great ancestors stamped into the wall and a series of images carved into a dragon statue. After killing the kobold leader, she assumed complete control over the remaining tribe.

Below the citadel, things got strange. Ana possessed a needle that glowed black and led the group directly to a large, black tree. The closer the group got to the tree, the more intense Jordan's shield began to glow as well. Belak, a necromancer of sorts, was tending to the tree, which was surrounded by a low blue wall. The party made quick work of Belak, destroying the tree in the process. Lyla's brother Elliot came under control by the tree, but she was able to make to a pact with the Archfey to bring him back to life.

While relaxing after finishing the mission, Jordan received a letter from his father asking for him to bring the entire group to Skyhammer, as he had use of them. The group agreed, and after making the journey to Skyhammer they were hired to investigate some cult activity around Skyhammer for a hefty sum. It turned out the "cult" was performing research on the arcane, claiming that one of the biggest Arcane Bridges they've ever seen is located directly underneath Skyhammer. The leader of the cult, James Madsen, had a personal vendetta against Jordan, as both of his hands were smashed by Jordan when the two were young boys. He was detained by Jordan before the group could get any useful information out of him, however.

After bringing James back to Skyhammer, the party was paid the agreed-upon amount, and have since split up into several smaller groups.