Chapter 1: Parlour Tricks

Our heroes -- a fighting gnome from Issylra (Frilia), a human paladin of the Platinum Dragon from the elven city of Syngorn (Hannah), a half-goliath cleric of the Raven Queen (Kursak), a  tabaxi Ranger from Zadash in the Dwendalian Empire (Rain), a human bard from a traveling circus in Tal'dorei (Klaven), a kenku wizard from Westruun (Humu), a half-elven alchemist from the Menagerie Coast (Shera) and twin brothers -- a thief (Minho) and a bard (Felix) -- from Rexxentrum, capital city of the Empire all found they way into the Xhorhasian Wastes.  Some came specifically, seeking rare components for study.  Others were running from problems at home, while other still were running towards trouble, either on a personal mission of vengeance, or at the command of their deity.

In any case, all of our heroes found themselves seeking shelter from a storm at a logging camp on the edge of the Vermaloc Wildwood, in southern Xhorhas.  In the night, the camp came under attack by an small army of giant spiders -- and some hideous half-spider half-humanoid abominations.  They party fended off the attack, but enough damage was done to the camp that the overseer decided to pack up and return to the city of Asarius.  When the party decided to press into the wildwood in search of their goals, they were asked to search for the missing member of the logging camp as well.

Pressing into the forest, the party found themselves beseiged on all sides by spiders, whose webbing had begun to suffocate the forest, killing every living thing that walked, burrowed, or flew.  Set upon  from all directions, the party ran, finally finding shelter bemeath the branches of a huge Vermaloc tree that towered over all the others.  The Vermaloc tree was home to one Tra'aelaia -- a dryad who along with her sisters had been charged with by the Wildmother to protect and grow the forest.

After defending Tra'aelaia's home from two more of the abominations, the party rested and continued in the morning, seeking out the source of the spiders -- a cave in the base of a mountain.  Inside, the party found scenes of horror.  More abominations, and spiders of all sizes from giant ones, to swarms of smaller ones.  They found evidence of the abominations being created, by a pair of ettercaps working some dark magic to magically stitch their victims together: humanoid and spider alike.  A pitched, drawn-out battle ensued and the party emerged victorious (though one of the ettercaps did manage to escape into the Underdark).  Looting the cave, the party found treasures which had belonged to all the previous victims, earning quite a few coins in the process... and Rain found an egg.

Returning to Asarius, the party informed the bugbear foreman of the camp (Khaturr) of their success, and he suggested they take their considerable talents north to Jigow, to participate in the Festival of Merit, which would surely eanr them a prosperous payday moving forward.
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Chapter 2: A Fateful Competition

Not all of the heroes decided to follow Khaturr's advice.  Humu decided to take the opportunity to return to Tal'dorei, leaving the remaining seven to continue on.  On the road north, Rain's egg finally hatched -- to reveal a white-scaled dragonoid creature roughly the size of a cat.  Ill-tempered, it nevertheless seemed to bond with Rain, and she named him Tyrsoir.  The tiny drake seemed to take a liking to the ranger, but held a prickly nature toward anyone else.  The companions traveled overland to the north from Asarius to the collection of coastal fishing villages that were collectively known as Jigow.  Upon their arrival, Jigow was in the full throes of its annual Festival of Merit -- a city-wide fair where citizens and travelers from afar could compete in ordinary -- and extraordinary -- challenges of wit, bravery, and skill.  Here the party met with a Leonin Barbarian (Pasch) and struck up a... friendship of convenience for the day.  Felix and Minho took their leave from the festivities, claiming illness on the part of Felix, but the rest continued to take part in the day's events.

From the pie-eating contest (which both Frilia and Pasch failed spectacularly), to the contest of riddles (which say several of our heroes emerge victorious), from the archery contest which Rain won handily, to the maze which saw Kursak and Frilia both emerge victorious.  The day's events got more spectacular and possibly dangerous as the day went on, from a swim through through the Ifolon river (interrupted by sharks who nearly killed several of the swimmers, to a thrilling race through the city streets on the backs of baby horizonback tortoises.  At each of the challenges along the way, the companions encountered a series of new and interesting people.

The evening culimnated in a team-based event -- with Frilia, Hannah, Kursak, Rain and Tyrsoir, Klaven, Minho (but not Felix) -- and their new friend Pasch comprising one team -- dubbed the Blades of Wildemount by Hannah, and the other comprised of a blue-skinned athletic woman named Ayo Jabe, a small yellow goblin named Dermot in full plate armour and wearing the symbol of the Luxon, a muscle-bound minotaur called Arekus, a slender and bookish drow elf called Galsariad, an actual ogre called Maggie Keeneyes, a quiet tortle monk named Tiaki, and a kobold called Zon, barely visible in the folds of his cloak.  The rival team called themselves Ayo's Wastewalkers -- a fact which seemed to annoy Ayo, and amuse Pasch endlessly.

Upon learning that the final challenge was a swim through an underwater grotto to assemble the pieces of a storied amulet, Klaven decided to back out of the challenge, yielding his place to Shera.  The Blades won the coin toss, so entered the grotto with a thirty-second head start.  Coming to a junction, the team elected to go south (deeper into the grotto) rather than east.  A pit in the next chamber proved to house a giant octopus, which was no match for the Blades, but the exit beyond that chamber -- with a strong current pushing those who approached -- cost them precious time.

An underwater secret tunnel led the Blades of Wildemount to the final chamber of the grotto, where they found the Wastewalkers already present, having engaged and killed one of the two giant sharks that prowled the chamber.  The amulet they sought was tied to a spear embedded in the shark's side.  Batlle was enjoined, first by the Blades, then by the Wastewalkers as both teams worked together to take on the shark.  The shark fell, but not before it was able to take the ogre down with it.  Thankfully, the kobold Zon was on hand to stabilise her wounds.  The shark, in its death throes, collided with a pillar in the chamber, which took a section of wall behind it, revealing a hidden passage flooded with golden light.

Traversing up the passage, Rain and Frilia, along with Ayo and Arekus of the Wastewalkers discovered a cavern dotted with trees and pools of water.  The walls were covered in vines of green ivy interspersed with colorful flowers and small shards of a red crystal that pulsed with a deep red light.  Part of the cavern was open to the sky above, with stars shining down.  A mosaic stood out on the rear wall of the cavern -- tiny bits of glass and gemstones embedded in the stone to create a picture -- a city in the sand, with a gigantic spear with a baleful and bloody red eye on the tip descending upon it from the heavens, only to be deflected by a shield.  Three moons ringed the shield in equal measure, but with differing symbols -- a four-pointed star interwoven with two crescent moons, a crescent moon strung like a bow, and full moon with a woman's face in profile.  Growths of the red crystal sprouted from the mosaic like much of the other parts of the chamber, with red tendrils spreading like roots from each cluster, crawling across the surface.

In the middle of the cavern stood a huge statue -- a female figure, full in her womanhood, stood tall atop a crystal pedestal.  Broad wings sprouted from the woman's shoulders stretching almost the span of the cavern, not quite touching the walls.  Her left arm bore a shield but her right stood empty, as if clutching something.  A golden pendant attached to a fine golden chain hung around her neck.  Her face turned upward, looking toward the sky, and two clusters of the same red crystal sprouted from her eyes like gouts of blood, with tear-stains of red trailing down her face.

Realising the statue was missing a piece, Frilia headed back into the water -- only to realise that the Wastewalkers had already claimed the item she sought -- the spear which had been embedded in the shark.  A tense negotiation followed between the Blades and the Wastewalkers, but the eventually an accord was reached.  As Frilia placed the spear into the statue's extended hand, the stature erupted with a vermilion light which shimmered as it washed over everyone.  A spectral image of a man emerged from the medallion hung around the statue's neck.  He was dressed in leather armor and a tattered red cape and wore a shield on his left arm.  His face was framed with curly brown hair and bore a melancholic expression.  He spoke, his voice strained and pleading, "I am imprisoned. Please help me."

Everyone found themselves suspended in a pitch-black expanse, bouyed by water.  The same vermilion light appeared in the distance, illuminating the melancholy warrior, who lay shackled to the ground by disgusting strands of a fleshy, crimson substance.  He raised his gaze to the heavens and, sobbing, choked out, "Moon Weaver, I beg of you!  Spare me from this eternal torment!  Send me aid!  Let those with power save me!"  Exhausted, he subsided into inaudible mumblings for a time, before he roused again.  Desperate and hopeful eyes cast about him, until they finally alighted on you.

"Thank the gods, there you are!  My name is... my name..."  He seemed to struggle for a moment, then regained himself.  "Alyxian.  My name is Alyxian!  Please save me!  I have been lost in the darkness for so long!  I don't even know how long!"  The warrior dissolved into sobs and tears, struggling weakly against the crimson bands which held him.  "I beg you, take my jewel and bring it to the Cyst of Avandra and..."

The voice begins to fade as you feel the pressure of deep water crushing the life out of you.  Alyxian's voice is the last thing you hear before you pass out.  "Save me. Please."

Upon coming to consciousness, Frilia tried to hide the amulet before anyone noticed, but she was spotted by Arekus.  Some more tense stand-off moments followed between the Blade and the Wastewalkers before cooler heads prevailed.  The challenge was completed, the Blade and the Wastewalkers declared co-champions of Merit.  The festivities continued on through the night, but our champions -- and their rivals, retired for a night's sleep in The Unbroken Tusk -- an inn perched on the top of a horizonback tortoise.

Chapter 3: The Leave-Taking


Morning saw several more of the Blades depart back to their own lives.  The twins Minho and Felix returned to Rexxentrum, deciding to seek treatment for the blinding headaches that Felix had been experiencing, Pasch decided to stay in Jigow with her friend Kana, and Shera back to Feolinn on the Menagerie Coast.  But they were joined by new faces -- Maglynn, an elven woman from Syngorn and member of the Cobalt Soul, who was chasing rumours of a disturbance in the Planes, Yawgo a tortle druid from the Menagerie Coast who'd come to Jigow to see the horizonback tortoises, and ultimately by Lucidity Velderan, a human woman from Emon in Tal'dorei who often went by the name Lucy.

The Blades and the Wastewalkers were visited the following morning by Elder Ushru -- one of the elders of Jigow, who'd had a vision the previous night.  His vision, though different from that of the Blades, bore remarkable similarities -- a golden amulet rose to the surface of a pool of blood, and countless hands lunged upward out of the blood to grasp it.  In turn, all the hands fell back into the pool until only one remained.  The one whose hand claimed the amulet was a handsome man with dark skin, curly hair and a somber expression turned to Elder Ushru and said, 'They must find me. The ones from the grotto.'

Comparing notes, more of the story came to light.  Alyxian had connections in stories to Avandra, the Change-Bringer, and the Sehanine, the Moon Weaver, and at least one other of the Prime Deities.  They spoke of the amulet discovered in the grotto, and Frilia went to take it out for the Elder to examine it -- only to discover it had been stolen during the night!  There was a brief flurry of investigations, both mundane and arcane.  The arcane spells determined the amulet was not close by, but the mundane determined that the thief had broken a dagger during the attempt.  Upon seeing an illusory image of the amulet, Elder Ushru mentioned seeing a bas relief of the same amulet once in his younger days, in Bazzoxan.  Coincidentally, a scholar he corresponded with (Question) was a leading expert on the subject of the Betrayer Gods, and Elder Ushru revealed that Question was currently doing research in Bazzoxan.  If the Blades could reach her, she may be able to shed more light on the subject.

Since Lucy had arrived in the morning, and had not seen anyone pass by her on the road in from the west, it was determined that logically, the thief must had left on the road south.  The Wastewalkers left immediately; the Blades took an extra day in Jigow to purchase supplies and prepare for the journey.

On the second day of their journey south, the Blades came upon a tiefling riding a moorbounder -- and being chased by a pack of bristled moorbounders.  Deciding to give aid, the Blade rushed to help -- but were too far away.  The tiefling was killed and dragged away, her moorbounder escaped, and one of the attacking moorbounders was killed.  Kursak lost his horse in the battle, also taken by the fierce predators.  Fortunately, the Blade had prepared contingency -- Yawgo's draft horse was given to Kursak, while the tortle would ride in the wagon.

Camping that night, Rain and Tyrsoir decided to scout for potential dangers.  The pair of them came upon an overturned wagon near an abandoned watchtower.  In deciding the investigate the wagon, Rain disturbed several spirits of the dead, which attacked!  The ranger and her drake turned and fled, calling for help -- but had wandered too far in the night for their cries to be heard immediately.  After a few scrambled seconds of running and shooting, Tyrsoir's battle cry was heard and the Blades were roused to action.  A desperate mad dash through the night and across rocky terrain followed, but the Blades were too far away.  By the time they reached her Rain had died.  A pitched battle between the Will-o-Wisps and the rest of the Blades followed.  Tyrsoir lived, though was badly wounded, both in body and in spirit.  The Blades managed to kill two of the Wisps, prompting the remainder to flee.  Hannah and Yawgo took Rain's body back to camp, with Yawgo performing some simple earth magic to prevent the body from being possessed by angry spirits.  They were accompanied by Tyrsoir.

Lucy, followed reluctantly by Maglynn decided to see what Rain had discovered, confident that she could outrun the spirits of the dead.  Finding the same wagon, she went to investigate, prompting the Wisps to attack once more.  Frilia and Kursak had remained close by and were on hand to assist as Lucy and Maglynn fled.  One more of the Wisps was slain in the process, but not all of them.  The Blades decided to leave the Wisps to their domain, returned to their campsite and packed it up, unwilling to remain so close to the potential danger.

The following day saw the Blade continue on their journey south.  Towards mid-afternoon, they came upon a wide ravine, spanned by two bridges.  Riders apparently engaged in repairs to the bridge were on either side, and demanded payment for a "roads and inferstructure tax" to allow the Blades to cross.  Hannah bullied their way into a crossing, which needed to be done in pairs, since the bridge was held up by a pair of horses on the other side and could only hold so much.  Maglynn and Hannah crossed first without issue, taking Rain's pony with them.  Kursak and Tyrsoir went next, with Kursak's horse and Frilia's dogs.  When the group was half-way across, and split into three locations, the trap was sprung, the guards turning and hacking away at the ropes holding the bridge up.  Kursak and the dogs fell into the ravine, followed a moment later by Tyrsoir.

Battle was enjoined on both sides of the bridge.  Hannah and Maglynn made short work of the bandits on the south bank, aided greatly by a Sleep spell from Kursak.  The north side was another matter, with Frilia, Yawgo, and Lucy dealing with a more experienced cadre of bandits.  Down in the ravine, a desert troll emerged from a cave, apparently woken by Hannah's Thunderous Smite spell above.  The troll, apparently hungry, decided Tyrsoir looked tasty and attacked.  Soon the battle was joined on three fronts.  Lucy and Frilia were victorious on the northern bank, with the bandits turning to flee after the death of their captain.  Frilia climbed/tumbled down into the ravine to join the battle against the troll, while Lucy decided to help from above with her crossbow.  Maglynn secured the southern bank, and then used magic to try and help the combatants below.

The troll proved every bit as tough to kill as the stories told.  Wounds which should have killed it would close over in seconds, giving the troll a second -- and third, and fourth, and more -- chance at life.  Fire -- usually the bane of such creatures, had little effect.  Amputated limbs fought with a life of their own, as Kursak discovered when the troll threw it own hand at him.  The hand closed around the cleric's throat, cutting off air, and preventing him for casting spells -- notably one little cantrip which had shown the ability to stymie the troll's regenerative abilities, however briefly.

Eventually, a clever use of Yawgo's Entangle spell and Kursak's Sleep spell put the monster to sleep long enough for the Blades to escape the ravine, aided from above by Maglynn.  Now, they had an additional challenge, with Lucy remaining on the north side of the ravine with almost all the group's horses and supplies, and the rest of the group on the south side of the ravine -- sans supplies.  Interrogation of a captive taken by Maglynn revealed little useful information, but did serve to awake the hungry (and now fully recovered) troll down below, who began climbing the north face of the ravine.  Abandoning her cart and her mule, Lucy retreated with the horse and the wagon.

With some coordination by Maglynn the Blades and Lucy found a new place to cross the ravine, aided by Maglynn's repeated use of a Spider Climb spell and some careful coaxing from Lucy, who managed to get most (but not all) of the animals and gear across the ravine.  The wagon had to be abandoned.

Two more days of safe travel saw the Blades approaching the Emerald Loop Caravan Stop.  There were several people at the Caravan stop, including a family of goblins, a pair of traveling merchants and their guards, an Aurora Watch patrol, two tribesmen, two dryads, ... and the Wastewalkers.