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Farwell to a Friend
Prelude
At Bykin Castle:
"I will be returning to Hikira within the next few days, but don't worry my good Prince we will be together again soon." Genna says to Gremoore as she gathers her things. They have grown close over the past two weeks, and are engaged to be married.
"I know, I know. You have to return to make arrangements, I just worry about your safety." Gremoore helps her gather her things as they talk.
"Do not worry, my dear. Berrek never leaves me, and I will be traveling with Morduke and his group for the trip home. I will be completely safe." she gives him a little peck on the cheek to reassure him. He smiles.
"Yes, I guess you are right."
In Mitival, the capital of the Elven Kingdom
King Airaron looked over the horizon of his kingdom, soaking in all the glory of the Great Forest. He sighs and shakes his head looking down, almost ashamed.
"It has begun has it not, Lore Master Gredon?" Airaron asks to the man standing in the balcony doorway behind him.
"Yes, my Lord. It appears that it is." Gredon replies, his voice having a bit of a grave tone to it.
"Man has once again brought war to our lands. Their constant struggle for power will not be the death of our people this time." Airaron's tone is lined with anger. "This time we will not allow it to happen. The Astollians dare to attack our borders once again? They dare try and take our lands again? This will not happen. We will be ready for them. " Airaron walks back into his chambers.
"Let us pray that we are." Gredon says quietly to himself as he follows his King.
In Ambroe Isle:
"We must do something about him, and we must do it soon." Bytork slams his fist down on the table to emphasize his point. The rest of the men sitting around the table agree.
"Vergoon, find out where he is and send two Collectors after him."
Adventure Summary
With a small lull in the action the party had taken some time to catch up on things around them, and preparing to take the Princess back to Genna. Plans were made to head to the elven kingdom and seek out information on the Ring of Elements. The journey back to Hikria was rather uneventful and the party had a little more time to relax. As the party got ready to leave Jynrik to head to the port where the Weeping Winds awaited them, Nadimus came to the room where they were staying and wished them all good luck on their journeys. When asked why he wasn't coming he replied very simply.
"There are some things that I must do, and I must do these things alone. That other wizard, Snort, by all rights and means should not be here at all but he is. I must find out how he got here and why he seeks this person he mentioned. On top fo that, he is a powerful wizard and we do not like each other at all. He will no doubt come after me now that he knows I'm here also, he seeks my power for his own you know. At any rate, it will be better and safer for you and your mission if I was to depart from you now. But do not worry, my friends, we will share our paths again." with that he turns and walks out.
The party soon found themselves back on the deck of the Whispering Winds and Olown never felt more at home. He was greeted with a grand welcome, as his shipmates inquired about his adventures. The party spent the next couple weeks on the ship sailing to the shores of Mykyll. Once in Mykyll, KeirMan lead the group quickly to the Elven kingdom borders.
The party rode for about a day through the thick, dense forest of Lylival, when they heard the word "HALT" come from the tree line in front of them. The party then notice they were surrounded by six elves, three on other side of them. The lead elf inquired on who the party was and what they were doing in Lylival, and what did they bring a Votutian elf? After a short discussion, and the elves showing no memory of the Ring of Four Parts, as it was refered to by Olown. KierMan findly spoke up in a tongue that even Olown had a hard time reading. It was soon after that, they party found themselves having dinner in the nearby elven village.
After their dinner they were met by Myladon, the elder of the village. He welcomed the group and explained to them that the elves of Lylival still held a high level of mistrust for those outside their forest, even more so with the Votutian Elves, and man of Kryll. Myladon offer the hospitality of his village to the group and ask them why they had come to Lylival. When Ulrich mentioned the Ring of the Elements, he looked shocked, not that he didn't know what the ring was, but that the name of the ring hadn't been spoken in hundreds of years. Myladon listened to the parties tale and offered his full support. He informed the group that there are some in Lylival that do believe the elves need to expand beyond their borders and welcome the world in. Myladon arranged for a giude to take the party to the capital city of Lylival in the morning.
The next day the party made their way towards Mitival. Once they arrived they were taking straight to see the Lore Master, who listen carefully for what they were looking for. Again, he looked suprise to hear the name of the ring be mentioned, but seemed to know something about it. He asked the party to give him an hour for research, but while they waited they could enjoy the pleasures of him home. As the party looked throught the books, they noticed that what ever subject they were looking for, they would know what area the books where in. The books also seem to translate themselves automatically, but they also noticed that some of the books did not translate. These same books were also un-readable by Olown and any who can read elvin. During their scour of books, Urlich found a version of the Legend of Gramlock, which told about Gramslock rise to the Higher Worlds, and that his magical sword was left behind. Both Morduke and Toglard researched the gems and the amazon women. Once Morduke learned of the Lost Temple of Gramlock and his sword, he started his own research on it and found that the templed resides in the lands of Hungre, which was now part of northern Mykyll.
They returned to see the Lore Master when their hour was up and the Lore Master proceded to tell them as much as he could on the location of the Ring of Elements and the Tower of the Elements. The Lore Master retold a breif version of the Rings legend, and gave the locations of the three other pieces. The Lore Master did state that no one has spoken, or even written of the Ring of Elements nor the Tower in almost 2800 years. According to his research the locations are the last known, which means that the pieces may no longer be there. The fire piece was in the nortern part of Dinasis, the water on a remote island in Paruv, and the air somewhere in the kingdom of Nystol. He was unable to find any reliable information on the location of the tower. The Lore Master wished them well with their journeys and gave Morduke an amulet that he would use to contact the Lore Master when needed. While the amulet may not work all the time, the Lore Master felt that he must help in anyway he could.
The party decided that Gramlocks sword should be their first stop, since it was the closest and the power of the sword would probably come in handy. The next morning they headed out on their two and a half week journey. At the end of two weeks, they found themselves in a part of Mykyll that no man ever goes into. The opted to leave the horses as the came to the edge of plateu that went down into a dark and disturbing looking forest.
About a half day into the dark forest the party heards sounds of barking and howling and whooping in the air. They soon noticed that they were being shadowed by 25 gnolls on either side of them. Morduke commanded for a 10 foot high and 50 foot long wall of earth to be created, which slowed down the gnolls on one side, while Toglard released a cloud kill on the other 25. For the next few days, the party found themselves being harrassed by gnolls and goblins as they walked through the forest. By the fourth day the came into a clearing and could see an ancient city barely left standing in the small valley below them. They also noticed that all the gnoll and goblin tracks stopped here. As they made their way down, Toglard turned everyone invisible just as they walked into the ruins of the city. As soon as they rounded the corner everyone was happy that Toglard though a head as they found themselves in a village of about 40 hill giants. The giants seemed to have been using the temple of Gramlock as their cheiftans lair. Deciding it would be better to take them out at night when they were sleeping, the party drew back and waited.
Once the giants where asleep, Olown made himself invisible and seperated from the group to take a look inside the temple. Once inside the temple, he found the cheiftan sleeping on the altat and behing him was a great statue of Gramlock that held the sword in it's hands. He also noticed four more giants sleeping in the temple. Olown made his way outside the temple and the rest of the party when back in with him. Morduke cast a silence to keep the party from making to much noise. They carefully appoached the altar and Morduke stepped up the to statue. Using his piece of the ring, he commanded the stone to move away from around the sword, allowing him to pull it free. With the sword in hand, and the element of suprise, the party set out to slay each of the giants in the village. They were able to slay all the giants in the temple without alarm, but when they stepped outside, they found themselves facing about six giants that woke up during the slaughter. After a brief fight the party was victorious. The party then setup camp for the night, and planned to arrange for a ship to meet them at the bay to the north.