Addermarch Campaign - Session 20

The party defeats the serpentine warlock beneath Serethwyn Tor, recovers Duncan of Haldrenn’s letters and the stolen fey heart, uses Trueflame to destroy the Serpentine Battleaxe, learns more of the Avatus wars from a dead ranger, and sets out for Caradoc’s to seek a way back into the Thornweald.

Timeline

• May 27, 1715 DR, late afternoon: The party defeats the serpentine warlock in the deepest chamber beneath Serethwyn Tor.
• May 27, 1715 DR, evening: They search the chamber, recover Duncan’s letters and the stolen fey heart, and use Trueflame to destroy the Serpentine Battleaxe and a serpentine pendant.
• May 27, 1715 DR, night: Climbing back out through the mine, they question a dead ranger with Speak with Dead, learning more about the war with Avatus and the lost Serpentine Register, then camp in the upper mine chamber.
• May 28, 1715 DR, morning: The party sets out for Caradoc’s, hoping to find a way back into the Thornweald to return the stolen heart.

Cast of Characters

• Yvan Greenrabbit - Halfling sorcerer who helps finish the serpentine warlock and sees the company through the mines’ final dangers.
• Drou - Elven bard-monk whose Shatter and hand-to-hand fighting help bring down the warlock and secure the chamber.
• Fazoth de Brune - Warlock whose extraordinary burst of power, including repeated critical strikes, swiftly ends the fight.
• Serpentine warlock - The final guardian beneath Serethwyn Tor, wielding the Serpentine Battleaxe amid scraped piles of serpentine.
• Duncan of Haldrenn - Found dead and decapitated in the chamber below, with letters charting his increasingly broken path.
• Geoffrey, the Stranger - Named in Duncan’s letters as a serpentine seeker backed by an unknown patron.
• Kelvyn - Addressee of Duncan’s letters, said to be a guard in the Earl of Adderfell’s household.
• Dead ranger of Serethwyn Tor - Questioned with Speak with Dead about the Avatus wars and the Serpentine Register.
• Arvanko - Ranger whose earlier mention of the Serpentine Register is confirmed by the dead ranger
• Caradoc - Alchemist and advisor; the party heads for his cottage at session’s end.

Places

• Serethwyn Tor - The ruined hill-fort whose buried mine and ancient dead conceal the stolen heart and cursed axe.
• Lower mine levels - Deep tunnels beneath the fort leading to the final chamber.
• Serpentine warlock’s lair - The chamber holding Duncan’s corpse, the altar, the heart, and the warlock scraping serpentine from the walls.
• Upper mine chamber - The safer chamber where the party camps after escaping the deeper works.
• Adderfell - City where Kelvyn serves and where surviving copies of the Serpentine Register may still exist.
• Thornweald - The destination to which the party hopes to return the stolen heart.

Narrative

Thursday, May 27th, 2 Robert I

Pressing onward from the lower tunnels, the party enters the deepest chamber beneath Serethwyn Tor and confronts the serpentine warlock. The enemy is dangerous, armed with the cursed Serpentine Battleaxe, but the fight turns quickly. Fazoth unleashes an astonishing series of attacks - Witch Bolt, eldritch blasts, and strikes from his fey ally - while Drou smashes the foe with thunder and hand-to-hand blows, and Yvan adds his own arcane force. The warlock falls before he can fully bring his strength to bear.

With the chamber secured, the party takes stock of what lies below. Duncan of Haldrenn’s decapitated body lies there among other remains. Nearby are the Serpentine Battleaxe, a serpentine pendant worn by the warlock, scattered coins, a wand the warlock carried, and walls veined with serpentine that had been scraped into a pile. On a small altar rests the stolen fey heart, ringed with serpentine dust and corruption.

The party uses Trueflame to destroy the axe and the pendant, though they do not have enough to burn away the dust as well. They recover the heart and then read the letters Duncan carried. Addressed to Kelvyn in Adderfell, they trace Duncan’s increasingly rambling journey and reveal one crucial fact: some unknown patron had been paying Geoffrey to search for serpentine.

The way out proves awkward without the rope lost earlier, but with careful climbing, a bit of leaping across the rubble, and Fazoth’s Misty Step, the party makes its way back up the shaft and into the upper mines. There they question one of the dead rangers with Speak with Dead. The ranger confirms more of the old history: the wars in these hills were fought over serpentine, Avatus had a base in the region, and the Rangers once kept a Serpentine Register recording the cursed weapons and their fates.

That night the party camps again in the upper mine chamber where they had previously rested, reporting to Arvanko by Drankorian Message Stone about the events here.

Friday, May 28th, 2 Robert I

In the morning, carrying the recovered heart, the party sets out for Caradoc’s cottage to seek a path back into the Thornweald and return what Duncan stole.