The great Dragon corpse cleanup

The group helps the townsfolk of Evonmar clean up the carcass of the dragon from the streets. After the last of the body has been removed and as much of the blood and guts mopped up, 4 men arrive in blue cloaks. They summon incredible water elementals that wash the town streets spotless. 

All of the taverns in town are packed with the townsfolk and a great celebration is had by all. Jin Speaks to the High Cleric of Koanatee and finds out some troubling news. The high cleric of Xeroxen is suspected of being a demon in disguise. Jin is tasked with finding out for certain. If the rumor is true then he will need to dispose of him.  

During the celebrations, Jin sees the High Cleric of Xeroxen sitting at the bar. As he observes him, he notices that every sip he takes from his mug, he spits it back in without swallowing it.... Very strange. Jin also notices that every now and then his image seems to "flicker" a little. Also very strange. A brief and awkward conversation is had and the the cleric leaves. Jin follows only to find the priest literally meld/ sink into the ground. Jin turns incorporeal and follows him. He witnesses some horrifying events. The priest pulls out a small jar and heads to the warehouse where the dracolitch created for Clyde is being held. The undead dragon disintegrates and the remains are whisked into the jar. Then Gerricks the necromancer is next. Jin watches as the necromancer suffers the same fate. The warehouse/ stable hand is also dead. His skin has been completely removed. After a short time Jin catches up to the cleric again who is now back in the tavern. This time, he is close to the stage right by where Panarus is preforming to a roaring crowd. Jin sees him covertly remove the jar again as he attempts to use it on the Bard. Thankfully the group is there to confront him and causes the cleric to disappear again. Jin heads back to the church of Koanatee and is asked to pray at the alter. He goes into a trance and speaks with the god of Koanatee. 

The adventurers are tasked with heading into the cold marshes of the Deependark forest far to the south to investigate. There is some deeper and darker plan afoot other than the high cleric of Xeroxen.

The group makes some last minute purchases and gets the war cart ready for travel. The group bids farewell to the townsfolk. Vornyn tells the group that he wishes to stay behind and pray in the Church of Darkenday for awhile. He says he will catch up with them someday. The adventurers mount up and head South. 

The rise and fall of Lumen Footcandle the Bright Part Two

At first the adventurer's seemed pleasant enough. He had heard great stories from his father about their adventure. His father, the last time he was home, even painted portraits from memory of his companions. 

All was going well until they started asking about the spider queen. He asked several times their intentions. It became clear to him that they were working with the other Drow trying to free his beloved. 

After several defeats in battles against the adventurer's being aided by a necromancer with an undead army, he retreated back to his lair only to find his beloved had been sprung free. Lumen vowed vengeance on the adventurer's and questioned the fate of his father as well. He became enraged, scouring the the underdark for these thieves. He thought he found them. Once he was ready to attack, they all vanished. a hideous laughter was heard, but then nothing... After several days of searching with no hint of a trail, he came back to his lair for a nap. 

The smell of them woke him from his slumber. By the time he was fully awake, he was already in the sky. But it was too late. The smell must have taken some time to permeate down the shaft. The adventurers were long gone. He drank a few potions, ate two horses he had in the pen, and flew like a bat out of hell towards the stench of his enemies. 

He found his way straight into Evonmar. He scorched as many civilians as he could on his approach and roared at his enemies of their thievery. The battle was fierce, and he fought hard. 

I am sure he is sitting with his father Drake now in the afterlife and Drake has forgiven him for his adolescent behavior. 

The rise and fall of Lumen Footcandle the Bright Part One

91 winters ago, an egg was hatched in a cave several miles West of the town of Evonmar. The egg was laid by the great fairie dragon Drake. Being his only offspring, Drake spent many years teaching the young Lumen the ways of the world. How to hunt, how to cast, and how to wield his ever growing magic within. 

At age 50, Drake left Lumen to his own studies to do some adventuring as he felt his wings had become weak with child upbringing staying here in the lair. So Drake left Lumen a series of books to read and tasks to be done in his absence. One morning, Lumen came to a page in his studies that brought great wonder and joy! The ability to transform his dragon body into that of a humanoid creature. He heard his father Drake speak of this ability. Drake said he tried it a few times and only once convinced a human woman to an evening of fornication. Feeling the need to experience such things, the young dragon of light tried out his fledgling powers. It worked! But to his surprise, his humanoid form was that of a Drow.  A Drow, being a dark skinned Elf of the night, was so opposite his being he could hardly contain his anger. 

After a year or so with playing around with the Drow form he could take, he decided to leave the lair and venture into the caverns above and below. There were many shafts, and he made maps throughout the years he travelled them. He even came across an undead Jester which they parlayed briefly with mutual respect. 

One day, while adventuring into a new uncharted cavern, he came upon a teenaged beautiful Drow by the name of Diedra. They spent so much time together that Lumen almost forgot he was a dragon. Their love flourished, but Lumen never once revealed his true form to her. One day he went to see her and instead of her waiting for him stood a Drow Wyvren rider. He was brief and stated that Diedra was to become the new spider queen to rule the underworld and was no longer permitted to see him as she was to be married to the Drider king. In a fit of rage, he incinerated the Wyvern rider and ran home. 

Drake was there to greet him. Telling him of all the great tales of the new friends he met. A cleric of Darkenday, a Ranger, a druid, a Bard, and a peculiar thief. Drake did not pay attention to Lumens adolescent troubles and immediately started work on paintings and sculptures of the new companions he made. Lumen felt rejected and abandoned. 

Drake left a few months later saying his friends needed him. He never returned.

One morning Lumen decided to take flight and search for some fresh food. Horses sounded good today. He was hit by several spears and arrows from Drow Wyvern riders. He killed them all, only to realize they were a security force for a carriage below... Lumens spider queen...

He couldn't contain himself. He killed the remaining Drow soldiers and opened the door to the carriage. Diedra was cowering, scared from dragon fright. Lumen changed into his Drow form and she shrieked in terror. She would never forgive him for this ultimate betrayal.

Not being able to process all that happened, he snatched up Diedra and put her in a cell in the Drakes massive lair. 

Along comes the adventuring party of "Drake's friends"..............

Delvine intervention

 After the candy cane nightmare shaft, the next room is welcoming and calm. Except for a coffin lying in the center of the room. Jin opens it and there is not inside that reads

"Insert one dead ranger to enter the lighting round"

The group places Delvins body in the coffin and shuts the lid. Whatever was supposed to happen that the undead Jester planned for does not work. As before any lightning round can begin, the coffin opens and Delvin is very much alive. He says that Darkenday spoke to him and said that it is not yet time to leave this world. Since the Ranger is in fact alive, the "lightning round" never begins. Because of this they are able to freely search around the room without danger (there would have been a lot of small lightning bolts squirting everywhere making a solid search very difficult). Jin finds a series of symbols and Clyde deciphers it and after figuring out how to turn it, activates a teleportation portal. The group finds themselves on a balcony overlooking the dragon Lumen's lair. He is fast asleep on top of his pile of treasure. He must have not been able to locate the adventurers after they entered into the Undead Jesters carnival of horrors and decided to sleep off his frustration. The group makes a run for it and gets out the dragon's lair safely. The group finds the rest of their missing companions outside and they all head back to the town of Evonmar.

They divide up all of the treasure they gathered along the way. After a few hours of shopping and visiting the various churches, a horrifying swooshing sound is heard as Lumen the light dragon soars overhead screaming "you stole my treasure". The townsfolk run for shelter in the churches...

Sticky Feet

 The next room turns out to be a vertical winding (candy cane) shaft. The inscription reads:

"Sticky feet is all you need, or drink as much as you can feed. Drink too much and you will pop. Drink too little and your body will turn to a crisp"

Small flasks appear at each of the adventurer's feet. They all decide to take a drink. They begin to float up for a little it and then start to fall back down. They drink more and rise up further. At that point the floor drops away and a blazing inferno starts to rise from the bottom of the hole. Strange carnival music starts to play. They are attacked from above by large flying batlike worm.

The battle goes pretty well. But its poison sting does a number on the rogue with doing strength & dexterity damage. After the creature is killed, they make their way further up the candy can nightmare shaft. Then from up above this strange large fungus like bat attacks. 

It uses an Enervation Ray on Delvin and kills him instantly. His body drops like a rock. Luckily, Thunk the dwarf was lower down the shaft from the rest of the group and is able to catch him before being incinerated. He puts him inside Delvin's own bag of holding. Murphy realizes the creature is plant like and uses and entangle spell on him. The creature grows vines out of his own body which hinders his flight. As he drops, the group plugs him with everything they got. The creature dies and the group makes their way to the top of the shaft safely without "popping".

Tent of Horror

The group gets into the next area only to find themselves in a large circus tent. The tent is flinging wildly from some unknown wind. The cryptic passage at the entrance says...

"The path of the cloth is dangerous. The tent folds mysterious ways. One must be careful towards the creases, or risk becoming a play toy"

They see inside the tent a group of adventurers immediately being sucked into the folds. Their horrifying screams follow and they emerge as hideous flesh golems in constant pain and torment. A fierce battle ensues. 

The group takes them down and moves onto the next room fully repulsed.