Discord
Changelog
Brianna Fraser was there at the beginning, so it was only fitting she be there at the end. As his Seneshal of the Vaunted, Velsharoon had commanded her to work with his former mortal allies in Thay -the secretive and powerful organization known as The Vengeful- to prevent a catastrophe not just for them, but in the end, for all of Faerûn. With her oversight, and the aid of others like them in Thay they had succeeded against tall odds in disrupting Szass Tam’s plans for ultimate control of Thay.
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Their histories were wildly divergent, yet the Old Man -simply known as The Thayan-, had a keen eye for selecting those of pure hearts for the Vengeful. At his direction they came to, or were selected from, Thay as many others had before and after them. There was the quiet paladin of Mystra called Sarin Colt, a once beautiful but now horribly disfigured Carla - The Face - Waters, an agent of the Simbul herself - Moiren Drake, a merchant who had lost his family Malik Amblecrown, a minor noble from a failing family of northern Thay - Maegor Umrathos, a monk from Calimshan whose mother was killed before his eyes while saving him - Behir al Azia, and the only surviving daughter of a pair of Researcher Red Wizards who were wiped out during Velsharoon’s ascension to godhood - Reesa, and an elf of unknown origin; Calamaethor Arthonnen.
All were of good heart. And like many of good heart who found their way to Thay, not all were to emerge unscathed.
Seemingly by coincidence, they first gathered and met the old man in the Bezantur market. Cautious as always, the old man first tested their resolve and abilities by asking them to help Belanna Telminster, a disguised half-elf from Aglarond searching for her brother in Thay.
They eagerly took the opportunity to make a difference, no matter how small, in such an evil land and traveled to Nethwatch Keep to meet her. There, after intervening to protect her from a powerful slaver, she explained to them her brother was likely sold into slavery, but she was not sure where. The party, proving resourceful, found out from the slave merchant in the keep that Sathras Canos was likely the man they were looking for.
After traveling back to Bezantur, Sarin, Moiren, Malik, Maegor, Behir, and Reesa made their way to the Canos estate. They find the fat, drunk, bumbling Sathras Canos is experiencing a bit of a problem - he has returned from Tyraturos after selling many slaves to the Tharchion Dimon, however the caravan was attacked by a ‘huge dragon with a pointy tail’. He desperately needed brave adenturers to recover the cargo that was on the caravan - important bottles of booze and so forth... And, if they have the time, I would be nice for them to find and save his wife whom he valiantly ran faster than to get away from the dragon. They agree, if he will give a slave of their choice.
So with their purpose clear -to save the damsel in distress from a dragon-, the dragonslayers headed north of the city and find the ‘dragon’ was really just a very large Wyvern, and the damsel in distress was a thoroughly unpleasant, chunky, screeching woman. Regardless they succeeded in their task, of which the most unpleasant part was listening to their damsel complain all the way back to Bezantur.
Once return, they received Sathras’ resigned thanks. Upon requesting their slave be a half-elf male (in the hopes of getting Belanna’s brother) they discover from Sathras that he sold one matching the description of Belanna’s brother to Tharchion Dimon of Tyraturos as a stable hand. While they now at least had a solid lead, they still needed to figure out a way to get to Tyraturos and close enough to Dimon to find and perhaps escape with the boy.
As luck would have it though, Thachion Dimon -an avid jousting and tournament patron- had posted notices throughout the Priador and other tharchs of Thay in search of worthy nobles to form a team to provide at least some competition to his annual champions. The party, now needing a little help to pose as nobility, took aid from a group of adventurers the old Man previous brought to Thay who now called themselves ‘The Veiled Alliance’.
At the Veiled Alliance’s stronghold, Patents of Nobility were forged, and Maegor received his long-lost patents from the Old Man himself. In addition, the Old Man surreptitiously intervened in the selection process for the tournament trials to help provide further cover to the party. Due to his efforts Richal Derthur, Rhona, Victoria Beatrix, Bishop Nafarus, Thrash Flint, and Jareth Kuyler were selected as hopeful (yet false) nobles and their squires seeking a spot on the tournament team.
All were taken by caravan to the tournament grounds in Tyraturos and jousted in front of the Tharchion Dimon himself. Dimon eventually proclaimed the three winners of the trial were Maegor, Richal, and Rhona. Unfortunately for them, in the fallout of the events of the trial, and near-civil war that later nearly occurred because of it, Dimon never did form the tournament team as he intended.
That was because the real winners of the event turned out to be the non-participants of the joust – Moiren who located Bell, Belanna’s brother, and Reesa who slipped into the Tharchion’s tent and retrieved the key to unshackle him. But more important, Reesa also stole confidential letters meant only for the Tharchion which would end drawing the party deep into events that nearly caused the beginning of a united Thay - which would have been a terrifying new threat for the rest of Faerûn. ((The letter’s Reesa found are the posts for ‘Important Letter to Dimon’ and ‘Current State of Affairs’ in this thread))
At the time however, they succeeded in their mission to free Bell and escaped with him to Bezantur where they met up with another Harper agent known as Galvin. He revealed that both Belanna and Bell were of the house Shayanna of Aglarond. Upon the brother and sister’s safe return to Aglarond, even the mighty Simbul heard of the party’s accomplishment - which later influenced her decision to meet them and resulted in she herself becoming unwittingly participant in the machinations of Szass Tam.
Before their fateful meeting with the Simbul however, the party, with the urging of Lord Martyn of the Veiled Alliance, choose to intercept the agents of the zulkirs in the Keep of Sorrows they learned of from Dimon’s letter. After making their way some distance into the crypt, they encountered two women - Gray Falasia and Moredryss Vrinn (a drow), locked in mortal combat and seemingly a match for each other. Unbeknownst to the party at the time, Vrinn was the messenger tasked by Aznar Thrul to carry plans of an upcoming invasion of Rashemen to his ally and fellow zulkir Lauzoril. While Falasia was indeed Dimon’s (and by extension) Tam’s agent sent to intercept the plans so they could be provided to the Rashemaar.
To break the stalemate, Maegor choose to attack Gray Falasia to break off her attack. Cursing the party for interfering, she slipped into the shadows and escaped. The party then questioned the terribly wounded Vrinn and forced her to give her the documents several spotted in her possession. ((These documents are the posts Lord Thorvald's Correspondence and a Letter to Lauzoril in this thread)) As an ‘evil drow’, Maegor also tried to kill Vrinn at this point but she escaped as well.
Now armed with damning evidence of a Thayan invasion of Rashemen led by the Zulkirs Thrul, Lauzoril, and Nevron the party decided that this too must be brought back to the Veiled Alliance and a decision made about what action needed to be taken.
During their adventures while waiting for all to arrive at the Veiled Alliance’s stronghold Moiren, Maegor, Behir, and Reesa were followed and tracked by the Vrinn. They survived an initial assassination attempt by her in the Sea Caves of Murbant, but less than a tenday later, they -along with Carla, but minus Reesa and Malik- faced another attempt on their lives when lured to the Captain’s Pub by a false message from the elf Calamaethor. Unfortunately for Calamaethor though, the drow had caught him alone and he was murdered by her just as the trap was sprung on the rest of the party as her other drow assassins attacked them.
Mourning their friend, but knowing they must do something to stop the plans of the three zulkirs, the party was finally sought out by The Simbul herself. She revealed that Moiren was her apprentice undercover in Thay and reviewed the documents the party had retrieved. In her infamous flashes of anger she vowed to send the information the party had gathered to a party a north to ensure the Rashemaar knew an invasion was imminent and so they would know how to defeat the gem golems.
However, in a task for the party, the Simbul asked them to undertake a mission of extreme importance to her. Thorvald’s Correspondence indicated the names of several Aglarond agents in Thay. Among them, and perhaps the most important, was Azargatha Nimune - a wizardess from Deepingdale, Harper ally, and close friend of the Simbul. She needed to be found in Eltabbar and spirited out of Thay as quickly as possible before the Red Wizards decided to act on the intel they were transferring. The party then makes their way to the heart of Thay - the capital city of Eltabbar itself.
With the party gathered in Eltabbar, the Old Man appeared and gave them a hint that Reesa, now back in her home city, would perhaps know where to go if searching for someone in the city that did not wish to be found - the Palace of Crystals. From there, Reesa briefly scryed on Azargatha and discovered her to be scouting in the caverns of Eltabbar.
Fighting their way through the denizens of the elaborate city sewers, avoiding -or tripping- the numerous traps, they eventually discovered a passage down to the caverns and found Azargatha. Moiren proved she was a friend sent by the Simbul, explained Azargatha was in mortal danger, and were just about to whisk her out of Eltabbar via the Stone of Recall when a ‘whirling tube of blue-black energy’ engulfed Azargatha and she disappeared.
Suddenly the party found itself surrounded by several spies and confronted by Gray Falasia and a calm man with a slight sense of humor - Malark Springhill. Malark thanked them and agreed with Falasia that she was right by thinking the party would lead them right to their prey. The party recognized Falasia, and she them.
Falasia tried to convince Malark of their task and that the party needed to be killed because of their interference. But Malark believed Moredryss Vrinn would provide them more appropriate deaths. Therefore, he refused to fully explain what happened to Azargatha because he would be immediately obligated to kill them afterward. He appeared quite intrigued by Behir, and the party could see he moved like Behir - showing him likely to be a monk as well. Behir correctly surmised that Malark is (or was) a monk of the Long Death.
Eventually though, Falasia could no longer contain herself and reminded Malark of their assignment that the party must be killed. He resignedly agreed and Falasia and the other spies attack. However the party cleverly used their Stones of Recall and escaped to Nethjet.
Gathered in a room at the inn of Nethjet, the weary and disheartened party recovered their strength. Knowing they were now at a crossroads and perhaps unsure of what to do, Brianna Fraser herself -appearing as a bluish-white glowing Divine Apparition with fiery eyes- drew their spirits to Oblivion.
There she explained the magic of the mage-tunnel they witnessed taking Azargatha was a spell devised by Tam. Next she directed them with the statement that ‘the one they need to find is now located in the Tam Estate’. She further explained that an old ally of Tam’s had the means to allow them to enter the estate, and where and how to find the hidden crypt of Victor - Elder Vampire of the Coven. Finally, as the time and her power to keep them in Oblivion drew to an end, she left them with the advice that “Not all failure ends in defeat. Remember this lesson well when you enter the Tam Estate.”
Resolved to try and recover Azargatha, members of the party did indeed discover the hidden crypt as directed and recovered the key from the hidden tombs. Gathering in preparation to infiltrate the estate, the Old Man appears and tries to warn them against such an attempt - trying to impress on them that there is very little hope of success in doing so.
The party explains to him the vision of the Divine Apparition. The Thayan admits that perhaps some greater powers have seen or set the party on that path. For better or worse, he felt that perhaps their fate was then out of his hands and gave them an ominous goodbye. They would not to meet again.
The Tam Estate was all they feared and worse. Successful in reach the upper library of the mansion however, the party finally realized that, through their good intentions, they had played an unwitting yet significant role in advancing Szass Tam’s plans for becoming emperor of Thay. ((The letters they discovered are the posts A Letter to Szass Tam and [A Partially Written Letter] in this thread))
Unfortunately though, they would be unable to provide knowledge of the truth of things to their allies and the Simbul as when they tried to leave the library the triggered magical wards which stripped them of their equipment and transported them to Tam’s cells below his wizard’s tower!
Despite their best efforts, the door could not be forced open or unlocked in any manner. Carla herself, her disfigured face now shown to all, was particularly distraught be the turn of events. Beginning to despair of their fate, eventually a civil servant of Thay assigned to Szass Tam arrives - Nathor. In weeks to follow, the party would eventually come to realize that Nathor was ‘the one they need to find’ and Azargatha was already lost to them.
Nathor was to process the party in preparation for their conversion to undead such as zombies, dread warriors, and ghouls. However, through much discussion and soul-searching, the party eventually found out that Nathor was quite disillusioned with his role in Thay and haunted by the things he had seen and done. They convinced him to help them escape their cell and, in turn, they would help him escape Thay. Nathor, as part of this act of desperation to escape the horrors of his homeland, agreed to provide knowledge of what he knew -especially in regard to Tam’s stronghold in The Citadel- to try and thwart the doom he saw threatening to engulf Thay.
True to his word, Nathor not only retrieved the party’s belonging but helped them escape Tam’s dungeons. However, he warned against using their stones of recall since Tam’s wizards would have placed magic on them to immediately track them - so they were forced to take a caravan out of the city for the western border of Thay. During the agonizing wait in Vurman’s Tavern for the caravan master to return from some errand, they encountered an adventuring band from the Dalelands led by a brave warrior who called himself Tharman. It seemed apparent the band was mounting some expedition into the restricted Thaymount region - possibly to the dread Citadel itself. Depsite their best efforts, Tharman only smiled and politely declined their requests to join him on his way out of Eltabbar.
Finally the caravan master returned and they party, plus Nathor, made their way to Nethwatch Keep. On the journey to the Keep, he explained the reason he wanted the party to take this dangerous route. The legendary sword Hadryllis, which Tam had acquired years ago was secreted it away in the dungeons of Nethwatch Keep and guarded by a terrible dragon. To ease his anxiety of remaining in Thay while the necessary, but dangerous task remained, he began writing down all he could remember about his journeys to the Citadel of the Thaymount in High Thay. During an attack against the caravan by bandits on the road to Nethwatch Keep, Behir was certain he spotted Malark off in the distance.
The party reached Nethwatch Keep and Nathor, absorbed and intent on finishing his report moved to a meeting room in the Cliff’s Edge Inn to complete them. Now on guard against Malark and Tam’s agents who could be after them, the party took up positions to guard Nathor. Despite their best efforts, a magical blackness sprang up around him and when it subsided he was gone - although his report remained, strangely enough. ((The post Nathor's Report in this thread))
He was never seen again, but his sacrificed perhaps saved the lives of thousands of people.
The party regrouped in a room of the inn, only to shortly thereafter have a knock on their door. It was their ‘friendly’ nemesis, Malark. The monk explained that he had retrieved what he was sent to get - seeming to indicate he was the agent sent after Nathor. But as he was not specifically told to retrieve Tam’s escaped prisoners, and upon also finding out what Nathor had provided in his report to the party, he now felt that they had deaths awaiting them much more befitting and glorious than Moredryss Vrinn could provide them.
He left them with instructions that he would end the cat-and-mouse game with her and through his agents provide her false information to move against the party. But should they meet again, he would expect they try to kill him, just as he would be attempting to send them to their deaths then as well. A tenday later, Reesa received a messenger crow with a note that simply read “The first hour after midnight. Your Suite. Tonight.”
The party, alerted and mostly prepared, met and wiped out Vrinn’s supposed ambush in their suite. The drow, again now near death, angrily told them to kill her as her life was forfeit. While the party had not been able to get word out of their discovery of Tam’s treachery, the three zulkirs had launched their doomed invasion of Rashemen and been spectacularly defeated.
With her hope of redemption gone by failing to kill those that had facilitated the transfer of the destructive information to the Rashemaar, she nearly had her wish granted by the ever-eager Maegor. However, the rest of the party stayed Maegor’s killing blow and told her to return to her zulkirs with information that Tam intended to invade Bezantur now that his plan was falling into place and they were virtually alone in their opposition to him becoming emperor of Thay.
After releasing Vrinn, the party descended to the depths of the fabled dungeons of Nethwatch Keep. The battles were epic, bloody, and chaotic but in the end they emerged victorious with Hadryllis in-hand and Maegor landing the blow that killed the dreaded Mist Dragon protecting it. This proved to be the first in a series of turning points that erased the new power Tam had gained with his rival’s failure almost as quick as he had attained it.
Soon after acquiring the artifact, the party once again encountered a now-subdued Moredryiss Vrinn. She explained to them that the three zulkirs demanded they be brought before them. Vrinn explained she didn’t care if the party went or not as she was taking her chances and leaving for the Underdark to hopefully avoid the civil war and likely defeat of her patrons. Fortunately for all involved, the party did decide to travel to Bezantur and had the dubious honor of meeting with the zulkirs Nevron, Lauzoril, and Aznar Thrul along with their sole remaining ally among the tharchions - Thessaloni Canos of the Alaor Isles.
The meeting was fast and furious, with Behir and Moiren lying to the zulkirs that Malark and Gray Falasia were responsible for their battle plans falling into enemy hands. Despite Lauzoril’s and Nevron’s demands they be tortured and killed for their insolence, Thrul instead conscripted Reesa and Sarin to serve in the defense of the city against a force of undead and mercenaries gathering in the Priador. While the rest were to travel to their allies -which he claimed he knew they had- and use them to find a way to gain access to the now near-impenetrable defenses around The Citadel in High Thay. Assuming Bezantur held and there was any resistance left against Tam, instead of being tortured and killed, he felt the party would be better punished by being an expendable and unaffiliated force on the triumvirate’s behalf which would infiltrate The Citadel and disrupt whatever Tam’s final plans were before they came to fruition.
Under the direction of the Protector of Bezantur, Ryech Voralt, the Battle of Bezantur was epic and remembered for years to come. Despite the invading force’s best efforts, the defenders of the city held firm and the attacking army was nearly annihilated by a counterattack from the city’s defenders and a larger flanking attack to the army’s rear led by the three zulkirs as most of their Red Wizards. The successful defense of the city, in turn, helped elevate the disgraced zulkirs political power - somewhat. But it would later be widely considered only a feint organized by agents of Szass Tam to keep his few remaining Thayan enemies occupied while he completed the final steps of his plan to seize ultimate power in Thay.
After nearly a year since first gathering in the market of Bezantur, the disruption of those final plans finally became apparent as the true reason the party members were assembled in Thay by the Old Man, and guided by Velsharoon’s most powerful follower - Brianna Fraser. It was shortly after the Battle of Bezantur that first one pixie called Amber, and then another called Lily, found Reesa and Sarin and delivered a message from the Simbul who had been contacted by the others of the party.
((The post Letter from the Simbul in this thread))
The party gathered one final time at the stronghold of the Veiled Alliance. From there, they set out to meet the Simbul and forever alter their fate and that of Thay. They overcame countless horrors, trials, and traps found and destroyed the Runes of Chaos and in the end delayed, disrupted, or possibly even destroyed Tam’s plans for ultimate power.
Their victory did not come without sacrifice however. Having brought about the final showdown between the ancient and dread demon lord Eltab and Tam and his minions, the conflagration consumed them. However, Brianna -in a significant expenditure of her god’s new power- met their souls in the nothingness of Oblivion and offered them the choice to return to Thay and continue their dangerous work against Tam and the other zulkirs, be whisked from Thay, or to continue on their journey to meet their gods. Reesa and Maegor, feeling the call of their gods, went to them. Sarin opted to be spirited out of Thay - never to return. And Moiren, Behir, and Malik returned to the Realm of the Red Wizards despite the danger to them.
As a result of the brave party’s actions, Szass Tam lost his popular support and Thay once again returned to the dysfunctional realm of bickering Red Wizards for which it has been known for centuries.
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As Brianna completed her reflection on their journey, pleasantly surprised ones much like she once was were able to achieve such renown, yet retain their sense of right and wrong along the way. The regret that she herself had not withstood the corruption of her soul in Thay gnawed at her for a moment.
But her regret soon turned to smug pleasure with the thought that once again the Vengeful -and by extension her master, Velsharoon- had proved victorious in his machinations.
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Their histories were wildly divergent, yet the Old Man -simply known as The Thayan-, had a keen eye for selecting those of pure hearts for the Vengeful. At his direction they came to, or were selected from, Thay as many others had before and after them. There was the quiet paladin of Mystra called Sarin Colt, a once beautiful but now horribly disfigured Carla - The Face - Waters, an agent of the Simbul herself - Moiren Drake, a merchant who had lost his family Malik Amblecrown, a minor noble from a failing family of northern Thay - Maegor Umrathos, a monk from Calimshan whose mother was killed before his eyes while saving him - Behir al Azia, and the only surviving daughter of a pair of Researcher Red Wizards who were wiped out during Velsharoon’s ascension to godhood - Reesa, and an elf of unknown origin; Calamaethor Arthonnen.
All were of good heart. And like many of good heart who found their way to Thay, not all were to emerge unscathed.
Seemingly by coincidence, they first gathered and met the old man in the Bezantur market. Cautious as always, the old man first tested their resolve and abilities by asking them to help Belanna Telminster, a disguised half-elf from Aglarond searching for her brother in Thay.
They eagerly took the opportunity to make a difference, no matter how small, in such an evil land and traveled to Nethwatch Keep to meet her. There, after intervening to protect her from a powerful slaver, she explained to them her brother was likely sold into slavery, but she was not sure where. The party, proving resourceful, found out from the slave merchant in the keep that Sathras Canos was likely the man they were looking for.
After traveling back to Bezantur, Sarin, Moiren, Malik, Maegor, Behir, and Reesa made their way to the Canos estate. They find the fat, drunk, bumbling Sathras Canos is experiencing a bit of a problem - he has returned from Tyraturos after selling many slaves to the Tharchion Dimon, however the caravan was attacked by a ‘huge dragon with a pointy tail’. He desperately needed brave adenturers to recover the cargo that was on the caravan - important bottles of booze and so forth... And, if they have the time, I would be nice for them to find and save his wife whom he valiantly ran faster than to get away from the dragon. They agree, if he will give a slave of their choice.
So with their purpose clear -to save the damsel in distress from a dragon-, the dragonslayers headed north of the city and find the ‘dragon’ was really just a very large Wyvern, and the damsel in distress was a thoroughly unpleasant, chunky, screeching woman. Regardless they succeeded in their task, of which the most unpleasant part was listening to their damsel complain all the way back to Bezantur.
Once return, they received Sathras’ resigned thanks. Upon requesting their slave be a half-elf male (in the hopes of getting Belanna’s brother) they discover from Sathras that he sold one matching the description of Belanna’s brother to Tharchion Dimon of Tyraturos as a stable hand. While they now at least had a solid lead, they still needed to figure out a way to get to Tyraturos and close enough to Dimon to find and perhaps escape with the boy.
As luck would have it though, Thachion Dimon -an avid jousting and tournament patron- had posted notices throughout the Priador and other tharchs of Thay in search of worthy nobles to form a team to provide at least some competition to his annual champions. The party, now needing a little help to pose as nobility, took aid from a group of adventurers the old Man previous brought to Thay who now called themselves ‘The Veiled Alliance’.
At the Veiled Alliance’s stronghold, Patents of Nobility were forged, and Maegor received his long-lost patents from the Old Man himself. In addition, the Old Man surreptitiously intervened in the selection process for the tournament trials to help provide further cover to the party. Due to his efforts Richal Derthur, Rhona, Victoria Beatrix, Bishop Nafarus, Thrash Flint, and Jareth Kuyler were selected as hopeful (yet false) nobles and their squires seeking a spot on the tournament team.
All were taken by caravan to the tournament grounds in Tyraturos and jousted in front of the Tharchion Dimon himself. Dimon eventually proclaimed the three winners of the trial were Maegor, Richal, and Rhona. Unfortunately for them, in the fallout of the events of the trial, and near-civil war that later nearly occurred because of it, Dimon never did form the tournament team as he intended.
That was because the real winners of the event turned out to be the non-participants of the joust – Moiren who located Bell, Belanna’s brother, and Reesa who slipped into the Tharchion’s tent and retrieved the key to unshackle him. But more important, Reesa also stole confidential letters meant only for the Tharchion which would end drawing the party deep into events that nearly caused the beginning of a united Thay - which would have been a terrifying new threat for the rest of Faerûn. ((The letter’s Reesa found are the posts for ‘Important Letter to Dimon’ and ‘Current State of Affairs’ in this thread))
At the time however, they succeeded in their mission to free Bell and escaped with him to Bezantur where they met up with another Harper agent known as Galvin. He revealed that both Belanna and Bell were of the house Shayanna of Aglarond. Upon the brother and sister’s safe return to Aglarond, even the mighty Simbul heard of the party’s accomplishment - which later influenced her decision to meet them and resulted in she herself becoming unwittingly participant in the machinations of Szass Tam.
Before their fateful meeting with the Simbul however, the party, with the urging of Lord Martyn of the Veiled Alliance, choose to intercept the agents of the zulkirs in the Keep of Sorrows they learned of from Dimon’s letter. After making their way some distance into the crypt, they encountered two women - Gray Falasia and Moredryss Vrinn (a drow), locked in mortal combat and seemingly a match for each other. Unbeknownst to the party at the time, Vrinn was the messenger tasked by Aznar Thrul to carry plans of an upcoming invasion of Rashemen to his ally and fellow zulkir Lauzoril. While Falasia was indeed Dimon’s (and by extension) Tam’s agent sent to intercept the plans so they could be provided to the Rashemaar.
To break the stalemate, Maegor choose to attack Gray Falasia to break off her attack. Cursing the party for interfering, she slipped into the shadows and escaped. The party then questioned the terribly wounded Vrinn and forced her to give her the documents several spotted in her possession. ((These documents are the posts Lord Thorvald's Correspondence and a Letter to Lauzoril in this thread)) As an ‘evil drow’, Maegor also tried to kill Vrinn at this point but she escaped as well.
Now armed with damning evidence of a Thayan invasion of Rashemen led by the Zulkirs Thrul, Lauzoril, and Nevron the party decided that this too must be brought back to the Veiled Alliance and a decision made about what action needed to be taken.
During their adventures while waiting for all to arrive at the Veiled Alliance’s stronghold Moiren, Maegor, Behir, and Reesa were followed and tracked by the Vrinn. They survived an initial assassination attempt by her in the Sea Caves of Murbant, but less than a tenday later, they -along with Carla, but minus Reesa and Malik- faced another attempt on their lives when lured to the Captain’s Pub by a false message from the elf Calamaethor. Unfortunately for Calamaethor though, the drow had caught him alone and he was murdered by her just as the trap was sprung on the rest of the party as her other drow assassins attacked them.
Mourning their friend, but knowing they must do something to stop the plans of the three zulkirs, the party was finally sought out by The Simbul herself. She revealed that Moiren was her apprentice undercover in Thay and reviewed the documents the party had retrieved. In her infamous flashes of anger she vowed to send the information the party had gathered to a party a north to ensure the Rashemaar knew an invasion was imminent and so they would know how to defeat the gem golems.
However, in a task for the party, the Simbul asked them to undertake a mission of extreme importance to her. Thorvald’s Correspondence indicated the names of several Aglarond agents in Thay. Among them, and perhaps the most important, was Azargatha Nimune - a wizardess from Deepingdale, Harper ally, and close friend of the Simbul. She needed to be found in Eltabbar and spirited out of Thay as quickly as possible before the Red Wizards decided to act on the intel they were transferring. The party then makes their way to the heart of Thay - the capital city of Eltabbar itself.
With the party gathered in Eltabbar, the Old Man appeared and gave them a hint that Reesa, now back in her home city, would perhaps know where to go if searching for someone in the city that did not wish to be found - the Palace of Crystals. From there, Reesa briefly scryed on Azargatha and discovered her to be scouting in the caverns of Eltabbar.
Fighting their way through the denizens of the elaborate city sewers, avoiding -or tripping- the numerous traps, they eventually discovered a passage down to the caverns and found Azargatha. Moiren proved she was a friend sent by the Simbul, explained Azargatha was in mortal danger, and were just about to whisk her out of Eltabbar via the Stone of Recall when a ‘whirling tube of blue-black energy’ engulfed Azargatha and she disappeared.
Suddenly the party found itself surrounded by several spies and confronted by Gray Falasia and a calm man with a slight sense of humor - Malark Springhill. Malark thanked them and agreed with Falasia that she was right by thinking the party would lead them right to their prey. The party recognized Falasia, and she them.
Falasia tried to convince Malark of their task and that the party needed to be killed because of their interference. But Malark believed Moredryss Vrinn would provide them more appropriate deaths. Therefore, he refused to fully explain what happened to Azargatha because he would be immediately obligated to kill them afterward. He appeared quite intrigued by Behir, and the party could see he moved like Behir - showing him likely to be a monk as well. Behir correctly surmised that Malark is (or was) a monk of the Long Death.
Eventually though, Falasia could no longer contain herself and reminded Malark of their assignment that the party must be killed. He resignedly agreed and Falasia and the other spies attack. However the party cleverly used their Stones of Recall and escaped to Nethjet.
Gathered in a room at the inn of Nethjet, the weary and disheartened party recovered their strength. Knowing they were now at a crossroads and perhaps unsure of what to do, Brianna Fraser herself -appearing as a bluish-white glowing Divine Apparition with fiery eyes- drew their spirits to Oblivion.
There she explained the magic of the mage-tunnel they witnessed taking Azargatha was a spell devised by Tam. Next she directed them with the statement that ‘the one they need to find is now located in the Tam Estate’. She further explained that an old ally of Tam’s had the means to allow them to enter the estate, and where and how to find the hidden crypt of Victor - Elder Vampire of the Coven. Finally, as the time and her power to keep them in Oblivion drew to an end, she left them with the advice that “Not all failure ends in defeat. Remember this lesson well when you enter the Tam Estate.”
Resolved to try and recover Azargatha, members of the party did indeed discover the hidden crypt as directed and recovered the key from the hidden tombs. Gathering in preparation to infiltrate the estate, the Old Man appears and tries to warn them against such an attempt - trying to impress on them that there is very little hope of success in doing so.
The party explains to him the vision of the Divine Apparition. The Thayan admits that perhaps some greater powers have seen or set the party on that path. For better or worse, he felt that perhaps their fate was then out of his hands and gave them an ominous goodbye. They would not to meet again.
The Tam Estate was all they feared and worse. Successful in reach the upper library of the mansion however, the party finally realized that, through their good intentions, they had played an unwitting yet significant role in advancing Szass Tam’s plans for becoming emperor of Thay. ((The letters they discovered are the posts A Letter to Szass Tam and [A Partially Written Letter] in this thread))
Unfortunately though, they would be unable to provide knowledge of the truth of things to their allies and the Simbul as when they tried to leave the library the triggered magical wards which stripped them of their equipment and transported them to Tam’s cells below his wizard’s tower!
Despite their best efforts, the door could not be forced open or unlocked in any manner. Carla herself, her disfigured face now shown to all, was particularly distraught be the turn of events. Beginning to despair of their fate, eventually a civil servant of Thay assigned to Szass Tam arrives - Nathor. In weeks to follow, the party would eventually come to realize that Nathor was ‘the one they need to find’ and Azargatha was already lost to them.
Nathor was to process the party in preparation for their conversion to undead such as zombies, dread warriors, and ghouls. However, through much discussion and soul-searching, the party eventually found out that Nathor was quite disillusioned with his role in Thay and haunted by the things he had seen and done. They convinced him to help them escape their cell and, in turn, they would help him escape Thay. Nathor, as part of this act of desperation to escape the horrors of his homeland, agreed to provide knowledge of what he knew -especially in regard to Tam’s stronghold in The Citadel- to try and thwart the doom he saw threatening to engulf Thay.
True to his word, Nathor not only retrieved the party’s belonging but helped them escape Tam’s dungeons. However, he warned against using their stones of recall since Tam’s wizards would have placed magic on them to immediately track them - so they were forced to take a caravan out of the city for the western border of Thay. During the agonizing wait in Vurman’s Tavern for the caravan master to return from some errand, they encountered an adventuring band from the Dalelands led by a brave warrior who called himself Tharman. It seemed apparent the band was mounting some expedition into the restricted Thaymount region - possibly to the dread Citadel itself. Depsite their best efforts, Tharman only smiled and politely declined their requests to join him on his way out of Eltabbar.
Finally the caravan master returned and they party, plus Nathor, made their way to Nethwatch Keep. On the journey to the Keep, he explained the reason he wanted the party to take this dangerous route. The legendary sword Hadryllis, which Tam had acquired years ago was secreted it away in the dungeons of Nethwatch Keep and guarded by a terrible dragon. To ease his anxiety of remaining in Thay while the necessary, but dangerous task remained, he began writing down all he could remember about his journeys to the Citadel of the Thaymount in High Thay. During an attack against the caravan by bandits on the road to Nethwatch Keep, Behir was certain he spotted Malark off in the distance.
The party reached Nethwatch Keep and Nathor, absorbed and intent on finishing his report moved to a meeting room in the Cliff’s Edge Inn to complete them. Now on guard against Malark and Tam’s agents who could be after them, the party took up positions to guard Nathor. Despite their best efforts, a magical blackness sprang up around him and when it subsided he was gone - although his report remained, strangely enough. ((The post Nathor's Report in this thread))
He was never seen again, but his sacrificed perhaps saved the lives of thousands of people.
The party regrouped in a room of the inn, only to shortly thereafter have a knock on their door. It was their ‘friendly’ nemesis, Malark. The monk explained that he had retrieved what he was sent to get - seeming to indicate he was the agent sent after Nathor. But as he was not specifically told to retrieve Tam’s escaped prisoners, and upon also finding out what Nathor had provided in his report to the party, he now felt that they had deaths awaiting them much more befitting and glorious than Moredryss Vrinn could provide them.
He left them with instructions that he would end the cat-and-mouse game with her and through his agents provide her false information to move against the party. But should they meet again, he would expect they try to kill him, just as he would be attempting to send them to their deaths then as well. A tenday later, Reesa received a messenger crow with a note that simply read “The first hour after midnight. Your Suite. Tonight.”
The party, alerted and mostly prepared, met and wiped out Vrinn’s supposed ambush in their suite. The drow, again now near death, angrily told them to kill her as her life was forfeit. While the party had not been able to get word out of their discovery of Tam’s treachery, the three zulkirs had launched their doomed invasion of Rashemen and been spectacularly defeated.
With her hope of redemption gone by failing to kill those that had facilitated the transfer of the destructive information to the Rashemaar, she nearly had her wish granted by the ever-eager Maegor. However, the rest of the party stayed Maegor’s killing blow and told her to return to her zulkirs with information that Tam intended to invade Bezantur now that his plan was falling into place and they were virtually alone in their opposition to him becoming emperor of Thay.
After releasing Vrinn, the party descended to the depths of the fabled dungeons of Nethwatch Keep. The battles were epic, bloody, and chaotic but in the end they emerged victorious with Hadryllis in-hand and Maegor landing the blow that killed the dreaded Mist Dragon protecting it. This proved to be the first in a series of turning points that erased the new power Tam had gained with his rival’s failure almost as quick as he had attained it.
Soon after acquiring the artifact, the party once again encountered a now-subdued Moredryiss Vrinn. She explained to them that the three zulkirs demanded they be brought before them. Vrinn explained she didn’t care if the party went or not as she was taking her chances and leaving for the Underdark to hopefully avoid the civil war and likely defeat of her patrons. Fortunately for all involved, the party did decide to travel to Bezantur and had the dubious honor of meeting with the zulkirs Nevron, Lauzoril, and Aznar Thrul along with their sole remaining ally among the tharchions - Thessaloni Canos of the Alaor Isles.
The meeting was fast and furious, with Behir and Moiren lying to the zulkirs that Malark and Gray Falasia were responsible for their battle plans falling into enemy hands. Despite Lauzoril’s and Nevron’s demands they be tortured and killed for their insolence, Thrul instead conscripted Reesa and Sarin to serve in the defense of the city against a force of undead and mercenaries gathering in the Priador. While the rest were to travel to their allies -which he claimed he knew they had- and use them to find a way to gain access to the now near-impenetrable defenses around The Citadel in High Thay. Assuming Bezantur held and there was any resistance left against Tam, instead of being tortured and killed, he felt the party would be better punished by being an expendable and unaffiliated force on the triumvirate’s behalf which would infiltrate The Citadel and disrupt whatever Tam’s final plans were before they came to fruition.
Under the direction of the Protector of Bezantur, Ryech Voralt, the Battle of Bezantur was epic and remembered for years to come. Despite the invading force’s best efforts, the defenders of the city held firm and the attacking army was nearly annihilated by a counterattack from the city’s defenders and a larger flanking attack to the army’s rear led by the three zulkirs as most of their Red Wizards. The successful defense of the city, in turn, helped elevate the disgraced zulkirs political power - somewhat. But it would later be widely considered only a feint organized by agents of Szass Tam to keep his few remaining Thayan enemies occupied while he completed the final steps of his plan to seize ultimate power in Thay.
After nearly a year since first gathering in the market of Bezantur, the disruption of those final plans finally became apparent as the true reason the party members were assembled in Thay by the Old Man, and guided by Velsharoon’s most powerful follower - Brianna Fraser. It was shortly after the Battle of Bezantur that first one pixie called Amber, and then another called Lily, found Reesa and Sarin and delivered a message from the Simbul who had been contacted by the others of the party.
((The post Letter from the Simbul in this thread))
The party gathered one final time at the stronghold of the Veiled Alliance. From there, they set out to meet the Simbul and forever alter their fate and that of Thay. They overcame countless horrors, trials, and traps found and destroyed the Runes of Chaos and in the end delayed, disrupted, or possibly even destroyed Tam’s plans for ultimate power.
Their victory did not come without sacrifice however. Having brought about the final showdown between the ancient and dread demon lord Eltab and Tam and his minions, the conflagration consumed them. However, Brianna -in a significant expenditure of her god’s new power- met their souls in the nothingness of Oblivion and offered them the choice to return to Thay and continue their dangerous work against Tam and the other zulkirs, be whisked from Thay, or to continue on their journey to meet their gods. Reesa and Maegor, feeling the call of their gods, went to them. Sarin opted to be spirited out of Thay - never to return. And Moiren, Behir, and Malik returned to the Realm of the Red Wizards despite the danger to them.
As a result of the brave party’s actions, Szass Tam lost his popular support and Thay once again returned to the dysfunctional realm of bickering Red Wizards for which it has been known for centuries.
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As Brianna completed her reflection on their journey, pleasantly surprised ones much like she once was were able to achieve such renown, yet retain their sense of right and wrong along the way. The regret that she herself had not withstood the corruption of her soul in Thay gnawed at her for a moment.
But her regret soon turned to smug pleasure with the thought that once again the Vengeful -and by extension her master, Velsharoon- had proved victorious in his machinations.