The party journeyed to the Marshes of the Forgotten to find a coven of hags called the Sorority of Crows. After defeating them and retrieving a ‘heartstone’, the group tried to leave the eerie bog only to be approached by a large feminine figure wearing a black battle dress with a dark veil. Morrigan, goddess of death stood before them, silent and towering in stature. How the party will survive this unique and deadly encounter in the Shadowfell, find out!
Previous Episode/Team BAJA Episode Guide
The sky remained cloudy and full of gloom, a soft wind bellowed through the dead, leafless trees. The towering feminine physique of the goddess of death, Morrigan, stood before the party with a large obsidian scythe held in both hands. The goddess continued to stand before the party, silent and ominous, dozens of ravens cawed and flocked to the goddess while perched on the top of the trees. Kelmaris approached the goddess while the rest of them remained steadfast and firm, the half-drow informed the goddess that the group had slain the foul creatures of the Sorority of Crows. But the goddess remained still and silent, even her grip on the scythe remained perfectly still as if frozen in place.
The goddess eventually extended one finger and pointed to Jimmy Moon and Aydan, as she finished some of the ravens seemed to caw to the sound: “not belong”. The group huddled together and tried to keep their resolve while in the face of a truly divine being. The druid stepped forward and agreed with the goddess that he and the tiefling sorceress did not belong in these fell lands and only wanted to find a way back to the Material Plane. The goddess silently moved her extended finger and pointed beyond the woods and the valley. When everyone looked, they finally saw a beacon of light dozens if not hundreds of miles away. They had never noticed it before, possibly due to the mist and fog that the Sorority must’ve created with their foul magics. Now that the marsh was free from their influence, perhaps the energies and forces that govern this realm were able to return, Proax surmised.
The goddess continued to remained silent while still pointing toward the pillar of light off in the distance.
The group realized that perhaps the goddess could be their salvation from the enchanted items given by the lich spirit. They decided to beseech Morrigan to perhaps free them from their arcane shackles, Proax who had no such curse placed upon him suggested that they give the goddess the ‘heartstone’ once they realized that the hags had captured corrupted souls and encased within the object. Before the gold dragonborn could break the item, the half-drow grabbed it and offered that he give the goddess his services and that should he return to the land of the living, the bring death to his enemies and respect for it. The goddess paused and stood before them for several moments, until the black scythe glowed a soft blue light. She swept the curved blade high above them, instantly the magical objects shattered and blackened before approaching Kelmaris. Her single touch felt icy cold on the half-drow’s form, he felt magic pulsate through him and suddenly he felt lighter. The cloud that loomed within his mind was gone now, he looked to the goddess and realized that he had made a new pact. He happily crushed the stone, hundreds of spectral lights emerged from the shattered bits and formed a trail of light that went straight toward the pillar beyond.
The party took their cue and thanked the goddess, though she remained silent and still throughout the ordeal. Feeling better and free once again, they journeyed toward the pillar of light now illuminated by the trail of souls. Distance seemed irrelevant in the land, for what seemed leagues away was traversed in virtually little time. Before long, the group found themselves outside the edge of another dead and leafless forest, the pillar seemed to reach infinitely to the bleak black sky and there was nearly several dozen feet between them and the edge of the light. They cautiously approached the large pillar of light, unsure what they would find but there we apparitions of countless sizes and shapes walking toward it. None seemed bothered by the party whenever they tried to interact with them, but none of the spirits seemed aware or even cared.
A loud roar sounded from the distance, Aydan instantly recognized it was a dragon’s roar. Kelmaris could feel a small pin at the back of his head with only a whisper: “betrayer”. A large skeletal dragon flew through the dark sky and landed between the group and the pillar of light, it launched its deadly breath weapon upon them. Quest the Blue and Kelmaris managed to dodge the blast but the dwarf, Gilda, and Proax were not as fortunate as a bolt of surging lightning came at them. Kelmaris charged forward and began to assault the creature with his newly acquired powers from Morrigan. Jimmy Moon took on the form of a large wolf and began to assault the skeletal dragon while Quest threw down a barrage of punches and kicks. Proax and Gilda summoned forth their armies of spiritual allies that began to attack to the dragon while granting cures to the group. Aydan launched an array of spells from acid arrows to waves of sonic blasts. In time the group managed to defeat the large skeletal creature but were still worse for wear since they barely had time to recover from their confrontation with the Sorority previously.
Once the coast was clear, the group approached the light unsure at first what to do, but Kelmaris decided to place in faith in his new master and entered the light. The half-drow began to lift up with the light and headed upwards from the ground, the rest followed behind as they continued to rise up until the scenery became enveloped in light. Once they came back to consciousness, the party realized they were in a shallow pool within a golden forest where the sky was bright and clouds quickly rolling by. They had entered a new realm of existence, where they were not sure but it was a marginal improvement from the dark, gloomy Shadowfell. Hopeful that the goddess meant well, they sorted themselves and began to explore the mysterious realm unaware of its hidden dangers.
Thanks for reading! Please like, comment, and share. If you want to stay up to date with us, please follow our Facebook and Twitter pages. We have an Instagram for behind the scenes Team BAJA campaign pics and boardgaming fun. If you want to help us run the site, please check out our donate button. If you have any questions or inquiries, please email me at: archmage@deathbymage.com. Thanks again and we’ll see you soon!
Death By Mage 