Lira in "Heretics"

After the helping solve the trouble in the Free City of Soliton, Lira and the rest travel to the island where the sword is said to be kept.

The Island

 * Main Article: The Island

The group had not gotten far from the execution site when they were met by Sei. As she led them back to the Thieves Guild, they realized suddenly that Firroth had been missing since they had left the baron's manor.

Remembering that the two newcomers had lied that they were old friends of Nicolas, the group confronted Auren. Evidently upset that his master had created such genocidal magic, the cleric revealed that he and Firroth worked for the maker of the scroll.

Knowing that the scroll had been stolen by one of the thieves from the Soliton guild, the group believed him.

Auren then pressed that his (now former) master was a dangerous man, and that the scroll needed to be destroyed. However, Nicolas mentioned that when he, Rob, Minos and Nong-Poi had researched the scroll, a teacher at the Mage Academy named Arturius had warned them that it was protected.

After asking Sei to fetch them an arcane trickster, the group also decided to question Captain Steffan. Lira set down the vampire cat, and they told him he could change back whenever he wished.

The captain transformed back, thanking them for rescuing him and granting them use of his ship. He then told them that, when Sei returned, she would provide them with a charter as evidence of his official permission.

While waiting for Sei, the adventurers decided to attempt to destroy the scroll. Marley set it down in the middle of a storage room so Lira and Nicolas could set fire to it with tinderboxes. However, the parchment refused to catch.

Lira attempted casting Hail of Thorns, but each of the projectiles melted before they touched the scroll. After Azula suggested that they deface it, Minos handed over a bottle of ink that they emptied over the magic circle drawn on the scroll. After a moment, however, the dried ink flaked away.

Sei returned and admitted that she could not find a thief to help them. The group gave up and decided to bring the scroll to Arturius the next day. After telling Sei about Captain Steffan's request and getting permission to sleep in the storage room, they settled down for the night.

The next morning, a thief told them that the burgrave was looking for them. When they left the Thieves Guild and reached the streets, they were surprised to see that many people were looking at them and whispering among themselves.

One woman broke away and ran towards them, faltering slightly when Lira drew her shortsword. The woman assured her that she only wanted to talk, and thanked them for saving her child. Still mistrustful, the ranger dodged her and the woman hugged Nicolas instead.

They reached the burgrave's keep, where they were also welcomed as heroes. The burgrave thanked them for saving his daughter and promised that the city owed them a favor.

The burgrave also asked them whether they had heard about what had happened to Captain Steffan, but the group only acted surprised. He then asked them to return the deputy badges that the now-fugitive captain had awarded them, and the group readily agreed.

As they headed for the Mage Academy, Rob separated from the group temporarily. He admitted that he had inherited the manor of his uncle, the baron they had killed the previous day. They agreed to meet each other at Captain Steffan's ship.

At the mage school, the adventurers found Arturius busy in his office. However, the teacher recognized Nicolas and greeted him, asking how he could help them.

The group showed him the scroll and Arturius told them that only the maker of its magic could destroy it. After hearing from Auren that his former master could not be contacted and only appeared when he desired a report, the group worried that he would steal the scroll.

Lira then suggested that they make duplicates of the scroll, copying out the magic circle but making slight differences in each copy. Arturius praised the idea and offered them sheets of parchment that matched the scroll's.

After they had made four duplicates, Azula kept the original, while Lira, Nicolas, Marley and Minos took the others.

Thanking Arturius, they headed for Captain Steffan's docked ship, the Sloan. After some searching, they reached the ship, but found it filled and surrounded by soldiers.

They fearlessly went on deck and met the guard captain. They showed him the charter signed by Captain Steffan, but after being accused of conspiring with the fugitive, the group only insisted that it had been given to them days ago, before the arrest.

Still suspicious, the guard captain called over his men to check their weapons for whether they had killed within the city. Unaffected, Lira pointed out that they had been arrested a few days earlier and that Lieutenant Denise had said their weapons no longer held the necessary arcane magic.

After the guards had left, the ship captain met with the group. They showed him a map to the temple island, and he assured them that it was only a day's sail away. They thanked him and said they would set sail as soon as Rob arrived.

An hour or so later, the sorcerer came up beside the ship but told them to go ahead. He said that he still had errands to run, and that he had inherited the family ship, which he could use to follow them.

They bade him good luck and the Sloan set sail. As they settled in, the group found rooms for themselves. Azula took the only solo room, while war comrades Nicolas and Minos chose a double room. All the others took the largest cabin with five beds, except for Lira, who found a comfortable crow's nest up the main mast.

The group passed the time reading, speaking with the crew and playing cards. Lira busied herself with the card games, but was slightly disappointed when the sailors could only bet silvers instead of gold. A crewman then suggested that she challenge the captain.

Lira thanked the sailors for the game and went to the captain's cabin. Curious, Nicolas joined her. The ranger was satisfied with the captain's opening bet of one gold, and they all sat down for the game.

After winning a couple of hands and six gold, Lira thanked the captain and stood to leave. However, the captain was upset and insisted that they play one more round and bet five gold.

When the two persisted on leaving, the captain called out for a passing crewman to bar his door from the outside. They reluctantly sat down for one more round.

However, Nicolas noticed the captain switching cards under the table and called him out. Easily believing the paladin, Lira also accused him of cheating. The captain relented and forfeited the game.

As the group shared a cask of wine on the deck, they got their first look at the island. Storm clouds had gathered over the rocky cliffs, and seemed to get thicker as they came closer. Azula pointed out that it was likely weather magic.

The ship sailed around the entire island searching for a safe landing. They eventually realized that it was crescent-shaped, though the opening of the bay was crowded by shipwrecks. After finding a beach on the southern edge, the group took to the rowboats.

Familiar with mountainous terrain, Lira eventually took the lead on the treacherous, rocky paths. Since it was quite slippery, they tied themselves together with rope. The ranger noticed occasional fresh bootprints ahead of her as she led everyone up the muddy trail.

As evening started to fall, they noticed that they were surrounded by will-o'-wisps. Lira relaxed only after Azula assured them that the creatures would not attack unless provoked.

The group reached a plateau and set up camp, only distractedly noticing a smoldering campfire there. From the vantage point, they saw that the bay had a smaller island in the middle of it, which held an elven temple. They saw a bridge to its west and decided to head for it the next day.

Lira took the first watch as the others settled down to sleep. She climbed a nearby tree and sat on a branch overlooking the camp, with Scout dozing in her lap.

However, within the hour, the ranger was startled to feel a hand clapping over her mouth from behind. She struggled, and Scout immediately leapt over her shoulder and into the attacker's face. With all the thrashing, Lira lost her balance and they all fell from the tree.

When Lira managed to stand, she found herself facing a female dwarf wearing weathered armor and natural camouflage. Auren and Nicolas had also been woken by the noise, and they quickly came to stand beside the elf.

The stranger dwarf seemed paranoid and angrily claimed that they were invading her camp. She asked them whether they were treasure hunters, but they simply claimed to be adventurers exploring the islands.

The dwarf admitted that she had also headed to the island to learn its history. At this, Lira dryly thought that the stranger and Azula would get along, since the latter was a knowledge cleric.

Attempting to be friendly, Lira introduced herself and asked the stranger's name. The dwarf revealed that she had been shipwrecked for forty years, the last survivor among her friends. Because of this, she could no longer remember her name.

They all eventually agreed to share the camp, and Lira returned to her tree to sleep. Since Nicolas and Auren were due to take the second and third watches, the cleric agreed to tell the one after him that the stranger was not dangerous.

The next morning, the group readied to leave, but the survivor refused to come with them to the temple. Lira insisted that they would just go to the bridge, then turn around if necessary. The dwarf agreed and they all started down the path.

On the way, the adventurers learned that the dwarf had lost her friends when they had tried to enter the temple together. She revealed that the last to die had been an elf, and mused that even though she had barely considered her a friend, the elf had stepped into a trap to save her from it.

Azula and Lira exchanged a glance, realizing that they had a similar, cool relationship.

The survivor continued that many of her group had been killed by a bronze dragon, the guardian of the island's artifacts. Nicolas asked hesitantly how large the survivor's group had been, and she answered that they had been seven, the same number as their own group.

Unsettled, the adventurers looked at each other but said nothing.

As they trekked, they reached a clearing that was unusually green and lush. Grass and flowers surrounded a pond at its center, which emanated arcane magic.

Lira tossed a flower into the water, but could see no visible effect. Nicolas filled his waterskin and, after they had left the meadow, he watered a nearby patch of dirt. After a moment, grass sprouted from the damp.

They walked on for a few more hours and were surprised to see a human figure in another clearing. Azula quietly told them that she sensed illusion magic, just as the person turned around and revealed himself to be Rob.

Dubious that he had managed to reach the island before them, they questioned him. The sorcerer claimed that his own ship had dragged the wrecks away from the mouth of the bay and had landed near the temple bridge.

To prove his identity, Lira asked Rob the name of his mother. The sorcerer only laughed and said that they all knew his mother's name. After more pressing, Rob answered with a name that was nowhere close to 'Denise.'

The group promptly attacked with long-ranged weapons, since they were unwilling to enter the clearing. However, the first shot that would have hit passed straight through Rob's shoulder. The illusion smiled eerily and disappeared.

They continued on to the next clearing, where they saw a sword embedded upright in a stone. The group approached cautiously and saw that it was marked with ancient elven writing. Though unable to read all of it, it mentioned a sword capable of slaying a god.

They were hesitant to think that the Sword of the Godslayer would simply be out in the open, but thought that it would not hurt to bring it. As they coaxed Minos to pull out the weapon, the survivor interrupted them.

The dwarf insisted that the sword was only a stone replica of the artifact, and many of them could be found around the island. Deciding that they might need a reference of what the real sword looked like, they persisted despite the dwarf's complaints.

After Minos' first attempt to pull out the sword, they realized that the survivor had been lying about it being stone. After many of them had tried and failed, Azula freed the blade and revealed it to be an elegant, leaf-shaped shortword. Lira wrapped the weapon in cloth and tucked it into her bag.

They continued to the bridge, where the survivor refused to go further. Somewhat impatient, Lira directed her back to the beach where they had landed so the dwarf could reach their ship.

Before they parted ways however, Lira somewhat insensitively asked if the dwarf could tell them exactly where and how her friends had died. When the dwarf refused to answer, they made a last attempt to figure out who she was.

Azula studied the other's face, but could not recognize her. They tried to point out the similarities of the survivor's group and their own, but the dwarf was oblivious.

Lira coaxed her weasel to sniff the two dwarves to check if there were similarities. Scout, however, shied after coming near the survivor, snarling then hiding behind Lira. The ranger was confused but could see no reason for her companion's caution.

The group gave up and started to cross the bridge, but the survivor abruptly blocked their way. She angrily said that she had tried to warn them off peacefully, but they were leaving her no choice.

As clouds began to whirl and gather behind her, the dwarf transformed into a gigantic dragon.

Bronze Guard

 * Main Article: Bronze Guard

The group backed away together, but did not attack the dragon. When it demanded to know why they wanted to enter the temple, they told it the truth: to retrieve the Sword of the Godslayer.

Knowing that bronze dragons were good by nature, Lira insisted that they reason with it. She told it that they only wanted to borrow the sword to prevent a war, citing the danger to the City of Zephyrus. Azula also said that they would respect the temple and the other artifacts it contained.

The guardian continued to refuse however and said that it could sense evil among them. Though they knew Firroth would likely classify as such, the dragonborn was not currently with them. Azula eventually remembered the baron's scroll and showed it to the dragon.

They insisted that they were not associated to the scroll's evil and asked the dragon if it could break through its protective barrier. The guardian consented and disintegrated the scroll with a burst of storm magic.

The dragon then agreed to allow them into the temple, but warned them not to take anything except the Godslayer. The group thanked it and crossed the bridge, checking carefully for traps along the way.

At the smaller isle, they investigated the large stone door of the temple. Lira checked the seam and realized that there was no actual gap, as if the door was carved into solid stone. The group then split up to check the walls on either side of the "door".

Nicolas cut away some vines hanging from the wall. Behind them, Marley discovered a single stone that, unlike the others next to it, was blank of any carvings. Lira struggled to push against the stone and eventually moved it aside to reveal a dark tunnel.

The group entered the temple in single file and realized that they were in a maze.

Marley anchored a spare sword into the dirt outside and tied a rope to its handle. They explored further and trailed the rope behind them, with Lira donating her own when they reached its end, but the group eventually decided to draw a map of the complex tunnels instead. Lira sent Scout back to the entrance to chew through the rope tied to the sword, then drag the end back to them.

The adventurers ran into several traps as they progressed deeper, with Minos narrowly avoiding a falling boulder and Lira being rescued from a freeze flame by Marley. After several hours of walking, they finally found a small door.

Guarded, the group crowded behind Nicolas, who held his shield ready. Since he had no Darkvision, the paladin pushed both a torch and his shield into the room first.

An iron gorgon in the form of a bull noticed him from the opposite wall and lifted its head. In the firelight, they could also see two other gorgons sleeping in the center of the room.

The doorway was narrow, thus the group struggled to enter one by one and face the charging bull. Since Marley had given her a Blink Dagger, Lira used it to teleport behind the bull and attack from there.

Worried that they would wake the others, the group used only spells and projectiles to avoid the gong-like sound of hitting the iron plating. They successfully killed the sentinel without disturbing the other two and found a map of the labyrinth on its corpse.

The group headed for the center of the temple, where they found steps descending to a shallow pool. A stone chest about seven feet long rose from the center of the water, lit by a large oculus overhead.

Azula entered the icy water and discovered that the bottom of the pool was covered in gold coins. Lira and the others hurried to restrain Marley, worried that taking the coins would trigger another trap.

The dwarf studied the large chest, but could not open the heavy lid. Lira attempted to come over and help, but was injured by the arcane spell in the water. Instead, Nicolas transformed Auren into a giant eagle so he could lift the lid.

As he did, Azula immediately realized that the chest was a sarcophagus, containing a skeleton whose hands were clasped around a sword. She climbed up and verified that the skeleton was enchanted, though taking the sword would not set it off.

The group considered leaving the replica sword in its place, but Lira protested that, even if it was not magical, abandoning the sword from the stone would be a waste. Azula thus picked up the sword and Auren replaced the lid.

As they started to leave, they heard echoing roars over the temple. The adventurers looked up to see the bronze dragon fighting against a black dragon. Moments later, the two came crashing through the oculus, bringing down a chunk of dust and ceiling with them.

Through the rubble, the group saw the bronze dragon change into an elven form as it fell unconscious. They grabbed the guardian so they could flee the temple, knowing that the black dragon would be right behind them.

Escape the Labyrinth

 * Main Article: Escape from the Labyrinth

Above the group, the black dragon Nighith perched along the temple's pillars. It was joined by four griffin-riding githzerai; slender, snake-like humanoids that Azula quickly identified.

Lira was momentarily fascinated by the mounts, considering asking the githzerai where they had come from.

The dragon demanded that they hand over the Godslayer sword, which had likely been the reason it had attacked the bronze dragon. Minos stepped forward to ask why, though the dragon did not answer.

As Minos passed her, Azula used the cover to pass the sword to Marley. The rogue wrapped it in his Cloak of Hiding to turn it invisible for an hour, and hopefully keep the githzerai from seeing it.

Lira stood next to Minos and said she would surrender the sword, but only to the dragon itself. She hoped it would take a smaller, more vulnerable shape that she could hand the sword to. The dragon refused however and instead gestured forward a githzerai.

Lira handed over the replica sword, but kept all except the hilt wrapped in the cloth, since the blade was unsharpened. The githzerai mounted his griffin again and brought the replica to the dragon. The enemies then left through the hole in the ceiling.

Azula took a moment to heal everyone, including the guardian, though it neither woke nor changed shape. They left the temple, but as they crossed the bridge, two githzerai teleported in front of them.

The githzerai in front wore a cape and was obviously a leader, with the other as his follower. When Nicolas asked where their griffins were, they revealed themselves to be monks chasing their heretic brethren. Evidently, they had fought many times, and several other monks had been killed by Nighith.

The adventurers told the monks that the heretics had flown away with a Godslayer replica. When asked where the real one was, the group managed to convince them that the actual Godslayer was still in the temple.

The two monks conceded and sat down to meditate, planning to wait until the heretics returned to the temple. However, the group felt guilty for potentially leaving them to their deaths and decided to camp with them. They all took shelter in the forest nearest the temple bridge.

Before settling down to rest, Nicolas and Marley explored the forest along the cliff edge. They managed to bring back another replica of the Godslayer, to be used as another decoy for the heretics.

As they rested, the bronze dragon Kaleth woke up. The group told it that Nighith had left with the replica, and Kaleth insisted that they flee the island to protect the Godslayer.

They agreed, and Nicolas asked whether the dragon could give them a ride to their ship. Kaleth was insulted, but eventually agreed to help them. It returned to its original form and flew off, instructing them to wait.

The dragon returned some hours later and told them to look over the cliff of the temple bridge. Since they realized that they would be leaving, the adventurers tried to convince the githzerai to come with them. However, neither could be roused from their meditation.

Marley tried to pick up the follower githzerai, but was punched by a Mage Hand guarding him. Opposite him, Lira successfully dragged the leader upright and pulled his arm over her shoulder.

When the githzerai woke and asked what she was doing, Lira unconvincingly tried to tell him that they had seen the black dragon over the cliff. Luckily, Marley chimed in to help her, seeming to panic and urge them to chase it.

They all moved to the cliff edge, and discovered that Kaleth had led the Sloan to the bay. The bronze dragon explained that it had cleared the shipwrecks from the mouth of the bay for them.

They thanked Kaleth but had difficulty reaching the ship fifty feet below them, since they only had twenty feet of rope. Since the mast was almost level with the edge of the cliff, Lira leapt the gap. She slid along the sail, before landing safely on the deck.

Nicolas attempted to follow, but his heavier armor off-balanced him. He bounced off the canvas and only missed the water by grabbing the ship's railing. Lira dragged the paladin onto the deck before he fell in the water.

Lira asked the captain whether he had any spare rope, and he lent them several lengths. Marley climbed down the sheer cliff face, and taught Lira and Nicolas how to weave a rope ladder. The rogue then brought the end of the ladder up for everyone else to use.

After the group convinced the githzerai that they were chasing the black dragon across the sea, the Sloan set sail.

In the safety of the ship, the group gathered in one of the cabins to study the Godslayer. Azula and Marley determined that it had great power, but something needed to be done to unlock its strength. Afterwards, Azula wrapped the sword in the cloak and stowed it in her bedroll.

As dawn neared, the group was woken by yelling on deck that the ship was under attack. They joined the crew to face the griffin-riders and dragon who were circling overhead.

Just as Lira came up, one of the heretics jumped from his mount and landed across her shoulders. She hit the ground, but Marley was able to drive off the heretic with his rapier.

Two other riders jumped down and attacked Nicolas and Minos, thus the group quickly divided into three to face them all. Since the deck was crowded by the fighters, Lira climbed to the crosstree and fired her bow from above. Scout followed closely on her heels, anchoring himself against the swaying of the ship.

Marley saw the last griffin-rider dismount as well and land on the railing at the bow, yelling at them to surrender the sword. The rogue attempted to push him off, but the heretic overpowered him. As Nong-Poi ran to help, the black dragon breathed acid onto the ship.

The ship's crew managed to fire a cannon volley into the dragon, but the ship still tilted alarmingly and began to sink. All lost their balance except for the heretics, Marley, Minos and Lira.

Nicolas was dragged down by his armor again and fell overboard, though he managed to grab onto a tumbling barrel before he hit the water.

Marley tied a rope around the bow railing and threw it to Nong-Poi, saving the monk from sliding further. The rogue took the replica sword from his pack, showing it to the nearest githzerai and throwing it overboard. The griffin-rider dove into the water after it.

Amidships, Minos knelt quickly and plunged his sword into the deck. Both clerics had been standing near him before the ship had been damaged, and he reached out to help them as they slid past.

When Azula reached for him however, the leader of the griffin-riders noticed the long, wrapped package in her pack and tackled her around the waist. Minos caught Auren with his free hand, while Azula - with the leader still holding her - grabbed his leg.

Lira mimicked Marley, knotting her rope to the crosstree and dangling it near Minos. Minos threw Auren to the rope, but he missed and slid further down. Luckily, one of their allied githzerai grabbed the life cleric and helped him reach the lifeline.

Azula kicked downwards at the leader, landing a crippling blow between his legs. Here, the leader's griffin flew down to help, but since its rider was clinging to Azula, it missed the narrow target.

Lira focused her fire on the leader, and was satisfied when he stopped struggling and attempting to reach Azula's pack.

The leader's griffin stopped attacking Azula abruptly, flapping upwards to hover in front of Lira. Slightly startled, she cast Speak with Animals and heard the griffin confide that it was not a wild beast and that it needed a rider.

Thrilled, Lira knelt briefly to allow Scout to clamber onto her shoulder and belt, before jumping to the griffin's saddle.

The ship shuddered again and nearly all fell overboard. The other griffins abandoned the fight and began searching for their riders in the dark water. The black dragon, already difficult to see in the early morning, vanished into the dark as well.

Minos lost his grip on his sword as the ship tilted again. He and Azula slid toward the water, and Auren just managed to grab the other cleric's hand. Azula attempted to catch Minos, but missed. Much like Nicolas, Minos' armor dragged him overboard and he vanished from sight.

By then, the ship had sunk further, with water up to its mast. Marley and Nong-Poi abandoned the rope tied to the bow and swam to join the others on the mainmast. They took account, and were worried when they realized that the only two without Darkvision were missing.

Concerned for Minos, since he had not been able to grab a buoy, Lira directed the griffin to circle low to the water. She called out for him, but was unable to hear any answer. Instead, the ranger discovered four crewmen. She had the griffin pull the mast rope to them, so they could gather with the others.

Marley and the crewmen chopped through the mast just under the crosstree, hoping to keep their makeshift raft from being dragged deeper with the ship.

Knowing that Nicolas had spent longer in the water, Lira went further out to search for him and left the others to find Minos. Auren used Locate Object to search for Minos' armor, but only found scraps of it floating nearby.

Lira's griffin flew increasingly larger circles away from the shipwreck, with the ranger calling for Nicolas as she went. Though she was unable to hear any answer, Scout perked up his ears and managed to lead her to the paladin.

They found Nicolas bobbing alone, still clinging to the barrel. Lira reached down for him, but the griffin stopped her and admitted that it could only carry one.

Nicolas instead handed up his druid staff, which he had been unable to use on himself. Lira took it and turned the paladin into an eagle, freeing him from the riptide. She then led him back to the Sloan's mast.

Lira, Nicolas and Marley - the latter two in eagle form - continued searching for Minos, but only found two other crewmen.

Lira eventually flew off to find help and came upon a fleet of fishing boats. After managing to calm down the panicking fishermen, she led them to the shipwreck survivors.

The group reached shore at the far west of the continent, in a small fishing village a distance from Soliton. They took account, and realized that only one of their two allied githzerai remained with them.

They had kept the Godslayer safe, but the adventurers regretted having lost their financier and liaison.

Love on Mermaid's Rock

 * Main Article: Love on Mermaid's Rock

Since they were tired from their battle, the adventurers were allowed to sleep in the hut of a kind fisherman named Hans. The room was very small, so Lira sent her griffin to shelter in the nearby forest.

They parted with their allied githzerai and the surviving Sloan crewmen, who were all escorted into neighboring huts.

The next morning, the group woke and found Hans tending to a casket just outside the hut. He explained that his son had recently drowned, and that today was his wake. Nearby, other villagers were gathering to offer candles and coins.

Hans quickly served everyone a breakfast of fish and bread. As they ate, the adventurers explained that Minos was missing. Hans assured them that a fishing fleet had just left to search for survivors, and the group agreed to wait in the village until they returned.

After eating, the group noticed one returning boat, but realized that it only held two people. They came over to help it to shore, and discovered Rob and Firroth coming toward them.

Rob explained that he had set sail from Soliton, and Firroth had joined him at the dock. At sea, they had also been attacked by the black dragon and their ship had been lost.

The two had narrowly escaped the shipwreck, and had come across the fishermen search party that morning. The rescuers had then directed them to their village.

The adventurers welcomed the sorcerer and barbarian back into the group, and decided to relax in the village. They spent some hours talking with the villagers and sunbathing. Nearby, Marley also stole one of the many fishing nets.

Later in the morning, Lira remembered her griffin but realized that she was unsure how to call it. She tried whistling, and was happy when she saw flocks of birds fleeing the forest. The griffin emerged, hovering overhead for a moment before landing next to her.

Lira greeted it happily by rubbing its feathered head, taking note that it was a male. However, the ranger realized a bit belatedly that the villagers behind her were panicking and screaming. A handful of them were also running over with spears.

The ranger quickly blocked them, assuring them that the griffin was tame. An elder approached her here, asking her to keep the beast in the forest to keep him from eating the children. Lira laughed at first, but suddenly remembered that griffins did live on medium-sized prey, including horses and children.

Lira consented and sent the griffin to hunt far from the village.

The village elder introduced himself to the group as Saul, the father of Hans. They thanked him for the village's generosity, asking whether they could offer anything in return.

Saul asked them to keep an eye on Hans, since he was worried about his son's mental state. Hans had nearly drowned, but had claimed to have been rescued by a mermaid. Hans' wife had been drowned some time after, followed by his son.

Saul explained that their village was called Mermaid's Rock, named after a sixty-foot monolith between the village and the ocean. However, the elder assured them that no mermaids had been seen for hundreds of years.

Curious, the group traveled to the monolith, which was easy to reach since it was low tide. They stood at its base and were just able to see the ruins of a small stone house on top of it.

Firroth attempted the climb first, but fell from ten feet and bruised himself. Lira followed suit, reaching around twenty feet before losing her grip. Adept at climbing as a rogue, Marley climbed up halfway and though he slipped as well, he managed to grab a vine and swing to safety.

Firroth tried again and very nearly reached the top. However, he fell heavily and lost consciousness.

Unwilling to try again, Lira instead gave Scout the end of a very long rope, instructing him to dangle fifty feet of it on their side and the other fifty feet off the far side. The weasel climbed easily, dragging the top of the rope over the rim, but he too slipped. Lira swiftly ran forward and caught him, cushioning the damage.

As Marley prepared to try again, the group was surprised to see that the long rope had not fallen. Lira tugged on it, and realized that someone on top of the monolith had anchored it.

They climbed up and found a gnome bard sitting next to the rope, which he had evidently tied to the ruins. He greeted them, explaining that he had heard their climbing attempts and had wanted to help.

As the group settled down to rest, the bard explained that he was writing a song about the legend of Mermaid's Rock and wished for an audience. They consented, and the gnome told the tale.

Long ago, the bard sang, a young mage named Soliton had traveled to this fishing village. He had come from the Mage Academy in a nearby citadel; a settlement he would later reform and name after himself.

In the village, Soliton met a mermaid and they fell in love. However, after several weeks, he told her that he needed to return to his studies. Jealous by nature, the mermaid cursed him as he left.

Some years passed, and Soliton lost his young wife Leona to a storm. The bay in which she had drowned would later be named after her.

Knowing of Soliton's loss, it was said that the scorned mermaid would watch from this monolith for her love to return to her.

As the gnome finished, the group thanked him and briefly explored the nearby ruins. Finding nothing, they decided to climb down. Lira was unwilling to abandon the rope they had used, so she sent Scout and the others ahead.

She untied the rope and climbed down the cliff face on her own. She slipped about halfway down, though Marley graciously caught her and kept her from being knocked unconscious.

The group returned to Hans' hut and found a middle-aged woman there preparing lunch. They noticed that she was somewhat disfigured by a patch of close-set warts on her face and neck.

The woman greeted them kindly and gestured that lunch was not done yet. Here, they realized that she was mute, though Azula recognized her movements as the sign language of a certain monk order. The cleric translated that the woman was saying she would bring out the fish stew later.

The group settled just outside the hut to wait. Saul later arrived to join them for lunch, and he introduced the cook to them as Aleri.

As Aleri carried out a precarious pile of bowls, Lira hurried to help her. Afterwards, the ranger also helped her bring them back into the hut to be cleaned.

Inside, Lira realized that Hans had been slumped in a corner of the hut, stinking of alcohol. The fisherman moved drunkenly toward Aleri, but Lira blocked him. He tried to push her out of the way, but she overpowered him and the fisherman collapsed in a stupor.

The ranger stepped over him and continued to help Aleri clean up. Noticing the unconscious man, Marley carried Hans to his bed.

Before they slept, Marley and Auren helped Lira hunt deer as rations for her griffin. After she had skinned their catch, Lira offered the hide and antlers to her comrades in gratitude.

As dark fell, Saul invited some of them to stay with him to keep Hans' house from being crowded. Lira, Auren and Firroth went to Saul's smaller hut, while the others remained with Hans.

Some time in the night, Azula woke suddenly and realized that a spell had been cast over them. Groggy as she was, she could not identify it, so she kicked Rob awake. After some study, Rob discovered that someone had cast a Sleep spell.

Azula quickly checked her pack and found that the Godslayer was missing. Rob ran to call the others, while Azula looked for clues.

The cleric found a set of tracks in the sand, and the group followed them until they disappeared into the high tide. As they slowed down, they noticed a figure in the moonlight and recognized it to be Aleri.

Aleri told them - through Azula's translation - that she had seen Hans carry a long package into the water. Lira instructed Scout to wait on the beach, then the entire group dove in and swam to the now partially-submerged monolith.

Underwater, Aleri pointed out a tunnel in the monolith's base, which the group had not noticed previously. Marley led them through and they emerged in a narrow grotto.

Far above them, they could see the hollow shape of the monolith ending in a wooden trapdoor. A raised island in the center held a table, and wall shelves displayed neatly arranged shells.

Suddenly suspicious, Lira looked around for Aleri and realized that she had not followed them in. She dove back underwater and found the tunnel entrance barred. From the opposite side, Aleri made a gesture before swimming away.

Lira returned to the others and tried falteringly to mimic what Aleri had signed. After some thought, Azula told them that Aleri had said "sorry".

The group then began to search for a different exit.

Nicolas transformed Rob into an eagle and Marley rode him to the roof overhead. There, the rogue found a rope dangling from the trapdoor with a palm-sized sphere attached to it. Attracted to the valuable crystal, Marley cradled it in one hand and cut the rope.

However, the sphere was unexpectedly heavy and the rogue dropped it. Lira reacted quickly enough to catch the sphere, but it was also too heavy for her, and it slipped from her fingers.

The sphere shattered on the table to reveal a small, squid-like creature. Lira leaned over it curiously, until the creature began to swell and grow alarmingly. In moments, it towered twenty feet over them, a four-headed hydra.

Rob, still in eagle form, dived and attacked the creature with his talons. One of its heads was severed, but two more grew in its place. The sorcerer changed back to his human form, and joined the entire group in a circle surrounding the hydra.

Unable to back away and use her bow in the cramped space, Lira instead attacked with a shortsword.

After analyzing the beast, Marley discovered that it was vulnerable to fire. He brandished a torch and the creature recoiled from him. Lira and the others copied him, successfully repelling the hydra's heads and attacking its body instead. Soon, Rob finished it off with several Magic Missiles.

After the hydra collapsed, Azula examined the conch shells along the walls. She discovered them to be enchanted with Message to act as letters, though they needed to be listened to underwater.

The group listened to a few, learning that a mermaid had indeed rescued Hans and they had fallen in love. The letters from the mermaid eventually revealed that she had sacrificed her voice and beauty to join Hans on land.

Here, they finally realized that Aleri was a mermaid.

The group took a few of the shells as evidence, before turning again to escape. Since it had been the rogue's fault that the hydra had been released, they turned Marley into an eagle to act as their ferry.

Marley carried each of them up in turn. However, when they had all reached the peak, they heard screams and blazing fire coming from the village.

Repercussions

 * Main Article: Repercussions

Though they needed to hurry back to the village, the group knew that eagle-Marley could only carry them down one at a time. Firroth attempted the perilous dive into the ocean, but after hitting the water, he did not resurface.

Instead, Azula tied her rope to the ruins and each of them climbed down. They swam to shore, dragging the unconscious dragonborn with them to the beach.

As the group hid behind the village's outermost huts, Lira found Scout still waiting patiently for her and beckoned him over.

From their hiding place, the group could see shadowy figures herding the villagers. Marley flew just close enough to recognize them as githzerai, counting about ten.

A little concerned by the danger, Lira motioned for Scout to wait for them on the roof of a hut. She then sneaked forward and stabbed the nearest githzerai with her Blink Dagger. She threatened him to be quiet, then dragged him back to the group.

Not wanting to use rope, the ranger looked around for a fishing net, but could see none. Auren sneaked to a neighboring hut to fetch one, but as he was heading back, he was seen by a second githzerai.

The cleric threw the net over the one who had seen him, and dragged him back too. The group forced the two prisoners together, covering them with the net and questioning them. They quickly learned that those attacking the village all served Nighith.

Lira sneaked deeper into the village, but was cornered by a third githzerai. She tried to climb the nearest roof to avoid him, but she was noticed. The alarm sounded, and more githzerai emerged from some of the other huts.

From the roof, Lira could see the men of the village tied together in the center. Several women and children could also be heard from inside three barricaded huts.

As the githzerai attacked, Lira threw a desperate whistle into the air. She saw a disturbance from the forest in the distance, though she knew that her griffin was still far. The ranger jumped from the roof, struggling to pull free from the enemies before rejoining her comrades.

The group fought back, but many of them were injured by the heretic monks' strikes and psychic damage. Somewhere amid the battle, the two captured heretics also managed to pull free.

Due to their enemies' numbers, the adventurers were forced close together. In the confusion, they ended up attacking each other. Lira stabbed Azula when her target dodged, and Nicolas overreached with his lance and knocked Nong-Poi out.

At the other side of the village, they saw their allied githzerai rush to their aid, yelling something inaudible to the heretics. He eventually faced off with a high-ranked enemy, and the two dueled hand to hand.

Around this time, Lira's griffin also joined them and killed nearly half of the enemies on his own.

Despite this, Lira and Nicolas both collapsed, barely conscious. Unexpectedly, the heretics held back and kept from dealing any fatal injuries.

The others continued to fight, but soon heard the flapping of wings from the ocean. They looked in the direction of the sound and saw Nighith looming from the dark. At the sight, all except Azula and the griffin recoiled from it in fear.

Nighith landed and took on an elven form wielding a katana. It strode forward and attacked Rob, who fell bleeding badly.

Auren began circling the outskirts of the group to heal. After Nicolas was roused, the paladin did not realize that the elven enemy was actually a dragon. He charged to Rob's defense, but was also knocked down by Nighith.

One heretic approached the fallen Rob to stop him from bleeding out. However, Nighith promptly beheaded the githzerai after noticing his mercy.

Auren slipped away and tried to get the attention of their allied githzerai. However, he too was losing his fight, and the cleric hid in an empty hut instead.

Soon after Azula collapsed, both the griffin and Scout realized the danger to Lira and the others. They lunged toward the dragon together to defend them.

Lira lost consciousness fully here, and woke some time later bound next to Azula and Nicolas. Silence had fallen, and the ranger was devastated to see the dead bodies of her weasel and griffin side by side.

Lira noticed too that she and her comrades had been stripped of their weapons and magic items. Their equipment was piled beside Nighith, who was still in elven form and was pacing before them.

The dragon sneered at them, calling them upstarts who had dared challenge the power of a god. Lira scoffed at this, muttering that they had fooled it easily enough with the fake Godslayer.

Nighith approached the ranger, forcing her to look at it and repeat what she had said. Unthreatened, Lira repeated her taunt but flinched when the dragon stabbed her with a wakizashi.

Since she was already injured, the ranger fell unconscious again. She would only later learn about the dragon interrogating Azula and Nicolas in turn. The cleric was stabbed as well, but neither of the two satisfied the dragon's questions about the Godslayer.

A voice then called out from among the captured fishermen. The group recognized the gnome bard, who admitted to the dragon that Hans had taken the Godslayer.

When Nighith questioned the bard, Saul spoke up that his son was likely heading inland. Some days ago, the elder explained, a darkly veiled man had passed through the village. The stranger had offered to resurrect Hans' drowned son, in exchange for the most valuable treasure of Mermaid's Rock.

However, Hans had not been able to deliver it, thus the stranger had left for the capital of Auhros. Upon realizing that the adventurers had a valuable artifact - though he did not know what it did - Hans had stolen the Godslayer and had chased after the stranger.

Seeming satisfied, Nighith gestured to the githzerai and they took Saul with them. As the enemies left, they set fire to the group's pile of equipment and the three barricaded huts. Cries and screams quickly rose from the burning structures.

Nicolas hurried to wake Lira and Azula, before deftly breaking the ropes that held them all.

Knowing the danger of Maeve's banshee to the unarmed adventurers, Auren ran out and pulled Lira's bow from the fire. As he did, one of the burning huts collapsed behind him.

Once Nicolas had untied her, Lira ran to the nearest hut and freed those inside. Nicolas and Auren continued fishing their equipment from the fire, but many of them burned up, including the Blink Dagger.

Azula ran for the last burning hut, but it collapsed just before she reached it, killing those inside. Devastated, the dwarf could not move from the spot for several minutes.

As the fires smoldered, the group freed the bound fishermen, but the act was only met with contempt. Just beyond them, Aleri emerged from her hiding place in the ocean as well.

Lira angrily demanded to know why Aleri had trapped them in the monolith. The woman, in tears, apologized but explained that she had been protecting Hans from them.

Still upset but not wanting to take it out on the mermaid, Lira turned her back on her. Azula comforted Aleri instead, while Lira returned to the beach.

The ranger collected her weasel's and griffin's bodies. She took scraps from the woodpile their equipment had been burned on and built a pyre for her two companions.

After distractedly noticing that Firroth had once again disappeared, the group returned to the monolith to take shelter in the ruins. Lira went to the edge farthest from the others and despondently reflected on finding a new beast companion.