Session 131 a - Isan’s story

The pilgrimage to the Winter Palace from Yaryg had not returned. Our powers have weakened. Valar was making strange demands. One day a bedraggled woman, Burhiua, turned up at the temple in Yaryg begging for help. She'd been captured one night by men working for Publius Sharpaxe. (actually she broke into his office to steal stuff). They were set to sacrifice her but she escaped. She was to be sacrificed over an artifact of great power. We patched her up and auguries determined her story held meaning for us. We went back with her and the artifact turned out to be Valar's heart!

The wealthy Aquilonian Publius Sharpaxe in Yaryg had somehow acquired the Heart of Valar. We observed Publius Sharpaxe enacting an awful ritual in which he sacrificed a snivelling beggar and read his entrails. The entrails  showed him that a relic of such power could assist him with creating a gate to return his master to the Winter Woods. When the ceremony was over we stole the heart. We split it in 2 for safe keeping. Grobern thought the safest place to take the heart we had was the Sanctuary of Ataraxia in the Black Goat Wood. Running low on supplies we made the mistake of trading with some kobold merchants from Cyfandir. The kobolds offered them a brew concocted of giant dragon fly wings to seal the deal. When they woke up the next morning, we were groggy and Grobern’s heart was gone.

In desperation we headed towards Cyfandir and searched in vain for the heart. Grobern was killed when a band of lizard men in service of the dragon cornered them. I ran for my life. Then I had the good fortune to encounter Snorri Broadshoulders, a dwarf who’s been trying to survey the dwarven remains in Stonehell dungeon. In the course of his surveying he’d traded with Sniv, the chief kobold. Sniv was gutted that he’d lost the heart of Valar, robbed by hobgoblins. Then a fight broke out with lizard men and the hobgoblins over the heart deeper in Stonehell. I asked Snorri if he’d steal the heart back for me but Snorri wanted no part of it.

I ran from Cyfandir but was captured by a bunch of gnolls and Stronghoen ripped the heart from me.