As the battle raged Gofin found herself amongst two elf/dryads and a harpy and she teleported out of danger, but was still bloodied. Mara moved up to the three enemies and as Lythadar hit one of them with a magic missile Mara saw the elf/dryad shudder and begin to topple. Only it then froze hunched over, as though held by invisible strings. The dryad turned to glare at Mara, its eyes empty and rolled up into its head. Faint wisps of sickly gray mist drifted from the Dryads mouth and fingertips. It then attacked Mara and fell over. Demin was battling an elf/dryad and a harpy and moved into the trees to hide. Pretis and Alhellara flanked one of the elves and attacked fiercely.
One Harpy flew into the midst of the characters and sang a soothing song which pulled several adventurers close to it. Then another Harpy flew into the grouping an screamed which affected everyone but Demin, who was hiding in the trees. As the battle continued each time the party thought they had "killed" an Dryad or Harpy it would start to topple over but then straighten up and continue to fight until after its next turn.
After one of the elves teleported to flank Mara it suddenly looked like Mara, while the Dryad being attacked by Alhellara suddenly looked like her. This confused the party for a moment but it was clear who was who and the battle continued. Finally the Dryads started to fall and then the Harpys as the party's attacks found their mark and even though several members were bloodied the battle was over.
Looking around for treasure the party found nothing but they finally noticed that Valuriss was not with them. Lythandar felt that they were no longer in Ravenloft but in some other realm and just as they started to take a short rest they felt a sudden lurch and found themselves approaching Tor Gorak which was no longer the same city they had left just days ago. Though a dire, dismal place before, it was now far worse. Smoke rose up from burning pyres both within the walls and without. The smoke billowed into the sky carrying the stench of death, disease and burning flesh. It joined with dark clouds, which coated the area in a sharp, icy drizzle.
Men, women and children, obviously diseased and dying, remained around the outer wall, guards kept them away from the gates with halberds. As the party approached the gates the guards eyed them warily. Lythandar had performed the Comprehend Languages ritual and the party, obviously not diseased made its way into the city. The streets were as empty as the group remembered, the few people seem even more filled with dread. The sounds of sobbing drifted through the air.
The party decided to return to Loreward Banquo's home to tell him what they had learned. Upon arriving at Banquo's home they smelled the stench of illness hanging in the air. Entering quickly they found the gruff scholar curled up in his bed, feverish beads of sweat clinging to his brow. The Loreword's flesh was shriveled and bruise like sores marred his countenance. Alhellara immediately prepared and performed a Cure Disease ritual bringing Banquo out of the depths of the disease. As the party started to relate its ventures in the Shadowed Room Banquo interrupted and said he would hear more later but that there was some information they needed to know. "The dread lord of Cavitius keeps a small coven of cultists here in Tovag. They are led by a powerful, despicably evil priest named Vocar." It took some time for the party to recall that Vocar was the "uncle" of Marit. They related the news from the Shadowed Room, with their guess that possibly the king could be Dast the "King of the Madmen" at Virianis asylum. Banquo urged them to hurry and stop the speaking of the third word and make sure that the rituals could not again be performed. He also awarded them the Charger's Headdress which Pretis claimed.
The group left Banquo behind and hurried to Vocar's house which was empty. Then then hurried to the madhouse and approaching the doors they saw a rivulet of blood running out from the doorway. Pretis through open the doors revealing two cultists with painted faces and sharp daggers. The battle was on as everyone approached and Mara threw open the inner doors to reveal two more cultists. Hearing screams of fear, pain and madness from above Lythadar summoned a Hellhound behind the second pair of cultists. After a short battle the cultists fell but three cultist minions entered the large room from the kitchen/office area and the Hellhound breathed fire upon them.
Scorcard: The party received 457 XP for the battle with the Dryads and Harpys and are now 9th level with 16819 XP. The Charger's Headdress was claimed by Pretis.
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