Session 24B – The Changeling

Vegvisir Ashbladeson knew he was nearing the city of Phalar. The key to spotting it wasn’t to look around but to look up. The elves here needed to build in the treetops to keep themselves safe from the hordes of undead that roamed what had once been their tranquil plains. Up ahead, he perceived some dim lights in the darkening canopy, and he could smell the faint smell of vegetables and spices.

That had to be Phalar.

He paused a moment to rearrange things in his pack. As his hands brushed against the mystery sword made by his father, wrapped in burlap, his heart skipped a beat. Maybe with the help of these elves, he could manage to find his way home.

He had never intended to come to the Shadowfell – certainly never intended to get stranded there.

Once he got himself situated, his hands instinctively went to his other memento of home: the amulet around his neck. He quickly muttered the incantation, and instantly, he was transformed into a stout dwarf.

He wasn’t entirely sure how long he had been in the Shadowfell, but it was long enough to get a sense of the various factions and their relations with each other. He figured if he successfully impersonated a dwarf from Shadowhome, he might be able to play on the sympathy of the Phalar elves and gain some assistance (or at least replenish his supplies).

Carefully, he approached the settlement, and, as he expected, he was immediately spotted. Six armed elves, heading out of the settlement, drew their weapons and had him freeze. They brought him before the leader of Phalar, Aelthir Nhaelis. After a brief exchange, Aelthir looked to the leader of the elf guards and said:

“I think that will be all, Vaelion. I don’t think this dwarf is much of a threat.  Resume your mission and go guard the entrance to the Cave at the World’s End.”

Vaelion Starbane nodded and led his unit out of the chamber and once again headed westward.

Vegvisir breathed a sigh of relief, but just a moment too soon. Once the guards left, Aelthir bluntly said, “Why don’t you tell me who you really are?”

“I—I’m Branrick Stormhan—”

“No, you’re not. You’re not even a dwarf. What are you?” Aelthir gave a brief sniff of the air and flashed a slight grimace,” Human?”

Vegvisir ended the spell of the amulet.

“Human,” Aelthir said, matter-of-factly, “I thought so. Why are you really here?”

Vegvisir explained how he had idolized his father, a blacksmith, how he lost him, how he now carries a sword he made, and how he uses his amulet of polymorph to impersonate him as a way to keep him alive and feel connected to him. He went on to tell how he had gone into the Lupercal Cave beneath the Palatine Hill of Rome one night for a ceremony and found himself transported to the Shadowfell.  Now, he desires little more than to find a way to return home to Earth so he can continue to hone his smithing skills and one day step fully into the boots of his father.

Aelthir replied that it was a sad tale indeed, and he would be willing to help him return to Earth, but first, he demanded a favor pursuant to a sad tale of his own.

Aelthir told him how the Phalar elves had to abandon their settlements on the plains of the Shadowfell two hundred years earlier. How a century before that, a human witch from Bael Turath authored the darkest of dark pacts and became the Lich Queen. He told Vegvisir how she raised an army of undead and managed to take over half the Shadowfell, ousting the elves from their southern homeland.

“But,” Aelthir added, “we discovered that she got a great amount of her power from an artifact – an obelisk in which her father, the High Priest of Bael Turath, was kept soulbound as part of the pact. With it, she could curse the land itself as was done in Bael Turath on your Earth.”

He continued, “We stole the obelisk and hid it in the catacombs beneath the ruins of one of our cities. There, it has been safe for many decades. She has learned of its location, however, and she is sending her undead minions to steal it back. This cannot be allowed to happen.”

“I will agree to help you if you can retrieve it from its resting place and dispose of it in the Lake of Tears. There, it will be finally beyond her reach.”

Desperate to get home again, Vegvisir agreed to undertake the dangerous mission. Still unsure of exactly how he would accomplish this goal, the next day, he set out to find the obelisk…