Intermission (Neth (XI) 1st-2nd, 4712 AR)

The green dragon taunted the heroes in combat, but didn't flee and was eventually defeated. The heroes determined that the bas-reliefs depict dragons who have grown beyond even the stature of great wyrms. The field of crystals is in the shape of a decad, and the gap in its center immediately accepted the Bellwether Brooch when the heroes placed it there. The runes read, in Draconic: “To erase with Dahak and to begin with Apsu.”

The green dragon's hoard was contained in a single chest set next to one of the claws that reach out of the walls. The chest held coins worth 3,304 gp, gems and jewelry worth 2,160 gp, a +2 adamantine rapier and a silver raven figurine of wondrous power.

When the heroes returned the Bellwether Brooch to its setting, it returned to its proper place with a crackle of light. For a moment there was silence, replaced shortly by a faint hum that filled the air as a golden radiance took form. The spirit of Auronorex appeared before the heroes:

“You did as I hoped you would. You have restored this sacred place. Much has occurred here that will not be forgotten in the years to come. Changes will be made to ensure that this can never happen again. Since the destruction of the previous seneschal, the Paragons of my kind have elected me to serve as protector of Dragonfall. My friends, it is my honor that my first act is to pardon you for your trespass. It is best that you forget what you have seen here. It is not for you to know. I had left gifts for you, back in my home in Augustana. You found them beneath the rug of my study. I have two more parting gifts for you: knowledge of the past, and an opportunity to ensure the future.

Five years ago, a group of heroes attended the Swallowtail Festival of Sandpoint (a ritual to consecrate the new cathedral there) and ended up defending the town from a goblin raid. In the days that followed, the heroes came to terms with their growing local fame, making friends and contacts among Sandpoint's citizens. As rumors of massing goblin armies built, the disappearance of Ameiko Kaijitsu, a local tavern owner, led the heroes to uncover treachery within the Sandpoint Glassworks and the existence of an ancient catacomb below the town. An investigation of these discoveries revealed two things: that monsters dwelt below the city and that the goblin raid on the town was but the first the monsters had planned. Ameiko's estranged brother was involved with a group that had gathered the goblin tribes for an even greater raid on Sandpoint, intent on offering the town up in sacrifice to the goddess Lamashtu.

In order to save Sandpoint, the heroes traveled to Thistletop, the lair of the most powerful goblin tribe in the region, where they defeated the woman whose madness and wrath presented such a menace, a bitter aasimar named Nualia who carried a curious amulet depicting a seven-pointed star.

A string of murders struck and terrorized Sandpoint soon thereafter. Victims were left mutilated, and carved into their chests was a familiar seven-pointed star – a clue left by a madman. The heroes began piecing together clues and soon realized the region may well face a plague of ghouls. After investigating murder scenes, interviewing victims, and running into some unexpected trouble along the way, the search for answers led the heroes to Foxglove Manor near Sandpoint.

Arriving at Foxglove Manor, the heroes found the rumors about the manor being haunted were entirely true. Eventually, they defeated the murderer – a ghoulishly transformed old acquaintance named Aldern Foxglove (I believe you have met his sisters) – only to discover he'd been working for another group based in the city of Magnimar. Retracing his steps, the heroes came to the largest city in western Varisia and uncovered a larger sinister secret society, finally defeating its monstrous leader, a sadistic lamia matriarch, atop an old and teetering clock tower. The lamia's use of the Sihedron rune – the same seven-pointed star both Nualia and Aldern Foxglove employed – hinted at a larger threat.

The adventurers were next sent to central Varisia to investigate why the rangers of remote Fort Rannick, the Black Arrows, had gone silent. The heroes traveled to Turtleback Ferry, the closest small town, and discovered that ogres had taken the Fort and that the surviving rangers were held prisoner by degenerate ogrekin. After rescuing the last three surviving members of the Black Arrows, the heroes mounted a daring raid against Fort Rannick and defeated the ogres within, only to learn that greater dangers were afoot.

Soon thereafter, unnatural rains flooded Turtleback Ferry and the heroes had to explore the ruins of a failing ancient Thassilonian dam called Skull's Crossing. The heroes saved the town from disaster, but in the process released an ancient pit fiend named Avaxial (I believe you have tangled with one of his mortals, Tirana). The heroes then dealt with a haunted swamp and climbed the upper slopes of the infamous Hook Mountain where they confronted and defeated the ogres once and for all, only to learn that the ogres might have been the least of Varisia's problems: a powerful stone giant named Mokmurian was planning a raid on Sandpoint, with the help of the giants of the Storval Plateau, who were preparing for war.

The heroes returned to Sandpoint to help defend against and turn aside Mokmurian's giant raiders. After the heroes repulsed the giants, they had to undertake an arduous journey into the wilderness to reach Jorgenfist-controlled lands and took the fight to that stone giant fortress on the Storval Plateau. Once there, they discovered that the giants were readying the tribes for a massive attack on the human-dominated lands to the south. By infiltrating this citadel and defeating Mokmurian, the eldritch leader of these giants, they not only ended the threat of the massing army of giants but also discovered that Mokmurian was but another agent of Runelord Karzoug, a survivor of ancient Thassilon, and that the Sihedron Rune was a symbol he was utilizing to aid in his return to this world. His agents marked mortals with the Sihedron Rune, and when those mortals die, their souls are used to fuel Karzoug’s return. Yet, Karzoug has not gathered enough souls to fully regain his powers. Using Mokmurian's library of Thassilonian lore, the heroes learned that the key to Karzoug's defeat may be "dominant weapons", which can only be crafted in Runefroge, a Thassilonian research center. They also learned that Mokmurian was looking for the dwelling of the traitor Xaliasa and his key to Runefroge at Sandpoint.

The heroes returned to Sandpoint in search of that information. A mysterious sinkhole had appeared in Sandpoint, and when the heroes investigated they found deeper Thassilonian ruins below Sandpoint — a shrine to Lamashtu. These ruins contained clues to the location of Runeforge, the site of many Thassilonian discoveries and inventions, including the various methods the runelords used to enter hibernation as their empire collapsed. Unfortunately, these ruins were also the lair of an ancient, insane Lamashtan cultist from the time of Thassilon itself known as the Scribbler. By interpreting clues within the Scribbler’s demented rhymes, the heroes learned the location of the ancient dungeon known as Runeforge.

Armed with this knowledge, the heroes travelled north and entered Runeforge itself. Once inside, they found the place is still inhabited, tended by Thassilonian wizards who have carried on the traditions of their masters for thousands of years. They gathered the two components that I have gifted you (items found in the Iron Cages of Lust and in the Shimmering Veils of Pride, two of Runeforge’s more dangerous wings), but they never completed their quest. If Karzoug is allowed to fully regain his powers and return to this world, I foresee a dire future for Varisia.

The key to Runeforge is hidden in a mysterious circle of seven stone heads that stand upon the western slope of Rimeskull on Lake Stormunder’s eastern shore. The seven stone heads each represent a school of Thassilonian magic, and by extension one of the seven runelords and realms of Thassilon. Casting a spell of the correct school on the correct stone at sunset causes a key to manifest in that stone’s mouth. You must gather a key from each stone head in this manner, and then ascend Rimeskull via an ancient set of stairs. After ascending Rimeskull, you must enter the cave and, in a chamber beyond, will encounter a similar ring of seven stone faces arranged around the seven-pointed star of the Sihedron. Turning the keys twice in these stones opens a portal to Runeforge, which exists in a pocket dimension of its own existence.

Runeforge consists of seven different wings, each replete with its own denizens, traps, strange magics, and treasures. If you choose to go after Karzoug, you should be able to learn numerous hints and clues about the nature of your eventual foe by exploring these wings. Your primary goal there should be to use the right components in the dungeon’s central chamber to forge dominant weapons to help you defeat Karzoug. If you are wise, however, you will explore the entire dungeon, for the experience and treasures waiting to be claimed within will aid you in your quest as surely as the dominant weapons themselves.

I thank you for your service. My kind thanks you. When you are ready, I shall send you back to your home.”

With that, the heroes were free to leave Dragonfall. In addition, Auronorex’s pardon removed the Dragonfall Mark as soon as the heroes left Shearphorus.

The heroes were returned to Fort Thorn and determined that the fastest way to get to Rimeskull (and thus Runeforge), was to teleport to Kaer Maga, and then have Aranthor carry them in an extradimensional space while he flies overland. They know the following information about the areas they will fly over:

Cinderlands: The Cinderlands take up the majority of the southern Storval Plateau, its dry, ashen soil approaching desert status in many places. Many of the plants here require fire to split open their seedpods, and in the summer, wildfires race across the badlands in vast sheets of flame ignited by the ferocious seasonal thunderstorms. In these harsh environs, only the Shoanti make any real settlements, and these generally consist of yurts and other easily transportable structures. Fire plays a central role in the lives of these upland tribes as well, and many promote harsh rites of passage in which young warriors must outpace a wildfire or run down an animal driven before the flames.

Urglin: The broken towers of Urglin rise like a sore from the blasted plain of the Cinderlands. It was once the site of an ancient city, but orcs from the Hold of Belkzen have plundered and ruined anything of value through decades of squatting and abuse, building over the ruined foundations with ramshackle ghettos of scavenged rock, iron, and bone. Outcast Shoanti, giants, half-breeds, and other monstrosities roam the treacherous streets where strength is the only law. Through the center of the city flows the sluggish Ooze, a stream that once gave life to the city but is now polluted to the consistency of pudding by the city’s waste.

Storval Plateau: The land of Varisia is split in half by the Storval Rise, a thousand-foot-tall cliff sculpted for much of its length into ancient weatherworn statues, cliff fortresses, and strange portals into eldritch depths. The Rise separates the lush, fertile lowlands from the harsh, arid lands of the eastern plateau. Here, giants and tribes of hard-edged Shoanti hold sway, scraping an existence from the plateau hardpan or chasing herds of thundering aurochs across the sparse grasslands.

The Gnashers: The traditional home of several hill giant tribes, the Gnashers offer the brave explorer a rare glimpse into the vast giant empire that predated human settlement in Varisia. Unfortunately, the brutish natures of its current residents make such expeditions a dangerous gamble at best.

Rimeskull: From where they stand, high on the mountain’s steep western slopes and staring out toward Lake Stormunder, the strange, heavy stone statues of Rimeskull—each a massive head of eroded rock—have puzzled scholars for ages. Who made them and why they all stare fixedly west remain mysteries, due in no small part to the white dragon Arkrhyst, who makes Rimeskull his home and is notoriously disinclined to allow guests.