New Beginnings

After resting and recuperating in Lower Benneth over the winter, the snow slowly started to recede from the land. One night while hanging out with Mayor Kleinfeldt and his hangers-on, a stout young vampire named Aldarus came knocking. After catching up with the party Aldarus invited the heroes back to the Blackrock on behalf of the duke. The party spent the night in their cups and set off the next day with the duke's honour guard. 

Two weeks passed and the party finally arrived at the Blackrock citadel. That night they reunited with the Duke and Isabelle and caught up on the Duke's campaign of expansion. The Duke then gifted the party various magic artifacts from his horde as well as lands and a lordship on Humbert Humbert. After the honours were given, the heroes then celebrated with the Duke until dawn. Before dawn, the Duke sent a young vampire named Sadine with the group to be Humbert's bookkeeper and sherif, while also getting some experience out in the world. 

The party set out on the morrow, riding eastward with a team of engineers, planners, and architects to restore Humbert's castle and develop the local economy. The road east led the party past fork Kick-Ass where the party reunited with crusher for a night. The morning after the party set out eastward again. As the party made their way to the coast, they noticed that it was getting colder and colder, eventually finding that winter was still prevailing in the northeast lands. Several days away form the front, the party is ambushed by a group of brigands, fighting desperately against overwhelming numbers.

Epilogue

Exhausted from their struggle, the heroes recuperate in what they discover to be the great monastery of Pelor in Ghelna. Talking with the party as they recover, the high priestess Orina is intrigued by the Duke's actions in the preceding events. When ready to depart, Orina teleports them back to Oym Edhil and requests that the party entreat the Duke for an audience with her in the elven city at a later time. She provides the party with a magic amulet that can turn into a bird and carry a message back to her.

The party returns to the BlackRock citadel where the Duke and his court greet the party as heroes. As a result of recent events, the Duke has restored Oym Edhil and the surrounding lands to the wood elves and has agreed to assist in defending those lands if called upon. In exchange, Oym Edhil now as formal diplomatic relations with the Duke and a small trade has been established between the two kingdoms. Lady Tyrell is named the Duke's trade emissary. The Duke's citizens are allowed peaceful passage to Oym Edhil. The peace between the vampires and the wood elves is uneasy.

The Duke stands by his promise and offers a lordship and lands to Tormund, Sora, Dae, Gallandan, and Humbert. In the alternative, they can refuse the lands and take a title and a position at his court, or a rare gift. He sends the party away to rest and think about his offer while he wraps up his most recent campaign. In the chaos that came from these recent events, the Duke was able to grab more territory and plans to continue to do so through the winter. The party then returns to Lower Benneth to put their feet up while the snow flies.

From Darkness to Dawn

The following day the party met with Lady Tyrell, Caryarus, Peraxalim and Alvorelle of the wood elves, and Lord Terrowin Lorneheart, Archmage of the Mystic Order of Frinchshaw. Lady Tyrell expressed her gratitude and decided to support the effort to retake the Oym Edhil in exchange for preferential trading rights.  Lord Terrowin Lorneheart also express their gratitude to the party and the wood elves for helping out Lady Tyrell and offered to send some mages with the wood elves to assist in retaking the city. As the sunset on the meeting, a delegation from the Duke's court came to visit Lady Tyrell and offered their apologies for the action of Prewdact, assuring the party that the ruling council of the city is under investigation and that Lady Tyrell and her household is under the protection of the Duke. Learning about the party's plans, the Duke's delegates offer to send a group of the Duke's red guard to help recapture the city. The Frinkshaw guild wizards exchange threats with the vampires and the group were given a choice as to their allies in the attack. The group holds their noses and takes the vampires up on their offer, knowing that it will forever link Oym Edhil to the Duke.

After a detailed strategy session, the party sets off towards Oym Edhil with their army of wood elves and their allies, some mercenaries provided by Lady Tyrell, and a group of vampires chaperoned by a death knight. With intelligence collected by the vampires, the elven force was able to determine the exact positions and defenses of the orcs, giving them a considerable advantage. At nightfall the attack began, giving the party the necessary distraction to fight their way toward the teleportation circle. After locating the right structure, the party ascended a giant tree network and found the temple that contained the teleportation circle. The circle seemed to be compromised, but with orcs hot on their heels the party had no choice but to proceed with the plan. After initializing the circle's magic, the party realized too late that they had walked into a trap. Kal'uul intercepted the party in an interdimensional abyss and vowed to destroy them for their part in foiling his plan. A desperate battle ensued, but the party overcame Kal'uul and sent him back to the netherworld. With Kal'uul defeated, the magic holding the dimensional pocket open started to wane and the world began collapsing around the heroes. Just then a voice called out to them with a beacon of bright light and led the heroes safely out of the dimensional pocket. When their eyes opened, they were greeted to the sight of a priestess of Pelor tending to their wounds with the help of two angels. At last, the journey was over. One of the angels took the book from Tormund and absorbed it into himself, sealing it away forever.

Showdown with the Captain

Once back at street level the party prowled their way through the streets towards the sealed gate. After carefully taking out the guards at the periphery of the gatehouse, the defenders eventually became aware of the attack and the battle devolved into a desperate attempt to open the gate before help could be summoned. With some quick thinking and savage intent, the heroes managed to spring open the gate, allowing Illana's force of wood elves to pour into the 2nd district and give battle to the town guard and baku thugs.

With the elves lifting the siege of Lady Tyrell's manse the party set off to attack the magic siege engine that was threatening the estate. The party arrived to find Captain Alban Prewdact at the bottom of the tower, enraged at the failure of his plan. The party split up to attack and destroy the machine while the balance tried to fend off the Vampire as long as possible. Sora and Dae battled their way up the tower and eventually destroyed the device before returning downstairs to join the fight with Prewact. A desperate battle with the vampire ensued in the streets, with the party eventually overcoming the insane captain who is forced to flee but not before swearing vengeance. Exhausted by the battle, the party then regrouped with Lady Tyrell and rested.

Out the Other Side

Without the aid of their guides, the party battles though the sewers, bested by monsters at every turn. After much exploration, the party eventually discovers Gruther's Distillery buried in the subterranean ruins. Just then the party is attacked again by some vicious creature and barely manages to escape by breaking into the distillery and collapsing the door way behind them. Once in the distillery, the group explores the ancient factory trying to find a way out. All of a sudden, the party is attacked by huge group of oozes. Unable to fight off the large number of oozes, the party becomes desperate for an escape and attempts to work out a huge Rube-Goldberg to swing one of the suspended sills as a wrecking ball to smash through a wall. Just when it seemed that the party would be overcome, they figure out how to set the vessel in motion and smashed a wall down leading them into the sealed off 2nd district of Appelane.

A Plan is Hatched

After working with Peraxalim to ignite the passions of the wood elves and overcome the resistance of Caryrus, the party beings to plan the recapture of Oym Edhil. Details of manpower, logistics, allies, equipment and financing are all worked out. Lady Tyrell's spies show up at the warehouse to let them know Lady Tyrell is in dire staights. The town guard have surrounded her manse, declaring her a traitor. The town guard along with a faction of wizards from the Baku are setting up a giant magical siege engine on top of a nearby building to blast down the barrier that Lady Tyrell's wizards have erected to defend her estate. The entire district where Lady Tyrell's house stands has been sealed off.

The party hatches plan convincing the wood elves to assist in saving her in order to secure financing and resources needed to execute the invasion of Oym Edhil. While Illana prepares the wood elf troops to take to the streets, the rest of the party departs with Lady Tyrell's spies into a sewer passage to rescue Lady Tyrell. While wondering through the swers trying to get back to Lady Tyrell, the party's guides get eaten by some giant oozes. The party then continues to wander in the dark, eventually discovering that the city of Appelane was built on tope of ancient ruins long buried. The party continues to wander through the underground, searching for Gruther's Distillery, where the spies had told them to seek an exit to the surface.

Fomentation of War

After emerging form the underground passages of Appelane with Alvorelle still incapacitated and Favian in tow, the group made its way to an inn in the seedy 2nd district to hide out and recuperate. On the way, the party saw a gigantic explosion coming from the direction of lady Tyrell's made. While Alvorelle was recovering at the inn the party learned from gossip in the ale room that the 4th district had been completely sealed off. Rumour has it that there had been open fighting in the streets between some the town guard and group of insane wizards bent on destruction.  Stranger still is that some said the towns guard were fighting along side an unknown faction of monstrous irregulars. When Alvorelle recovered she lead the group to warehouse in the 3rd district that was revealed to be an indoor enchanted grove where the survivors and friends hide out and plan their return. In a nighttime council the heroes convinced the leadership that the time was ripe to retake the city and offered up lady Tyrell as a source of financing for the expedition.