The party arrived in Dunedrift under the cover of a violent sandstorm, only to find the settlement already broken by the wrath of Asherdalon the Giver of Fire. The town was in ruins. Soldiers of the Lords’ Alliance scrambled through the dust, rushing to deploy portable barricades and reload ballistae in preparation for a second strike from the blue dragon.
Near the war camp, the party passed a medic tent filled with the aftermath of the attack. Dozens of soldiers lay wounded, disfigured, and barely clinging to life. The clerics tending them had only low-level spell slots remaining and relied on outdated medical practices that left many of the injured with little hope.
Behzad, newly empowered by his paladin magic, stepped forward and healed several wounded soldiers. Among them was Balthazar, a conscripted bounty hunter who, grateful for his life, pledged to help the party fight the dragon menace. Behzad then used his magic to aid three unconscious soldiers still fighting for their lives.
In the back of the tent, Fable turned to sanguimancy. Using her blood magic, she helped three more soldiers recover from the edge of death. She also instructed the medics in proper sanitation and the basics of blood transfusion, knowledge they regarded with awe and suspicion as a kind of “old magic.”
From there, the party entered the main war tent and met Trinity, a frantic inventor working on a massive metal machine known as the Tesla Coil. As they arrived, he was berating a group of soldiers for failing to swap out the machine’s diamond focus before Asherdalon’s last attack. The resulting overload had sent four soldiers to the medic tent.
When the party identified themselves as adventurers of the Prophet, Trinity’s suspicion immediately turned hostile. He accused them of coming to “take over the town” while it was in crisis, claiming he knew that playbook because he had once worked under the Prophet himself. According to Trinity, the Prophet had left him for dead, and he assumed anyone traveling under his banner was just as dangerous and unstable.
Fern tried to assure Trinity that they were only there to help, but Trinity scoffed at that as well. He claimed he knew all about “help” from Wild Elves, accusing them of killing anyone who came within sight. In doing so, he revealed himself as an exile from Fern’s homeland, the Vaelwood.
Despite the tension, the party convinced Trinity to accept their aid. They offered Behzad’s Javelin of Lightning as a replacement power source for the Tesla Coil. With the javelin in hand, Trinity softened. He apologized for his harshness, explaining that he never knew what the Prophet might do once involved and had assumed the party would be just as reckless.
Trinity explained his plan. Asherdalon had attacked Dunedrift and the surrounding area three times in the past month. The Tesla Coil was designed to absorb and redirect the dragon’s lightning breath, firing it back at him and grounding him long enough for the defenders to strike. However, the machine was still incomplete.
Before the party arrived, Trinity had sent a pair of twins from Bradford to retrieve a Wand of Lightning Bolts from a wizard living in a nearby oasis. With Behzad’s javelin now serving as the power core, Trinity no longer needed the wand, but he asked the party to earn his trust by traveling to the oasis, recalling his people, and bringing them back so the war camp could regroup around the new plan.
The party set out across the oasis in a rowboat. As they crossed the water, they heard enchanting music rising from beneath the surface. Behzad believed the voice to be J_On from the temple calling to him. Fern and Fable were forced to grab him before he could climb overboard and vanish into the water.
After reaching the beach, Behzad drew his lute and began to play along with the strange music. The performance drew the attention of harpies, who descended upon him and carried him away. Charmed by their song, Behzad was torn into as the party rushed to rescue him.
Fern dragged Behzad out of the oasis and fought off two harpies that pursued them, trying to finish Behzad while he was down. Meanwhile, Fable fought six harpies almost single-handedly, barely taking a hit as she entered a bloodlust frenzy.
Behzad was stabilized just before dying again.
When the battle ended, the party discovered the grim truth of the oasis. The harpies had massacred everyone there. The twin soldiers from Bradford and the wizard Trinity had sent them to find had been ripped limb from limb. The party found the Wand of Lightning Bolts floating in the water, still clutched in a severed arm.
They gathered the bodies and returned to Dunedrift to deliver the news.
Only then did they realize the cost of Behzad falling unconscious. His spell had ended prematurely, and with it, the aid sustaining the three gravely wounded soldiers back at camp. The hope he had given them may have been false, and those soldiers were likely condemned to death once again.
Fable, Nys, and the unconscious Behzad withdrew to a tent to rest.
Fern went alone to report to Trinity.