At first there is only darkness. Darkness and stillness all around you, completely engulfing and suffocating you in the stifling endless void. Until you open your eyes to the vision of rolling grassy hills before you, a gust of wind whips out and around you whistling and reveling with joyous noise in it's freedom making the fields of grass start to sway and flow like many green and amber ocean waves. As the wind plays with the ebbing and flowing waves of grass, you feel yourself rise up into the air as if on powerful wings, the scent of summer foliage and heat enveloping you. As you gain altitude your field of vision starts to change from that of a green and gold ocean to a distant and dark mountain range across the horizon, accompanied by the back-splash of a clear blue sky like turquoise accented by cotton clouds. It is then that the sky starts to turn noticeably darker, the clouds going dark with anger and the turquoise sky taking on the oranges and reds of sunset even as the mountain seems to start growing roots or flowing streams of darkness into the green hills.

As the roots extend swiftly ever closer to your lofty position on the ground the forms of hundreds if not thousands of dark humanoids amongst monsters start to take shape. Stomping out the greens and golds of the fields, replacing them with browns of mud and the reek of death's blackness reaches you on the wind's current. An army of darkness marches out from before you, below you and now behind you towards towns and cities razing, burning, and destroying everything in its wake as you watch with dread and disbelief. The fires start to grow into an inferno with a ravenous appetite devouring the green with it's crimson tongues licking the air all while dying the now night sky in crimson before the flames start to converge into what seems to be the form of a clenched fist of blood red.

Slowly at first the clenched fist starts to unfurl it’s fingers, starting from thumb to the little finger they straighten to a slight curl with claws threatening to slice the sky. Just as the talon of red seems to reach and grasp at the starry night sky, each of the fingers once more seems to change shape and even color. The thumb takes on a forest green, the index into obsidian black, the middle into sapphire blue, the ring stays crimson red, and lastly the smallest finger a stark bone white. Each of the fingertips split open forming the jaws of five long serpentine heads, before the fingers now five dragon heads joined at the neck to one body shift their attention towards you. Eyes flash with malice and ill contempt like dark stars as the jaws open revealing their gleaming sets of razor sharp fangs seemingly readying to release out multiple resounding thunderous roars loud enough to shake the country-side...


But suddenly Chogotai awakens from his trance in a cold sweat before his ears could endure the roar.

Looking about your eyes pierce the darkness in the dim light of Arwyn the silvery moon, you find you and your still sleeping companions still in the camp you set up earlier that night. No fire was lit this night, seeing how your destination of Vraath Keep was less than a mile’s walk from the camp. As your eyes fall on each of your companion's sleeping forms you can't help but think about the adventures you've been on together to make it to this point.

Sometime about 2 months back was when you first started to have the now reoccurring nightmare, showing visions that eerily looked similar to the Wyrmsmoke Mountains from Drellin's Ferry. Together with Acaeus your Leonin Barbarian companion of several years and long time friend you started heading west by hitching a ride with a caravan of merchants. It was while riding with those merchants that companions of adventures past, Jolienne the Tiefling Cleric and Anisette the Sprite familiar dragging Skynir the Half-Elf Warlock behind them as they too have received visions of death and destruction coming to the people of the Vale. Arriving to Drellin's Ferry you were greeted by your friends Kelhedros the High Elf Rogue and Nyx the Loresong Fae Wizard. They had arrived a few days earlier, as Kelhedros wanted to both introduce Nyx to a friend named Serrierran the Wise a local wizard along with looking into a potential job involving goblin attacks.

Spoiler: Townspeaker Norro and Captain Soranna
Show





Deciding it better to work together for better chances of success the Townspeaker Norro Winston and Guard Captain Soranna contacted your group to explain the circumstances. The Dawn Way, the well known central road all through Elsir Vale and the lifeblood of towns like Drellin's Ferry has been suffering from an increasing number of goblinoid raids ranging from Worg riding goblins, hobgoblin marauders, and even some draconian dog-like creatures covered in red scales. Through reports of local woodsmen and huntsmen it's become apparent that they are coming down from the Wyrmsmoke Mountains. While it isn't exactly clear if they are using Vraath Keep as a base of operations it wasn't off the table of possibilities. Before leaving in the morning Captain Soranna, a experienced ex-adventurer of her own right advises your group to seek out the help of Jorr a local huntsman who lives in the Witchwood.

It's then that Chogotai notices that Jorr, the woodsman your party hired earlier after meeting at his cabin with his bow drawn when his three wolfhound dogs alerted him to your presence, currently wasn't in the campsite. Looking around some more you do make out the dimly glowing form of Anisette, talking to what at first looks like fireflies before realizing they are pixies off in the distance. The pixies at least seem to be snickering and laughing in their fey tongue while Anisette seems to be practically scolding them.