9/20/2023 Morning of Wildday, Death Week, Sea Season, Year of the Overlord 2164 The previous night the party had defeated the rebel werewolves and united the lycanthropes under Ole’s rule. That morning, the party was back in Ole’s camp when Ginger, Ole’s daughter, announced that she was pregnant. After some initial awkwardness and tension, the party decided that this was a sensitive private matter and that the party’s further commentary and congratulations would not be appreciated, so they left it at that. Meanwhile, mercifully, Ragin Bunce approached the party and announced that he had discovered another crystal from the grotto. This crystal was orange and marked with the runes for magic and evil. Bunce explained that it was found in a mural of a demon, in the demon’s forehead. While the party was wary of the risk the stone might pose, the last stone had imparted psionic powers to Bunce, so the risk of using the stone could well be worth it. The party asked Stolson to examine the stone. Stolson confirmed that the stone appeared to be used to convey information of some sort. Eventually, the party decided that Dethjak should use the stone. After using it, Dethjak described how the stone gave him a vision of Markowitz summoning a demon. Admittedly, Dethjak seemed a little vague and dismissive of the details of the vision, but the party was more intrigued by the fact that Dethjak could now shoot fire from his fingertips! And the party noticed for the first time that Dethjak was kind of ripped. Just then, the party heard a piteous sound coming from the edge of the camp. As they turned to look, they saw a gravely injured cat with wings stumbling into the camp. Maeddes identified the creature as a windcat while Mobec healed the animal. Igny described the creature to Kekax, who was able to speak a language the windcat would understand. Through Kekax, the party learned that the cat’s mistress had been trapped. The cat was just recently able to escape but was suddenly attacked by fire and was hurt and disoriented. The party followed the cat to an area that was charred.  At the far end of the charred area was a set of doors, embedded in the side of a small hill. On the ground was a sort of “blister,” about one foot in diameter, which Maeddes determined was a dead slime that had sacrificed itself to protect something beneath it from fire. Igny dug out the object to find a book about Bilius written by one of his followers. While Igny was examining the book, Chance approached the doors. Suddenly, there was an eruption of fire, badly hurting Chance. In that moment, glowing red symbols flashed on the ground. Ebenezer immediately shouted to the group: “Quick! It has to recharge; if we go now, we can make it!” The party rushed the doors and entered the underground room. In the center of the room stood an angel – a woman with wings. It was clear that some sort of magic was keeping her in suspended animation, but that the effect was fading. Chance took his crystal dagger, which was vibrating, and used it to cut through the thick ether around the woman, severing the enchantment. The windcat quickly greeted the woman, who didn’t seem to understand Tumerian when the party tried to speak with her. But then she touched an aquamarine crystal ring on her hand, which glowed, and suddenly she could speak with the party. She explained that her name was Tempest and the windcat’s name was Siris. Tempest explained that she was a follower of Orlanth. It soon became clear that Tempest had been held in stasis in this room for an exceptionally long time; dating all the way back to the original battle to seal away the Old Ones! After the party explained their purpose in opposing forces seeking to free an Old One, Tempest asked to join the party, who quickly accepted. The party then examined the rest of the room, finding 500 wheels, which Ragin Bunce recognized as extraordinarily old coins. Additionally, the party found a keg of wine, a keg of some sort of oil, a sack of 250 gems, and a trunk full of rations. Gunther, examining the room determined that some sort of incredibly powerful magic source was used to hold Tempest in the room. Based on Tempest’s description, it sounded as if an actual stasis rune was used! When the party was ready to finally leave, Igny exited first to trigger the recharged trap making it safe for the rest of the party to leave. Fortunately, Igny was able to dodge the worst of the fire from the trap, and quickly used “Lay on Hands” on himself to heal the remainder of the damage. The party then returned to camp and prepared for the battle against the giant slime and the halflings in the area. The party organized all of their forces at the edge of the Montlieb forest: two squads of footmen, one squad of clerics, one squad of knights, two squads of lycanthropes, and the party itself. The party combined forces with the lycanthropes and knights and quickly brought down the giant slime! Then all their forces marched towards battle against the halflings. The halflings countered by throwing the bulk of their forces against the footmen and clerics, annihilating them to the last soldier. The party, the lycanthropes, and the knights then wiped out the halfling army. With no remaining opposing organized forces, the party then entered Strum to liberate the town. And with that the session ended. TL;DR: An angel joined the party, Dethjak is destined for greatness, and the party’s army defeated both the giant slime and the halfling forces around Strum.