12 sessions in people! Thank you for sticking it out thus far and I hope you're all having fun. I decided to post some bullets highlighting the major parts of the story in case some of you forgot or just wanted a quick summary of events. Here we go: - We started at a festival in Cormyr where starting party stopped an assassination attempt on King Azoun V. - Grateful for their aid, Azoun recruited the group to be his retainers to take on missions his direct forces could not. - You set out to dispatch some dragons plaguing the nearby farming villages; you stumbled upon Caladnei meeting with a Thay Red Wizard and an Arabic looking warrior from the south lands. She dismissed them and the party continued on with its mission. - You liberated some farm villagers from a band of orcs and pressed on to subdue the dragon threat. - After making a deal with the last green dragon, you went to find the strange clerics who had been experimenting on them and discovered clerics of a cult known as the Cult of the Dragon. - Reported back into the king who dispatched you to Urmlaspyr/Daerlun due to reports of the cult's presence. - Urmlaspyr was under an eternal night from the last conflict between Cormyr and the Netheril Empire. The docks were under siege from Nether assassins and the party helped fight off the enemies. - You met a Harper Scout named Levan Stormwilde who was investigating both the cult and the presence of a strange magical item (the purple orb). An alliance was formed and you made your way to Daerlun. - Daerlun seemed abandoned except for the temple at the towns center. Under the cover of night you snuck in and infiltrated the cult's HQ. Thal found and attacked a necromancer who escaped and Panther went to challenge the leaders on his own. He bested the half-giant Gorinaleas while the rest of the group arrived to fight the half-dragon Malum as he was conducting a ritual to turn a white dragon into a dracolich. - The battle was won (Gorin slain and Malum fled) and the force behind the cult revealed itself; a dracolich known as the Sibilant Shade. She fled as a mysterious floating castle appeared overhead (Sakkors). - A darkness formed with Sakkors the sealed the group within the city and turned the citizens into zombie like creatures. The group flew up to attack Sakkors and made their way between combined Nether and Cult forces to a meeting of evil beings: Malum, a Mindflayer and his ward, Devan, the Pereghost, the Dark Lady, and Aumvor the Undying. The mindflayer and Devan stayed while the rest fled. - Devan revealed himself to be Aaloka's cousin who had gone missing and joined the Nether; he also revealed her real name was Kavita and that the Nether needed both of them. The group killed the mindflayer and left Devan to die as the magical device keep Sakkors afloat began to explode taking the top part of the tower and Devan with it. - Returned to Cormyr to report in and Levan suggested returned to the Harpers base in Everlund to get more information on their enemy. Upon arriving they found themselves setting out in seek of the Soulforge and defending a major farming town from a troll attack seemingly led by Drizz't Do'uerden. - Drizz't was really Thal's old friend, a gnome illusionist named Magstina ("Mags"), who was kidnapped by the trolls. With the help of new allies, Suddy and Gergi (a halfling warrior and dwarven blacksmith), they bested the trolls and took Mags into custody as they continued on to the Soulforge. - The party feel into depths of the ruins above the forge and into a series of insights into each of their minds: Aaloka's past of a powerful mage family who could harness spellfire and was slain by the Nether, drow, and High Imaskar. She was raised in slavery by her uncle until the Aag Chamak led by Dahnbar the Languid, found and raised her. She was also shown that Devan was alive and had been tortured by the Nether since he was a child. Panther who was bullied as a child for his Aasimar heritage and learned to fight back and how he grew up to protect the weak, married a shifter, and had her and his son killed by the High Imaskar. Ricrol, a half-elf who dreamed of dragons, found a talking sword that guided him thus far, and how he defended his mother from poachers. Thal, who was a elf who lived by his wits and stole to survive. His friend Mags and pseudo mentor, Stonecypher, tried to guide him but on a botched robbery, Thal fled town and Stonecypher, and Thal's rival, Dal'Thalas, were slain by the Pereghost. Shara's past of being hated for being a Tiefling, being raised by Laspeera and the clergy, and being accepted as a chosen of Sehanine Moonbow. - The group banded together to beat the forge's guardian and left Suddy and Gergi there to defend it and gain some new weapons. - They took Mags to turn over to the Harpers and she led them on a wonderful illusionary quest which found them crossing paths with a Warmage named, Soarcanas, from Sundabar who had been dispatched to aid the Harpers and found his way to aid the party. - Mags escaped, you reported into the Harpers but found they were out at three locales within the High Forest to recover the Gatekeepers Crystal; three crystals that once brought together could release the seal on the Well of Dragons (the Cult of the Dragon's stronghold) and even break into the Nether and send Levan home. - Before heading out to Hellsgate Keep to aid the Harpers, Thal began tracing down Mag's whereabouts and Panther began his manifesto for his order. Aaloka and Panther started their duel feud here but were interrupted by their allies. When Thal rejoined them, they set out. - Linked up with the Harpers and a treant named, Turlung, and entered the keep. They made their way into the depths and defeated a balor but ended up losing Thal and Shara as they vanished from this plane. - Panther and Aaloka moved to square off again but Shara and Thal (in a coma) returned with the Balor in tow. Soarcanas defeated the beast and Shara revealed the crystal was in Thal now. The group returned to Cormyr to report in. - Caladnei and Shara examined Thal while the others prepared a banquet. At the banquet Aaloka's adopted father and betrothed appeared. The king invited all into his war room to showcase his plan of attack. An explosion happened, seemingly killing Caladnei, Thal entered proclaiming that the Eternal Night has come.