The body of a dead elf was found on the ground floor in an abandoned barracks. The dessicated nature of the body indicated that he had been there for very many years. Indeed, the destruction of this part of the elven civilization seems to have occurred towards the end of the 12th Age, although even Amras, the group's scholar on all things elvish, is somewhat mystified.
Another body, this time of a female elf, was found locked into an upstairs bedroom. She had died from a claw attack to the stomach. An infirmary was also discovered, and someone (again my notes decline to say whom) pocketed a Champion level potion of healing. A dusty library provided old maps of the waters around the towers, although the nearby volcanic Isle of Fire is missing from them. Another dead elf, this time with his head and chest caved in, was also found. It may be at this stage that we stumbled upon charts to the Lost Islands described by Jordan Young, but I am not sure...
And so to the roof, where some form of archaic elvish beacon stood surrounded by the bones of many dragonborn, possibly the legacy of an assault by the Three or some other draconic power on the elves. Perhaps this sowed the seeds of the current tensions between the Three and the Elf Queen? Someone - and I suspect it was Jordan Young (played by Ben in the style of Sebastian), ventured towards the beacon, and lo, the bones of the dragonborn rose up against us.
A brief battle was fought with the skeletal dragonborn. Most of them were mowed down by powerful spells from the two magic users, Amras and NeOn. There were few heroics. It was short, desperate stuff, but in the end we triumphed.
There was now nowhere else to go but down. Into the basement beneath the tower. Here we came across an Elvish ship, or at least the hull of one, still in good shape and seemingly protected by magic from the rigours of time. Sadly, it lacked rigging and sails, which had not been similarly protected. As we approached, there came from beneath the black waters of the underground harbour a hideous, crab-like monstrosity from an elder age.
This was a tougher fight, as the creature had the ability to confuse men's minds, even War Forged apparently, causing them to mistake their friends and allies for the foe. Both our spell slingers were temporarily confused and befuddled, and Jordan Young suffered a sore wound and fell on his face. Luckily, a 20 was rolled on his first death save, and the pirate bard was able to pick himself back up off the slimy floor and rejoin the affray.
Eventually, we had our victory. The crab creature expired. As we celebrated and inspected our new prize, we encountered the spirit of a dead elf, the captain of the boat, who did spake with us, confirming that the tower was overcome by an assault from dragonspawn. He suspected that they were sent by one of the great dragons of the 12th Age. He also told us how to open the sea gates so that we could sail forth from that dismal place.
With the ghost returned from whence he came, Sartheen decided to don again the mysterious skull helm of the dragonspawn. He saw again the city we think is Drakkenhall. It was obvious now that the dragonspawn in the temple have constructed a ritual circle around him. He described it to Amras who told him it might indeed be some kind of tracking ritual. This was not good news at all.We had a boat, but no sails. We held a conclave to discuss our options. We considered trekking back through the elf woods to Concord, but we felt vulnerable to attack from the Three, particularly if we strayed too far close to their strongholds. Sartheen remembered that a smuggler, Archon, an ally of the Prince of Shadows, had a base nearby. The party set off to his lair, to ask him for his aid in equipping their vessel.
The mosaic floor on the top of the tower was also a map of the world but that's as close as you got to having charts of the Lost Islands; the only indication you have of their location is Jordan's memory.
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