Memories of a Bird

As the party fights off the otyugha in the Living Quarters of the Almenarch dungeon, they reveal the draconic script beneath the carpet, in addition to the one found in the Armory earlier. Armory "In the folds of darkness, where truths are veiled and whispers echo, the guardian of shadows cradles secrets long forgotten." Living Quarters "When the storm breaks and the skies roar, the fierce protector of winds stands vigilant against chaos, safeguarding all beneath his tempestuous embrace." The Uninvited then continue exploring the dungeon, and finding treasure, while avoiding being heard and seen by the drake ghosts roaming around.

Weneon teaches himself how to mimic Kilijan’s pronunciation of the draconic phrase for Power Word Kill in order to open future rigged chests by himself. He manages to find one of these chests near a patch of rubble. He opens it and is stunned by an altered memories spell. He remembers the last time he’s seen his father, as he was leaving him behind with his grandfather. Weneon’s grandfather tells him that he’ll be back if he turns around at least one more time. Weneon, five in his memory, looks towards his father until he becomes a dot in the distance. Weneon breaks free from the hug of his grandfather and runs into a valley. He starts crying, but gets a grip of himself when he hears footsteps. A small girl sees him and tells him not to cry. She then shares a cookie with him and tells him her name is Safwalyn. As Weneon eats the cookies, he recognizes the taste as one of his grandmothers cookies she puts out on the window sill to cool down. Weneon remembers that his grandmother was complaining how birds are stealing her cookies. Weneon tells the girl: “You are the quail!” She corrects him and repeats: “No, you silly goose. I am Safwalyn.” Weneon’s memory of this event is altered by the spell, and he only remembers the moment he looked after his father, who, in his mind, did indeed turn around before leaving.

The party continues to explore and comes across a strange room with giant dragonborn statues pointing crossbows towards a mural of a door. In front of the mural lay three crevices of draconic origins carved in the floor. While Kilijan explores the statures, Greg pours a liquid into the crevices. The statues activate and Kilijan and Greg receive a psychic blast from the statues, falling unconscious. A drake appears, and Weneon and Manasa rush towards Greg and Kilijan to help them. They fight off the drake and Kilijan discovers the drake leaving ectoplasm behind. The party then returns to the Armory, where Kilijan collects the ectoplasm left by the first drake they killed. As they continue to investigate, they discover further notes left behind by some of the former inhabitants of the dungeon, leading to conclude that something terrible has had happened in the not so distant past.