The Story So Far...

Goldengrass the 26^th to Redleaf the 4^th

 Note: I’m a little pressed for time so I’m just going to give a condensed overview of our last two sessions.

• The party had fled Riveon. They fought and outwitted the goblins and worgs that pursued them through the Broken Lands. They made straight for the tower of the sorceress Aness seeking aid as they planned to return to the citadel.
• They found Aness greatly weakened due to her possession of two of the Shadow Cylinders.  She could hardly walk and was unable to retain any spells as she was experiencing terrible nightmares that did not allow her to get any real rest. Aness still was able to assist the party by giving them a powerful teleport scroll.  The scroll would be able to teleport the whole party almost wherever they wished (some locations with considerable risk).  Many plans were discussed and many arguments ensued on what to do.
•  Aness and her apprentice Vanen (along with the guardian stone golem) then left the tower for the safety of the Wizard’s Isle. They hoped that Aness could find a way to shield herself from the dark influence of the Shadow Cylinders.  They also knew that the minions of Zorvoath were still watching the tower.  Aness loaded all her valuables into a Leomund’s secret chest and they vanished away. Before leaving the sorceress gave the adventurers the key to the tower so they could use it as a safe house once they returned from their quest.
• The heroes restocked their supplies in Berengel and checked on their horses before setting out for Riveon again.  They saw a rider upon the road to Berengel but they were unsure if it was an enemy.
• They traveled back through the Broken Lands guided by the ranger Eldan.  Riveon was reached mid-day on Redleaf the 4^th.  Their travels were interrupted briefly by a sojourn into a troglodyte cave that they saw before when fleeing Riveon.  The party battled the disgusting creatures but it turned out to be a fruitless venture.
• The party waited until the darkness of night to reenter the citadel.  Jarvis the cat familiar was used as a scout and it was discovered that the rents in the northern wall were too well guarded by contingents of orcs and ogres. Lono suggested that they scale the wall in a less guarded area using his grappling hook.  This was done with the help of Svarnos’ levitation wand.  Two patrolling orcs had to be dispatched as they discovered the infiltrating adventurers.  The orcish bodies were flung outside the wall.  Scaling the wall proved to not be difficult but descending caused some falls and rough landings.
• The adventurers were in luck. Once inside the citadel they could see a large coliseum type structure that was full of firelight and activity. It seemed that Illnath and his evil minions were enjoying another night of arena battles.  The eyes of the orcs in a nearby guard tower were pulled towards the action within the arena thus allowing the adventures to steal away into the citadel.
• The party reached the cemetery and the Curthor crypt. They descended into it but discovered to their dismay that Illnath had discovered how they entered the castle before.  There was a group of orcs guarding the entrance to the secret tunnel into the castle.  The party wasted no time in kicking down the door and slaughtering the surprised orcs.  Their bodies were hidden in an adjacent tomb full of sarcophagi and rotting dead zombies (really dead!).
• The adventurers carefully reentered the castle and after some scouting by Lono bee lined straight for the mysterious High Tower of Cyndara via the throne room.  The castle seemed almost deserted as it seemed Illnath and many of the orcs were still at the arena.
•  The first obstacle the party encountered was the great iron bound wood doors of the tower itself. They were carved with strange mystical symbols and as they were approached the doors cast a confusion spell upon the party.  This resulted in many of the party members temporarily loosing their minds (screaming, running, attacking friends, babbling, and doing nothing).  Eventually, Gjord was left in the door hallway alone to try to batter it down despite the insidious spell.  After a couple tries (and getting magically confused in the process) the stout dwarf was successful.
• The walls within the tower were covered with phantasmal sigils and runes with walls made of solid granite blocks.  A dim light emanated from the ceiling but no light source could be seen to cause it.
• The second obstacle was a sleeping red dragon!  It scales glistened, heat could be felt emanating from its body, the smell of smoke was in the air, and the sound of its breath rumbled through the room. However, it turned out to be a stunningly real illusion but the party was ready to bravely do battle with the creature even though they thought it was really a dragon. Svarnos did have his suspicions from the beginning though.
• The heroes made for the top of the tower immediately so they ascended the enclosed spiral staircase bypassing all the other levels of the tower. They reached the top level and entered by an iron bound door.  They were in a great overgrown green house with a domed green-glass roof reinforced by an ornate copper latticework.  The dome was half open to the cloudy night sky as the sectioned dome could be closed and opened by a lever connected to a gearbox upon one side of the room.  The room was filled with stunted dead trees, moss, and weeds.  Here the party also found a great trove of treasure! There was a large chest covered with moss on the opposite side of the room.  Lono easily picked the lock and within the party found a hoard of gold and platinum and what were obviously items of a magical nature. Two swords (one thin dull gray shortsword, and one golden handled longsword with a hilt that looked like entwined flames), a large steel shield with the heraldic crossed lances of Riveon embossed upon the front, a suit of mithral elven chainmail (sized for a human or half-elf), a warhammer with a metal haft and a head that shimmered slightly, a gold ring set with a ruby (Svarnos donned this and discovered it was a ring of spell storing with a fireball spell within), a purple colored potion, and a black hooded cloak with a silver web-like pattern stitched into it (Lono donned the robe and found that he was able to scale the walls and the dome as if under the influence of a spider climb spell).  The party quickly took all the items and pocketed some coins as well.  The heroes knew that the adventure was far from over for they had found no Shadow Cylinder and the evil illusionist Illnath still lived!

Let me know in the comments if I left anything out!