Before the fellowship left the Edhellond Monastery, Jesoc dug up a skeleton and animated it as a servant. While Jesoc was digging up a grave, Kifak took to using Nolzur’s Marvelous Pigments to create a colourful parrot out of wood. The painting was not Kifak’s best work and one half of the parrots still had a wooden appearance.

The fellowship returned to Dol Amroth and found that their airship had been moved out of Gnimo’s vault and was waiting for them. Gnimo informed the fellowship that he didn’t have detailed instructions on how to operate the craft, so the party would have to figure that out for themselves.

The fellowship stocked up on supplies for their journey and were pleasantly surprised that the air ship was fully stocked with ropes, sails, and supplies. They were about to depart when Hallamir had one final request – a Chalice of Liquid Food. Gnimo was happy to trade and provide a chalice for Hallamir.

Hallamir is awarded two inspirations for strategic thinking.

The party decided to stay overnight and set off in the morning. When they awoke, the sky remained unchanged with a dark green aurora on the horizon. The fellowship made their way to the airship. They found the airship floating 5 feet off of the ground and quickly climbed on.

Jesoc found a comfortable chair on the deck and relaxed while Kifak made his way to the control panel. Jesoc cast Unseen Servant and Mage Hand to pamper him along with his recent animated skeleton. Hallamir and Arbun stood close to Kifak to offer assistance if needed.

Kifak noticed that the Focus Crystal was dark and correctly surmised that it required a power source after reading the cryptic instructions on the dashboard. After Jesoc failed with a Lay on Hands and providing light to the crystal, Jesoc cast Eldritch Blast to provide magical energy. The first blast gave the Focus Crystal a soft glow. Seeing this, Jesoc cast Eldritch Blast again and the Focus Crystal sprang to life and the airship started to rise.

Jesoc is awarded an inspiration for problem solving.

Kifak expertly stepped up and with the grace of a surgeon and patience of a monk carefully balanced the Altitude, Ballast, Aether, Rudder until the pressure, lift, stability, and flow all read out as solid green lines.

Kifak then slowly applied the throttle and soon had the airship rise to 200 feet and slowly start northwest. Kifak was able to then expertly navigate around the White Mountains, Minas Tirith, and Mountains of Shadow.

Kifak increased the throttle and the airship continued northwest to the Sea of Rhun. The fellowship took turns with the watches as the airship continued north west. After a couple of watches, the fellowship saw a swarm coming their way. Kifak prepared by causing Spirit Guardians and was surrounded by a circle of smoking, axe-wielding, one-eyed dwarves.

The swarm continued to advance and the fellowship was soon overwhelmed with a swarm of Flying Horrors led by a horde on Oni’s. The battle was engaged and it was pretty even until Kifak cast Power Word Fortify and yelled out:

“Not on my ship!!”

The fellowship felt a surge of energy and rushed forward to attack. Jesoc stepped forward and decapitated an Oni with a clean strike, causing him to yell:

“Opa!!”

The rest of the fellowship were energized by Kifak and Jesoc and disposed of the rest of the swarm. The fellowship disposed of the carcasses by dumping them overboard and continued on their journey.

As they flew above the Sea of Rhun, Kifak descended to survey the lake and the alleged birthplace of Thuringwethil. They could only see a dilapidated cabin on the shores of the Sea Of Rhun with no signs of activity. They fellowship could not see any indication of power emanating from this location that might cause the darkness and aurora. The fellowship decided to continue on and Kifak caused the airship to ascend once more.

Kifak is awarded three inspirations for his expertise in airship piloting.

The airship continued on and after a couple of watches another black dot was seen approaching. The fellowship watched as the black dot grew larger and larger and soon they could see it was a Black Dragon. Jesoc was the first to notice that it was Uruial. The fellowship did not know how Uruial had changed from a Red Dragon to a Black Dragon.

Jesoc first tried to parley with Uruial offering items with no success. Uruial then swooped down and destroyed one of the ballast balloons. As Uruial swooped around, the fellowship prepared for her next attack. As a last resort, Jesoc lept out to touch Uruial and cast Remove Curse. It was unsuccessful and Jesoc tumbled to the ground.

Uruial then unleashed a second attack and burst the second ballast balloon. Kifak tried to rescue the ship, but it was hopeless. The airship crashed to the ground and left the fellowship stranded.