Session 12: Strange Days in the Mithril Caves Report

General Summary

Shaken, and confused, but safe for now, the group prepared to rest for as long as their shelter lasts. They are very near their goal, and perhaps the morning will reveal a means to obtain the ore they seek, and avoid destruction by the shiverstone around it.

The new day dawned with Roisin Marshfield having a terrible nightmare.

As the dream began, Roisin Marshfield was riding a rainbow unicorn through the plane of ice cream and milkshakes. She scoops up a bit of ice cream from time to time, because why not. After a time, however, the air began to warm, the ice cream began to turn to a dark chocolate, then black as it all began to melt. The white coat of the unicorn also melted off, along with the horn, revealing the ebony gaunt flesh of a nightmare and the flames coming from it's nostrils. It carried Roisin Marshfield through a hellscape for a long time before arriving at her father's public audience chamber, where the fiend bucked her off then disappeared, leaving her standing disheveled and in her nightclothes before her Father's court.

Duke Marshfield was a mere shadow of himself, sickly and gaunt, pale and weak. The man sat upon the Ducal chair frail while the Court Vizier whispered in his ear from behind the chair. The Lady Marshfield could just be seen through an open door to a side chamber where she noisily cavorted with a well-muscled servant boy.
Suddenly the duke looked up, with eyes dark and clouded, like a sun-blinded old sailor.

Roisin Marshfield, is that you? Have you finally returned to us? I am overjoyed to have you home, I am sure your Mother will be too, once she is done with the servant. Come, close, child.

Approaching, Roisin Marshfield could see the almost skeletal form, this robust and strong man reduced to frail bones with skin stretched tight over them, like one starving. Suddenly the skin began to split open and flames erupted to consume it, leaving a blackened skeleton behind.

Too late, always too late... No matter, my pretty rose, you shall join the undying host soon enough.

Then even the bones collapsed into a fine grey ash.

The vizier looked at Roisin Marshfield then, but even straight on the face was shadowed and could not be seen. Roisin Marshfield heard a voice like the voice of death itself rumble in her ear, it said "The Rose must die, and by her own thorns".

Roisin Marshfield woke screaming.

At the same time, Quirico had a terrible nightmare, but remembered none of it. He told nobody of his dream and its consequences.

Simultaneously, Roy also had a nightmare.

As the dream began Roy was walking in a familiar forest, with his former master.

His master asked him to stop for a moment to talk.

Ahh, You have done well my apprentice, I was fortunate when I found you wandering and confused in this very forest, some ten years ago. I recognized your curse immediately, and knew that, with your unnatural life and the many gaps in your memories, I could use you for my purposes.
When I found you, you had many periods of awareness, and you even had a newborn son. I didn't need any of that, and it was better that you have no attachments, so I erased your memories of all your previous awakenings and planted a small revision to smooth your recollections.
I like power, you see, and I want much more of it.
I also want to not die and I am far older than you imagine, so I finally chose to become a lich, having learned the secrets from the book you once carried. I have joined the winning side, you see and now I will never die.
I have been serving the duke for some time, ever since I left you a few years ago. I was the one who told him to send you with his daughter because that is best for my plans, and the desires of our true master. He then spoke with a voice like the incarnation of destruction itself.

You will be the thorn to kill the rose.

Roy awoke screaming Roisin Marshfield's name, but resisted the full force of the nightmares.

As the two awoke so disturbingly, there was a sudden roar and a deep rumbling in the floor of the cavern, mingled with a horrific scream that could only come at the moment of death.

The party left the small cavern as their paper shelter expired, and noticed that the Sarcophagus that had been magically summoned the night before had been opened. There was a substantial pool of blood near the corner where the lid had been lifted and moved aside. Within there was a pile of equipment, including armor, weapons, and many other items. A couple people looked about inside and a chill came over the group as they realized these were likely the belongings of Kaalam, who hadn't been seen since the night before.

At this time Boris noticed there was a note in his prayerbook holding the place of his favorite morning prayer.

Boris,

I don't remember what that woman did to me, I don't know why I am alive, so long after I remember, and why I was sent with you. I think this might be why, I was sent to prevent Roy from throwing away his life. I am much more nimble, and quiet, so I am going to try to place the gel so he does not have to. If you are reading this it means I failed, I hope I at least got the gel in place and I only failed to escape. The stones in my pouch shiver sometimes, but if I knock the pouch they stop, I think the shiverstone will be safe for a few hours after the stuff explodes, at least I hope so. You all need to gather what you can. Protect Roisin Marshfield, she is important somehow. We all heard that terrible voice "The Rose must die, by her own thorns". This thing, whatever it is, wants us to kill Roisin Marshfield, that cannot happen, no matter what. I have made my sacrifice for the Rose. Do not hesitate when it is your time. I have listened to all the times you taught me of The Source.

I believe, and I will see you when we meet again.

In the Throne Room,

Kaalam

Roy settled in near the small cave where they had sheltered overnight to begin the magical rituals to protect him and certain others from dangers through the day. Trysor remained nearby to have his natural form protected similarly.

The others went looking for Kaalam, with Quirico carrying the exhausted Roisin Marshfield. As the group passed the Mithril cavern where, presumably, Kaalam had passed, they were surprised to see Quirico continue forward, toward the east tunnel leading toward the outer tunnels, a tunnel lined with dangerours Shiverstone. To everyone's horror, Quirico simply tossed Roisin Marshfield a good distance into the tunnel, then stepped back and passed out.

Roisin Marshfield, finding herself is grave danger, particularly with her weakened state, tried to quietly escape, but failed, and the sudden burst of needle-like stone shards consumed the last of her strength, though her impressive determination allowed her to push just far enough to fall at the edge of the danger zone. With careful movements Jeeves was able to pull her from the tunnel and quickly see to her wounds. A quick investigation showed that Quirico had been somehow dominated while sleeping, and was not responsible for his reprehensible actions, but his aspect remained haunted, and he refused to meet Roisin Marshfield's gaze.

After leaving Roisin Marshfield in Boris care, Jeeves followed Quirico to the cavern, and saw the sad remains, a few deeply scoured bones in a small pile with small fragments of clothing, of Kaalam. The cavern was filled nearly a foot deep with the stone needles of erupted shiverstone. Quirico strode right in, and used his morningstar to strike every suspect rock in the room, almost daring the shiverstone to erupt, but it did not. Quirico , seeming almost disappointed that the stone was safe, proceeded to lift the largest black stone (two hundred pounds of prime mithril ore) he could carry and lay it in front of Roisin Marshfield a short distance outside this deadly cavern. Jeeves , and a quickly disarmed and unarmored Quirico then began to clear the massive pile of rubble created by the explosion that killed their friend. Quirico continued to push to, and beyond, the limits of his strength, and Jeeves began to notice that Quirico was suffering deep injuries from pushing his body beyond its physical limits.

It took a mere ten minutes for Quirico to push too far, and he finally took a four hundred pound boulder and managed to just get it to the pile he was building in front of Roisin Marshfield, almost like a pile of offerings, when his body gave out, he collapsed, and began to bleed out. Jeeves managed to patch the injury and restore the warrior, but Quirico remained sullen and dark. Quirico almost immediately began pushing beyond physical limits again, and he maanged to life a near thousand pound boulder less than ten minutes later, again managing to just drop it before Roisin Marshfield before he fell and began again to expire. This time Jeeves could not help the dying man, but Boris' magic was able to revive him, but not well. Revived, partially, by Boris' divine magic, Quirico joined Jeeves again at the rubble pile. By this time Roy had finished his rituals, and he and Trysor arrived. Trysor opened his magic portable hole, emptied it of contents, then reopened it near the rubble pile, and the group began simply scooping and pushing material into the hole, carefully keeping the dormant shiverstone blocks away. Quirico again tried to do too much, managed to push into the pit a single massive ovoid stone, almost cylindrical in form, covering a 5-foot radius and 7 foot length. The effort again overtaxed the human form and Quirico once more fell. Jeeves dragged him back to Boris, with some help from Trysor, and while Boris could stabilize him, even magic could not revive the man this time. Jeeves stayed with Roisin Marshfield and the unconscious Quirico this time, while Boris, who was much stronger, assisted the movement of stones into the portable hole. It took a some time, about 90 minutes, but they managed to almost fill the pit, leaving just enough room for the remaining posessions that had been within. The total represented about 60 tons of ore in the pit. Roy then used magical oils to shrink one massive boulder each of Mithril Ore and dormant Shiverstone, these weighed approximately 32 and 20 tons, respectively, and were each the size of a large man (approx. 125 cu. ft. or 3.5 m³). During this time Roisin Marshfield recovered from her exhaustion and lack of sleep thanks to Jeeves medical care, and Quirico remained unconscious, but stable.

Their main goal accomplished, and much in excess, the party now turned to the task of escaping these deadly tunnels. They first addressed the difficulty of the tunnel lined with Shiverstone. As the party discussed the problem, Trysor transformed to a Giant Spider form, and used his web to wrap up Quirico for transport. Trysor then returned to natural form to give a pair of magical feathers to Roy , then transformed to a large bear to better carry the still unconscious Quirico . Roy skillfully used his magical hand to activate one of the feathers at the mouth of the tunnel, and the thunderous eruption set off not only the shiverstone immediately present, but in a chain reaction set off all of the shiverstone along the thousand-foot length of the tunnel, leaving the tunnel floor carpeted in a few inches of fragile stone needles that crunched underfoot. The group then worked their way down the tunnel and, after about a half hour, came to a bridge constructed over a raging underground torrent, almost ten feet below the bridge and tunnels, and twenty or more feet deep, the waters raged past at perhaps twenty times a brisk walking pace. The bridge seemed old and in poor repair, so Boris crossed first, and nearly fell twice as the bridge almost gave way. Trysor then returned to his natural form, consumed a magical herb to recover his strength, and then leapt into the waters downstream of the bridge, transforming into a massive aquatic beast. The creature having a body of perhaps 10 feet, and a thin neck and small head another 9 feet in length, with powerful fins and muscles for fast swimming against the torrent. Trysor noticed something interesting about the torrent downstream, and swam a short distance, perhaps a half minute, under the water through a flooded flow tunnel, and emerged outside just above a high waterfall, which almost claimed his life, that tumbled a couple hundred feet down, to a hole in the ground, and perhaps another several hundred feet below the ground into the dark depths. Trysor returned, and informed the party they had a shorter way out, if they didn't mind a bit of wet and some small risk. Trysor brought the party through one by one, Quirico and Boris were last, and Quirico revived slightly before their trip, so Boris cut him free of the web so he might help and hold fast if needed. This was fortunate as Boris slipped helping him up the cliffside at the end of their journey, and he fell in the water, but was just able to grasp a dangling rope before he was washed downstream over the waterfall. Boris then managed to climb up. Trysor tried to transform and climb up, but he slipped in the raging water and only just caught another set of rocks just above the waterfall, and climbed up that taller and steeper cliff face with his powerful claws. Regathered the group sought a safe and level space where Roy conjured and reconjured a magical bonfire for the next hour to dry and warm the party after their frigid swim. Roy then spent another hour to cast magical rituals to make each of them tireless, and they marched rapidly back to Levron's Citadel where they showed their papers and were allowed entrance, despite the hour being near midnight. They made their way throught the quiet citadel to the inn where they had contracted rooms, into their rooms, and chose to rest and recover there the remainder of the night.

Roisin Marshfield tried again to have a good night's rest, but was again assaulted by magical nightmares.

Roisin Marshfield found herself again in her family home, a fine castle just outside the city of Marshfield. Making her way to the public audience chamber, this time her Mother sat upon the ducal chair, with her elder brother, Rian, seated on the second chair beside. Both were unclothed.

Her Mother spoke.

I am having so much fun now, the servants just weren't doing it for me anymore, but the Vizier opened my eyes to the best of the best. Rian and I have our times together frequently, and there is just no comparison. We've done it right in front of your father a few times, but he sees so little now, with his old eyes and feeble strength, it's just fun to see if he will ever notice how thoroughly he's been replaced. Not to worry, my Rose, I haven't touched Shay. We all know how you doted on him, so when you return he is all yours, nice and pure for you to corrupt and defile yourself. The Vizier helped us all see the truth, how the usurper holds the throne and we must embrace the true Master and the way of betrayal to restore the rightful order of things. The Vizier says something about the Rose dying by the Thorns, but it is no matter, you will return to us one way or the other, and when you do we'll give you Shay for your very own.

Horrified, Roisin Marshfield stuttered a desperate denial of this horror, as she felt a presence step up behind, and her younger sister, Aoife, stepped up, also unclothed, and said brightly, as she skipped up to sit in Rian's lap.
Hi big sister. Are you home now? Isn't it wonderful what the Vizier has taught us? Rian and I have so much fun, almost every day. I even get to be a Mommy! Isn't it just the best?
Again crying out denial and horror, Roisin Marshfield felt a dark shadow behind her, and that familiar, terrible, dark whisper. The Rose must die, by her own thorns. The nightmare did not end there, but continued as one might expect; Roisin Marshfield unable to turn aside, forced to observe every wicked act through to the bitter end.

Roisin Marshfield woke sick and horrified beyond bearing. She stumbled to the edge of the sleeping platform, and began to retch violently onto the floor below. Roy , awake and alerted to the sound, came in and helped to calm her and clean up with his magic.

The party prepared for their day, and gathered in the common room, where Roisin Marshfield ordered wine to remove the horrid taste from her mouth, and Trysor ordered a bottle of whisky, at considerable cost. Roisin Marshfield told the party of her nightmare, again exhausted and unrested. As nobody was particularly interested in a meal, they drank a bit of the liquor, Quirico still suffering from his actions the day before drank far too much and passed out. Roy tipped the barmaid a real gold coin, a month's wages worth, to her delight, and amazement that he intended no more than a tip. Trysor and Jeeves carried Quirico to his room, and Jeeves locked him in for safety, while Trysor placed the remainder of the Whiskey in his own room, locked up safe. On their return the party discussed where to go, and settled on the gateway to the deep tunnels, so Trysor could gloat to the guards who assured them they would not survive.

At the gate, they met again the guards Eric and Skeavin. Eric was astonished at their survival while Skeaving kept laughing nervously, and a bit maniacally. Jeeves proved they fought a Beetle Horror, showing Eric the eye on its stalk, and allowing Eric to touch the carapace and dangling viscera of the stalk. After this the party headed up to The Dump, a market area, where they hoped to visit the stall of Kilraven and perhaps recover the money left in care of Karsin by Quirico .

Rewards Granted

60 tons of Mithril Ore.
A single 32 ton boulder of Mithril Ore, magically shrunken to a 39 pound rock.
A single 20 ton boulder of Shiverstone, magically shrunken to a 24 pound rock.

Notes

It was noted that the Amulet of Hepheastus could be used to extract the mithril from the ore, perhaps more efficiently than a smelter might, and this might be a wise approach.