Session 9: To the Twin Falls

General Summary

After their scuffle with Lavits the group managed to take control over the assassin's guild with Intimidation. They seal off secret entrances and get the hideout nice and clean, perfect for a basecamp in berghest. Vendar was met by an assassin sent by the party, he was told to meet them in the Dagger Dan hideout. Once Vendar was breifed on the recent events of their investigation they began making plans to go to the Twin Falls. They took 4 of the assassins with them and found a good deal of information from the Abadarian Travel Agency in town. They must travel North East for a week until they come to the shrouded woods. A path leads into the shrouded woods that is overgrown and difficult to navigate. The party sends the 4 assassins further ahead to scout the area. After awhile a Groplit by the name of Grop makes contact with the party. Askaladd puffs on his pipe and communicates with the amphibian. Grop tells them of the dangers in the forest such as Amelekanas, Grodairs, and Giant Amoebas among others. Grop also agrees to guide the party to the twin falls.   After delving into the thick fog within the forest one of the assassins returns and warns of the danger of leaving the path. Soon after the party is ambushed by a group of Eurypterids, a large insect considered to be a pest by many marshland communities. The party makes quick work of the insects and find out that their assassin is terrified of bugs, especially large ones such as these. They continue further into the forest following Grop as he takes them to the Twin Falls. After a few days of traveling within the forest they arrive to the natural monument. These falls stand 3000 feet tall and rush down in a violent collision that meets with the river that flows further south. A bit of investigation leads the party to find a cave entrance just behind the falls.   A small stream runs into the cave pooling in the back. Valthurg jumps into the pool illuminated by Gingers flame spell. What Valthurg sees is a 15 foot tunnel under the water, and the shimmering scales of a Grodair. Valthurg quickly jumps out from the water and Ginger uses an aqueaus blast spell to launch the Grodair out of the water. The fish flops around for a moment and then stands up on the tentacles protruding from its underbelly. Valthurg attacks the fish and then picks it up to keep it from moving anywhere. The rest of the party slice and dice the defensless fish until it is killed. Little did they know that a Grodair holds a bunch of water in their stomachs that rush out after they die. Ginger reacted quickly when he saw the fish begin to expand. Ginger dove into the water just in time as the fish exploded causing the other party members to be launched back by a forceful blast of water.   With the fish dealt with the party made their way inside of the submerged cave. On the other side they found a large pentagram with 6 spaces that seem to be missing something. A bowl half full of blood sits in the center of the pentagram. Valthrug decideds to have a drink and then add som of his own blood to the mix. On a pedastal nearby sits a large book with writing in a language none of them have seen before. A set of stairs lead further down into a cell chamber where many people are imprisoned with large gashes on their hands. Dheez is one of these people that have been imprisoned. The party spends a few hours to free these prisoners who have been captured by some young man with a scar on the left side of his face, Hargram.   With the prisoners free and the bowl of blood poured out Hargram has still not arrived to meet them. Askaladd takes the book from the pedastal and Vendar sets a trap to the entrance of the cave, then the party camps nearby overnight. During the night Vendar's trap is tripped and the party rushes to the cave. They find no evidence of someone entering the cave from outside. In the cave however there is a small trail of blood that leads back towards the pool. The party swims back through into the pentagram room where Hargram is standing beside the empty pedestal Valthurg enters first. Hargram looks over and says "hello Valthurg". Combat ensues with several missed strikes and several good critical attacks. Hargram slings several spells that seem to merely inconvenience the party. Vendar splits into two with his enchanted necklace and manages to take away Hargrams staff. When things began to look grim for Hargram he stepped out of range and snapped his fingers to retrieve his staff. He tells the party "I will summon Dragmakesh, you may have delayed my endeavors now but we will surely meet again". He raises his staff and as it makes contact with the ground Dheez came charging in to tackle Hargram.   In an instant Hargram and Dheez vanished into thin air leaving the party behind in the empty room. What will they do now? With Hargram gone and Dheez possibly in danger and no leads the party is back to square one. They must discover what ritual Hargram is attempting to cast and put a stop to this. Using Dragmakesh to summon Ghamesiter is Hargrams true goal. Maybe they should spend time learning about the deities and what their part in this story may play.