Droning rhythms and dubious ruins Report

General Summary

Silent Departures

Martiri took the first watch, as the group bedded down after disguising the camp. The lapping of the waves against the beach lulled everyone to a restful sleep, helping to drown out the strange droning noises from the central portions of the island. However, Yendor De'sic noted during his meditation that Martiri had stopped patrolling regularly after making a once-over of the camp. He was not stirred by Martiri for his turn at the watch. When he searched for her, he found footprints in the sand, leading away from the camp toward the beach. After a moment, however, he was greeted by a small Rabbitfolk, standing on the trail from the beach. She looked at him for a moment, then drew a message in the sand.    

Your middle name is Danger?

— A small Rabbitfolk, written in the sand

Yendor studied the creature for a moment before responding, "Yes?". The creature introduced herself as Uudar , and said that she was looking for those whose middle names were Danger. After being introduced to the group, she also gave Lehiri the Sending Stone provided by Isla Heron. Uudar also explained that Martiri had contacted The Leviathan, claiming she had unanswered questions about her family that she needed to pursue. Uudar took the opportunity to leave The Leviathan and follow the members of DAOMN, while Martiri returned to her newly found uncle.      

Pursuing the Droning

The party set off into the spruce fir forest of the lake, traveling at a normal pace with Yendor gathering mushrooms, lichen, and wild berries for the day's meal. Halfway through the day, the party came upon a group travelling through the forest. Upon closer inspection, after Uudar had commanded one to stop via spell, the faceless automatons that made up the bulk of the group appeared to be workers, while the metallic, shiny creatures made the droning noises and seemed to command the others. The party was able to quickly dispatch the group, which seemed to be collecting random materials from around the island.     Further into the forest, the party encountered a low, humming noise emanating from a strange device behind some low walls. A circle of stone laid on the ground, two black and purple puddles oozing from the sides. Copper ducts wrapped around some of the edges, and a glass aperture was in the center. However, it was protected by three of the droning warriors and a magically animated ballista. After an intense combat, the party faced a single mechanical warrior, disarmed and its companions defeated. It dove for the device and began a loud droning noise while its body glowed. Lehiri and Yendor tried to stop it from getting close to the device, but it managed to slip past. It only had a chance to charge the attack briefly before Uudar was able to destroy it, causing it to explode and break off a piece of the device. The markings began to fade as the party started to investigate.    

Markings from the Past

After intense investigation and inspection, the party put their notes together. Uudar was convinced the runes and symbols on the device were akin to a magical transmutation ritual, a form of transforming energy or sending it somewhere. She surmised the lens might have been for focusing or directing the energy, but had no idea how any of it worked. Lehiri inspected the runes and then the goo coming out from the device. After touching it, she remembered where she had seen it before, in the laboratory of a Gnomish Artificer, Celniana Inaxi Elsys Carnove. She then looked back to the runes and immediately recognized the distinctive tinkerer's mark, something Celniana had on all of his machinations, something he enchanted on their to give them power.   Yendor and Lehiri explained past jobs that they had been on together, mostly protecting cargo and delivering goods. However, it was only recently, when they saw the mark of the Cult of the Fanged Eye on the codex found in Culvella Creek Grotto, that they realized the last item they delivered before coming to Edstow. A strange box covered in magical runes, one of which was a mark of the Cult. They were unable to open the box, and had delivered it right into the hands of Celniana.   Uudar scribbled in her notebook, then eyed it intensely.